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ACTIVE RESPONSE 5.0 TOPICS BLUEPRINTS TROUBLESHOOTING DOC INDEX


 

TOC
Prerequisites
The blueprint steps
Step 1: Reserve a node from the free pool to use as an image host
Step 2: Install and configure the operating system

Step 3: Install and configure your software

Step 4: Capture the image
Step 5: Create the tier
Step 6: Personalize the image instances
Step 7: Allocate nodes and activate the tier
   
 

Sidebars
Tier dependencies: what you should know
   
know-how:

WebLogic: Capturing an Image and Creating a Tier

Intended for use with Cassatt Active Response V5.0.

This blueprint walks through preparing the BEA WebLogic Server 8.1 software (service packs 1–4) to run in the Cassatt Active Response environment. If you haven't read Understanding Blueprints for Deploying Applications, read that first for background and context.

Prerequisites

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Application node hardware requirements:

  • Make sure enough nodes in your Cassatt Active Response environment have local disk to satisfy max nodes for the tier. Consider any other tiers in your domain that also require these attributes. For more information about application nodes, see Understanding Hardware: What Works Best with Cassatt Active Response.
  • If you are installing a 64-bit version of the OS, and you have not already done so, follow these steps to set a custom attribute to identify x86_64 servers and ensure they are the only nodes allocated to run the image:
    1. Identify all of the x86_64 nodes.
    2. Add a custom attribute to each of those nodes that indicates the nodes can be allocated to run images that require a 64-bit-capable archictecture. Refer to the online help topic entitled "Using custom hardware attributes to specify hardware for your software" for information.
    3. When you capture the WebLogic image, assign the same custom attribute to the image as you assigned to the nodes.
    4. When you create the WebLogic tier, the custom attribute is assigned by default. Do not remove the custom attribute.

If you intend to run a 64-bit version of the OS in VMware ESX 3.0 VMs, you must have set up your VMware host tier with a custom attribute for supported x86_64 nodes. See also VMware KB 1901, Hardware and Firmware Requirements for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems for supported 64-bit–capable processors. You must also have set a custom attribute on the VMs created by the host tier to indicate that the VMs are running on an x86_64 host.

ESX 2.5 does not support 64-bit operating systems running in VMs.

 
checkmark Image host requirements: If you are installing a 64-bit version of the OS, select a node with the x86_64 custom attribute.

Software requirements:

  • Red Hat ELAS 3 or 4
  • BEA WebLogic Server release 8.1

Tier Settings:

  • SLAs: Determine the capacity settings for the WebLogic tier. To understand how to determine capacity levels, see Understanding Tier Configuration and Personalization.
  • If your WebLogic tier will run in a VM guest tier, determine which VMware host tier (or tiers) will provide the VMs for your WebLogic tier.
    • Tier Dependencies: If this tier will run only in VMs, and not on physical hardware, select at least one of the VMware host tiers as a tier dependency to ensure that VMs are available for this tier. For more information, read about tier dependencies.
    • Custom Attributes: To ensure that VMware VMs are assigned to the tier, use the vmware custom attribute, which Cassatt Active Response assigns to VMware VMs automatically.

      Also, use the custom attribute that designates storage for the VMs in the host tier (or tiers). Because the custom attribute represents the storage access, use only one storage custom attribute to ensure that all VMs allocated to the tier have the same storage access.
    • HBA key: FC SAN only—use the HBA key from the VMs in the host tier (or tiers).

Network Requirements: Determine the network to associate with the tier. Make sure it has adequate IP addresses free to accommodate maximum nodes for the tier.

The blueprint steps

This blueprint follows the standard high-level blueprint steps.

Step 1: Reserve a node from the free pool to use as an image host

  1. From the Controller, click the Free Pool.
  2. Select a physical node to reserve.
    You can differentiate between physical and virtual node by looking at the ID; virtual node IDs are appended with _vnodeN, for example, node003_vnode1.
  3. Select Node Actions > Reserve for Image Capture.
  4. Note the node's IP address, which you will use when you install the OS and capture the image.

Step 2: Install and configure the operating system

Follow instructions to install and configure ELAS 3 (32-bit only) or 4 (32-bit or 64-bit): Red Hat ELAS.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is not supported for this blueprint.

If this image will run in VMware VMs, make sure your Red Hat ELAS version and update level are supported by VMware. For more information, refer to your VMware documentation.

