Archive | RackSpace

Scalr 4.5 Install Notes For Cento 6.4

By admin on February 1, 2014 in Cloud Servers, Scalr

Last year we published an article on installing the open-source version of Scalr:

http://blogs.reliablepenguin.com/2013/08/29/scalr-install-notes

Now there’s a new 4.5 release of Scalr available so it’s time for an update.

We’re installing on Cento 6.4 hosted on a RackSpace Performance 1 Cloud Server.

The installation instructions have improved since the last time around but Scalr is till a complex install:

https://scalr-wiki.atlassian.net/wiki/display/docs/Installing+Scalr+4.5

Follow these instructions one section at a time and make sure you’ve got the section complete and working before moving to the next section. We’ve provided notes below about each section.

Before you start, select a hostname for the server and add a DNS A record. For this article we’ll use:

scalr.domain.com

1	scalr.domain.com

You’ll have problems later on if you don’t get the hostname setup in advance.

Also I like to add some swap to the server:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/1GB.swap bs=1M count=1024
mkswap /1GB.swap
swapon /1GB.swap
echo "/1GB.swap  none  swap  sw 0  0" >>/etc/fstab

dd if=/dev/zero of=/1GB.swap bs=1M count=1024

mkswap /1GB.swap

swapon /1GB.swap

echo "/1GB.swap none swap sw 0 0" >>/etc/fstab

Create UNIX Users and Group for Scalr

I setup a script at /root/env.sh with the environment variable as follows:

#!/bin/bash

export SERVICE_USER=root
export WEB_USER=apache
export SCALR_GROUP=scalr
export SCALR_INSTALL=/opt/scalr

#!/bin/bash

export SERVICE_USER=root

export WEB_USER=apache

export SCALR_GROUP=scalr

export SCALR_INSTALL=/opt/scalr

This makes it easy to get the environment right.

/usr/sbin/useradd  www-data
/usr/sbin/groupadd scalr
/usr/sbin/groupmems -g scalr -a root -a apache

/usr/sbin/useradd www-data

/usr/sbin/groupadd scalr

/usr/sbin/groupmems -g scalr -a root -a apache

Notice that we’re using user “apache” instead of “www-data” since this is CentOS instead of Ubuntu.

Configure your firewall

Edit /etc/sysconfig/iptables and add lines shown:

-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 8080 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 8080 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

And restart the service:

/sbin/service iptables restart

1	/sbin/service iptables restart

Install Scalr’s PHP Dependencies

The PHP dependencies are tricky. Tried using the IUS repository but kept having problems with errors like this:

PHP Warning:  PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library '/usr/lib64/php/modules/http.so' - /usr/lib64/php/modules/http.so: undefined symbol: php_iconv_string in Unknown on line 0

1	PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library '/usr/lib64/php/modules/http.so' - /usr/lib64/php/modules/http.so: undefined symbol: php_iconv_string in Unknown on line 0

So I started over with the Remi repository:

wget http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-6.rpm
yum install remi-release-6.rpm

1 2	wget http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-6.rpm yum install remi-release-6.rpm

Now edit /etc/yum.repos.d/remi.repo and enable the “remi” and “remi-php55” repositories.

yum install php php-mcrypt php-soap php-snmp php-mysqlnd php-ldap php-pecl-http1 php-pecl-yaml php-pecl-ssh2

1	yum install php php-mcrypt php-soap php-snmp php-mysqlnd php-ldap php-pecl-http1 php-pecl-yaml php-pecl-ssh2

The instructions say to install the php-pecl-rrd extension now but it’s better to wait due to dependency issues that we’ll see later.

Also notice that we’re installing php-pecl-http1 instead of php-pecl-http. This is critical.

Install Scalr’s Python Dependencies

Python is installed by default so just a couple of additional packages to install:

yum install python-devel libevent-devel python-crypto m2crypto net-snmp-python

1	yum install python-devel libevent-devel python-crypto m2crypto net-snmp-python

As with PHP, we’ll defer installing the python-rrdtool package until a later step.

