Apache: Capturing an Image and Creating a Tier

Intended for use with Cassatt Active Response Premium Edition and Data Center Edition V5.1.

This blueprint describes a method for deploying Apache in the Cassatt Active Response environment. If you haven't read Understanding Blueprints for Deploying Applications, read that first for background and context.

Prerequisites

	Application node hardware requirements: If you are installing a 64-bit version of the OS, 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: Identify all of the x86_64 nodes. 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 architecture. Refer to the online help topic entitled "Using custom hardware attributes to specify hardware for your software" for information. When you capture the Apache image, assign the same custom attribute to the image as you assigned to the nodes. When you create the Apache 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.
	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 (x86 only), 4 (x86 or X86_64), or 5 (x86 or X86_64) or Solaris 10 (x86) Apache
	Tier Settings: SLA: Determine the SLA type and settings for the tier. To understand SLAs, see Understanding Tier Configuration and Personalization. If your Apache tier will run in VMs, determine which VMware host tier (or tiers) will provide the VMs for your Apache 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 the operating system: Red Hat ELAS or Solaris 10 for x86 hardware.

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

Step 3: Install and configure your software

Apache is installed automatically with both Red Hat ELAS and Solaris when you perform a full installation.

Follow these steps to set up the Apache configuration on the image host.

1. Check that Apache starts correctly, as follows:
   1. Start Apache using the command for your operating system:
      
      /usr/sbin/apachectl start (Linux)
      
      Or
      

      /usr/apache/bin/apachect1 start (Solaris x86)

      
      If Apache starts correctly, you should be able to access the default web page by using the URL http://localhost/ from a browser running on the image host. If problems occur, see the Apache Support FAQ at:
      
      http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/faq/support.html

   2. Stop Apache using the command for your operating system, for example:
      
      /usr/sbin/apachectl stop (Linux)
      
      Or
      

      /usr/apache/bin/apachect1 stop (Solaris x86)

2. Linux only: configure Apache to start automatically when the system is rebooted, as follows:

   chkconfig httpd on

3. If you have web content ready to deploy, do so now.
   
   If you do not have web content to deploy, you need to put a placeholder index.html file in /var/www/html for Cassatt Active Response to use in monitoring the Apache service. A simple way to create a blank file that serves this function is to navigate to /var/www/html:
   
   cd /var/www/html
   
   Then issue the touch command to create a blank file called index.html:
   
   touch index.html

top

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 Apache 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 example, /) special to Unix-based file systems such as Linux.
   
   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 or solaris
   Do you applications need write access to any directories in the image other than /etc, /dev, /var, /tmp, and /root?	n
   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.
   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
   Applications Contained in the Image Do you want to specify the major applications contained in this image? [n]	y
   Do you want the Cassatt system to monitor this application? [n]	y
   Monitor via HTTP? [n]	y
   HTTP path: [/]	/index.html	If you deployed your content to another location, use that path instead. Note that the Cassatt Active Response HTTP monitoring collector does not support redirects.

   
   
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.

top

Step 5: Create the tier

Return to the Controller to define the Apache tier. Cassatt Active Response prepopulates tier values with the parameters you set during 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 Apache tier.
4. On the SLA page, select the SLA type and set as needed.
   
5. On the Requirements page, set the hardware requirements for the tier. Unless you have site-specific reasons, you can accept the defaults in fields not listed.
   
   

   At this prompt...	Enter...	Notes
   HBA	HBAKey	If your Apache 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 Apache 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.

6. On the networks page, select a primary network.
7. On the IPs and Hostnames page, assign IP addresses or host names, or accept the default settings.
8. You can close the Creating Tier Progress page and continue with the next section.

top

Step 6: Personalize the image instances (Solaris x86 only)

The blueprint requires personalization only if you are using Solaris x86.

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

Cassatt Active Response boots the maximum nodes for the tier. On each node, complete these steps:

1. Set up the configuration file, which starts the Apache server automatically whenever the node boots:
   
   

   cd /etc/apache
   cp httpd.conf-example httpd.conf

   No changes to the file are required.
   
2. Start Apache:
   
   /usr/apache/bin/apachet1 start
   
   
3. Test the node setup by opening a browser and pointing to:
   
   http://<node IP address>
   

top

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 Apache 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. Again, select the checkbox for the Apache 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.

This completes the procedure to create and deploy an Apache image.

Was this article useful? Tell us what you think.
Email infocentral@cassatt.com.