Step 3: Install and configure your software

Pre-installation steps

  1. Get the WebLogic installation manual, Installing BEA WebLogic Platform. To access this manual online, go to:
    http://e-docs.bea.com/platform/docs81/install/index.html.
  2. Download the postinstall.sh script available at Cassatt info central.

WebLogic: Installation

Use the following guidance in conjunction with the procedures in Chapter 2, Installing WebLogic Platform Using Graphical-Mode Installation, of Installing BEA WebLogic Platform.

  1. Log into the image host.
  2. At step 2 in "Starting Graphical-Mode Installation for .bin Installation Files," download the WebLogic software as described in Installing BEA WebLogic Platform, “Web Distribution”.
  3. Go to the directory where you downloaded the WebLogic installation program.
  4. Before continuing, make sure that the $DISPLAY environment variable is set correctly. You can run xclock to verify that the $DISPLAY setting works.
  5. Launch the WebLogic installation by entering the following commands:

    chmod a+x ./filename.bin
    ./filename.bin
  6. Follow the prompts to do a complete installation on the image host. (For more information, see Installing BEA WebLogic Platform, “Running the Installation Program”.) However, do not configure your administration server or managed servers; these tasks are done during tier personalization.
  7. Do not use QuickStart. Exit the QuickStart console if it is automatically launched after the installation is complete.
  8. Instead of the post-installation tasks described in chapter 5 of Installing BEA WebLogic Platform, run the post installation script, postinstall.sh, to set up your WebLogic node manager. The script sets the BEA_HOME, WL_HOME, and the node manager location.
  9. To automatically start the Node Manager at boot time, edit the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file and add the following line:

    /opt/app/bea/weblogic81/server/bin/startNodeManager.sh ${HOSTNAME%%.*} 5555 > /opt/app/bea/weblogic81/common/nodemanager/ NodeManagerLogs/${HOSTNAME%%.*}.node.out 2>&1 &

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Step 4: Capture the image

In this step, you will capture the base image from the image host using the cccapture command—an interactive script. Although you can change the values later, it is most efficient to supply valid values now.

Follow these steps:

  1. Log into the active control node as root.
  2. Enter the following command to start the capture of the base image from the image host:

    /opt/cassatt/bin/cccapture
  3. Answer each prompt.

    The next table lists suggested values for the WebLogic blueprint; unless you have site-specific reasons, you can accept the default values for other cccapture prompts.

    For names, descriptions, and other discretionary fields, use values that are meaningful to you. In the image name, do not use spaces or characters (for exapmle, /) special to Unix-based file systems such as Linux.

    Specifying the applications and versions contained in this image is not required for this blueprint, but you may wish to do so for tracking purposes.

    For file system selection: selecting unneeded file systems wastes space but is otherwise harmless.

    At this prompt...

    Enter...

    Notes
    Enter the image type (linux,vmhost,windows,solaris): linux  

    Do any of the applications in the image require personalization (additional configuration once the image is booted)? [n]

    y

     

    If a tier using this image must always run on a specific set of nodes,
    custom attributes can be specified for the tier. These same attributes
    must then be specified on each node that will be reserved for the tier.
    The Cassatt system will then match on these attributes to ensure that
    those nodes are always allocated for a tier with this image.

    Do you want to specify any custom attributes for tiers using this image? [n]

    		 y or n

    If you installed a 64-bit version of the OS, use one of these custom attributes:

    • If the image will run on 64-bit capable hardware, specify the x86_64 server architecture custom attribute.
    • If this image will run in in VMware ESX 3.0 VMs, then specify the custom attribute you set on the VMs to indicate that the VMs are running on an x86_64 host.
    Enter an attribute value for nodes to use: x86_64attribute

    Enter the hardware architecture for this image

    (ia32): [ia32]

    		 ia32 Select "ia32" even when your image requires a 64-bit-capable server. A custom attribute is required to ensure allocation of 64-bit-capable servers.

    Do you want to specify the hardware requirements for a tier using this image? [n]

    y

    		  

    Enter minimum amount of RAM (MBytes) per node for this image (128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192): [no minimum]

    512

    		  

    Does this image require a local disk? [n]

    y

     

    Enter the minimum size in Gbytes for the required local disk: [0]

    disk size

    Cassatt Active Response uses this value in determining which nodes to allocate to tiers running this image. Use the smallest size you believe will provide adequate space for swap and temp (no smaller than 6 GB). Nodes with smaller disks will not be allocated to run this image.

    Does this image require local swap space? [n]:

    y

     

    Enter the required amount of swap space (in Gbytes): [8]

    2

    The space remaining on the local disk after swap partitions are created is assigned to local temp space.

    Should this image be installed on the local disk (allowing the node to boot locally)? [n] y

    		 y or n See Alternatives to NFS: Image on Local Disk for details.

    OS Monitoring Options
    Specify the operating system monitoring that will be used for this image (at least one monitoring option must be configured):
    Monitor via SNMP? [n]

    y

     

    Monitor via ping? [n]

    y

     

    Monitoring for the WebLogic application cannot be specified during cccapture because the tier must be personalized before monitoring is activated. You will specify monitoring settings for the WebLogic application in a later step.

  4. In the Controller, release the image host back to the free pool by selecting the node using the checkbox, then select Node Actions > Release from Image Capture.

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Step 5: Create the tier

Return to the Controller to define the WebLogic tier. Cassatt Active Response prepopulates tier values with the parameters you set during the image capture. If necessary, you can change them during tier creation.

  1. On the left navigation pane, click Tiers to display the Tier List.
  2. On the Tier List page, click the New Tier button (on the right).
  3. On the Properties page, set the properties for the WebLogic tier. The next table lists the recommended values for the WebLogic blueprint. Unless you have site-specific reasons, accept the defaults in other fields.

    At this prompt...

    Enter...

    Notes

    Email Alerts

    On

     

    Email Address

    YourEmail Address

    		  

    Email On:
    Tier Critical
    Tier Non-Critical


    Select all choices

    Reboot on failure

    On

     

    Automatic move to maintenance pool

    On

     

    Allow harvest

    On

    		  
  4. On the Requirements page, set the hardware requirements for the tier.

    At this prompt...

    Enter...

    Notes

    Operational Target

    TargetNodes

    		  

    Minimum Nodes

    MinNodes

    		 

    Maximum Nodes

    MaxNodes

    		  
    HBA HBAKey If your WebLogic tier will run in VMs—FC SAN only: select the checkbox and use the same HBA key that's assigned to the VMs that you want Cassatt Active Response to allocate to this tier.

    Custom Requirements

    CustomAttribute

    If your WebLogic tier will run in VMs: Assign the vmware custom attribute and the same custom attribute you assigned to the VMs that you want Cassatt Active Response to allocate to this tier.

    Dependencies

    VMHostTier

    If this tier will run only in VMs, and not on physical hardware, specify at least one VMware host tier. Note that:

    • If you select more than one, every tier you select must be activated for this tier to activate.
    • If you have multiple ESX host tiers that access different storage locations, you must select only ESX host tiers that access the same storage location.
    • If you installed a 64-bit operating system, be sure to select a VMware host tier that runs supported x86_64 nodes.
  5. On the networks page, select a primary network.
  6. On the IPs and Hostnames page, assign IP addresses or host names, or accept the default settings.
  7. You can close the Creating Tier Progress page and continue with the next section.

Step 6: Personalize the image instances

This procedure describes how to personalize the tier running WebLogic Server. Complete WebLogic Server documentation is available on BEA’s Dev2dev web site. Go to http://dev2dev.bea.com, then navigate to the WebLogic Server page.

On the tier page, select the WebLogic tier using the checkbox, then select Personalize from the actions dropdown menu.

Cassatt Active Response boots the maximum nodes for the tier.

Set up the environment

Follow these steps to set up the environment.

  1. Make sure that the $BEA_HOME and $WL_HOME environment variables are set as specified in the WebLogic Server documentation.
  2. Check that the $DISPLAY environment variable is set correctly. You can run xclock to verify that the $DISPLAY setting works.
  3. Copy the file weblogic.jar to the active control node for use with JMX monitoring:
    1. On an application node, navigate to the /opt/bea/weblogic81/server/lib directory.
    2. Copy weblogic.jar to the following location on the active control node:

      /opt/bea/lib/weblogic.jar

Create a configuration

Follow these steps to set up the WebLogic environment and create a new WebLogic configuration:

  1. Start the Configuration Wizard:
    1. Log into any node in the WebLogic tier.
    2. Run the Configuration Wizard, as follows:

      $BEA_HOME/weblogic81/common/bin/config.sh
  2. Use the Basic WebLogic Server Domain template.
  3. Choose a custom configuration.
  4. Select “SSL enabled”.
  5. Select “yes” to distribute your WebLogic configuration across managed servers, clusters, and physical machines.
  6. Add a managed server using the IP address with SSL enabled.
  7. Add a new cluster on the Configure Cluster screen.
  8. Assign your server to the new cluster.
  9. Configure your Unix Machine using the host’s IP address.
  10. Assign your servers to the Unix Machine.
  11. Answer “no” to both the JDBC and JMS options.
  12. Note the name of the new domain that you have created. You will use this name in the following steps, where it is shown as newdomain.

Start the domain and the node manager

Follow these steps to start the domain and the node manager.

  1. Start the WebLogic administration server, specifying your new domain for newdomain, as follows:

    $BEA_HOME/user_projects/domains/newdomain/startWebLogic.sh
  2. From a browser on the cluster, start the console to control the environment:

    http://hostname:7001/console

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Configure the servers

Follow these steps to configure the WebLogic Servers.

  1. On all managed servers and the administration server, disable host authentication, as follows:
    1. From the left pane of the administration console, select Servers > Configuration > Keystores & SSL.
    2. In the Advanced Options bar, select Show.
    3. Select Client Attributes > Hostname Verification.
    4. Change this setting from “BEA Hostname Verifier” to “None”.
  2. On all managed servers, but not the administration server, set up Managed Server Independence (MSI) so that the managed servers can start up without an administration server. When the administration server starts, it will contact the managed servers.
    1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, expand the Servers folder.
    2. In the right pane, select Configuration > Tuning.
    3. In the Advanced Options bar, select Show.
    4. Under Advanced Options, make sure that the Managed Server Independence Enabled check box is selected.
    5. Select the MSI File Replication Enabled check box and select Apply.
  3. Stop the administrative server, as follows:
    1. Select the administration server on the left tab.
    2. From the right pane, select Control > Start/stop > Graceful Shutdown of Server > YES.
    3. After the server stops, close the browser to prevent popup error messages.
  4. Start the server, specifying your domain for newdomain, as follows:

    $BEA_HOME/user_projects/domains/newdomain/startWebLogic.sh
  5. Start the managed servers by selecting Control tab > Start/stop > Start this server.

Configure failover

Cassatt Active Response needs the ability to bring up the administrator server on any node in the tier. Follow these steps to configure the WebLogic Server for failover.

  1. To allow the administration server to come up on a different node, edit the file config.xml. Between the markers for the administration server, change the value for ListenAddress and Machine to the specific node running the administration server.
  2. Normally, the node manager restarts the managed servers on the node. If a managed server did not abort cleanly (causes an error) manually delete the following file:

    /var/opt/weblogic/server_name/ldap/ldapfiles/EmbeddedLDAP.lok
  3. When you have completed the personalization on all nodes, return to the Controller Setup wizard and select “Personalization Complete.”

    Cassatt Active Response displays the domain page with the new tier listed in the Tiers table.

Set monitoring properties

Follow these steps to set up monitoring for the WebLogic application.

  1. Select Images from the left navigation pane.
  2. Select the WebLogic image.

    Cassatt Active Response displays the image properties page.
  3. Select the Applications tab.

    Cassatt Active Response displays the applications table. In this case the table is empty; had you specified applications during image capture, the table would have been prepopulated from the image manifest.
  4. Click the Add Application button.

    Cassatt Active Response displays the Properties page.
  5. Set up monitoring for the WebLogic application using the following settings.

    6. Prompt or Parameter

    Value or Selection

    Notes

    JMX

    		  

    Classpath

    /opt/bea/weblogic81/server/lib/
    weblogic.jar

    		  

    Port

    7001

    		  

    Username

    WebLogicUsername

    		  

    Password

    WebLogicPassword

    		  

    Timeout

    60

    		  

    Collection Interval

    60

    		  

    Retry Count

    3

    		  
  6. Click Save Changes
  7. When you are finished, return to the Controller, select the tier, and select "Personalization Complete" for the tier.

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Step 7: Allocate nodes and activate the tier

Follow these steps to allocate nodes and activate the tier.

  1. From the Tiers table on the Domain page, select the checkbox for the WebLogic tier.
  2. From the Tier Actions dropdown menu, select Allocate Nodes. Click Allocate Nodes on the confirmation page.

    Cassatt Active Response allocates nodes and displays the Tiers table.

    3. If the WebLogic tier depends on another tier, you cannot activate the WebLogic tier until after you create and activate the tier WebLogic depends on.

  3. Again, select the checkbox for the WebLogic tier.
  4. From the Tier Actions dropdown menu, select Activate. Click Activate on the confirmation page.

    Cassatt Active Response starts the operating system and the applications on each node in the tier.
  5. Repeat these steps for the WebLogic tier.

This completes the procedure to create and deploy a WebLogic image.

 
 
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