Configure PHP for Scalr

Edit /etc/php.ini and (a) enable “short_open_tags” and (b) set the “date.timezone” setting.

Update System SNMP MIBs

For CentOS there is no “snmp-mibs-downloader”. I ended up doing nothing for this step.

Download and Install Scalr 4.5

I choose to install Scalr in /opt/scalr with the following steps:

cd /opt
wget https://github.com/Scalr/scalr/archive/v4.5.1.tar.gz
tar -xvzf v4.5.1
mv scalr-4.5.1 scalr

cd /opt

wget https://github.com/Scalr/scalr/archive/v4.5.1.tar.gz

tar -xvzf v4.5.1

mv scalr-4.5.1 scalr

Notice that back in the first step, I set the SCALR_INSTALL environment variable. No run the installer:

cd /opt/scalr/app/python
python setup.py install

1 2	cd /opt/scalr/app/python python setup.py install

Install and Configure MySQL

Install MySQL server and set to start on boot:

yum install mysql-server
/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 mysqld on
/sbin/service mysqld start

yum install mysql-server

/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 mysqld on

/sbin/service mysqld start

Set the mysql root login and secure:

http://blogs.reliablepenguin.com/2012/10/09/secure-mysql-installation

I like to add a .my.cnf file:

http://blogs.reliablepenguin.com/2012/10/09/create-my-cnf-file-for-mysql-authentication

Edit the /etc/my.cnf file and add this line to the “[mysqld]” section:

max_connections = 300

1	max_connections = 300

Now create the database and user for Scalr:

mysql
mysql> create database scalr_db;
mysql> grant all privileges on scalr_db.* to 'scalr_user'@'localhost' identified by 'xxxxxxxxxx';
mysql>flush privileges;

mysql

mysql> create database scalr_db;

mysql> grant all privileges on scalr_db.* to 'scalr_user'@'localhost' identified by 'xxxxxxxxxx';

mysql>flush privileges;

And load the database structure and data:

mysql scalr_db < /opt/scalr/sql/structure.sql
mysql scalr_db < /opt/scalr/sql/data.sql

1 2	mysql scalr_db < /opt/scalr/sql/structure.sql mysql scalr_db < /opt/scalr/sql/data.sql

Create the Scalr Cache folder

cd /opt/scalr
mkdir app/cache
chown root.apache app/cache
chmod 770 app/cache/

cd /opt/scalr

mkdir app/cache

chown root.apache app/cache

chmod 770 app/cache/

Install and Configure rrdtool and rrdcached

The default version of rrdtool is too old …. we need at least 1.4:

cd /root
yum erase rrdtool rrdtool-devel
yum install gettext ruby perl-Time-HiRes
wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-perl-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm
wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm
rpm -i rrdtool-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm rrdtool-perl-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

cd /root

yum erase rrdtool rrdtool-devel

yum install gettext ruby perl-Time-HiRes

wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-perl-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

rpm -i rrdtool-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm rrdtool-perl-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

And now we can get the PHP and Python dependencies that we skipped earlier:

yum install php-pecl-rrd
wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-python-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm
rpm -i rrdtool-python-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

yum install php-pecl-rrd

wget http://packages.express.org/rrdtool/rrdtool-python-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

rpm -i rrdtool-python-1.4.7-1.el6.wrl.x86_64.rpm

Set rrdcached to start on boot:

/sbin/chkconfig --level 345  rrdcached on

1	/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 rrdcached on

Edit /etc/sysconfig/rrdcached and change the “RRDCACHED_USER” to “root” and add the following line:

OPTIONS="$OPTIONS -s scalr -j /var/lib/rrdcached/journal/ -F -b /var/lib/rrdcached/db/ -B -l unix:/var/run/rrdcached.sock ";

1	OPTIONS="$OPTIONS -s scalr -j /var/lib/rrdcached/journal/ -F -b /var/lib/rrdcached/db/ -B -l unix:/var/run/rrdcached.sock ";

Now create the graphics and data directories:

mkdir -p /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics
chmod 755 /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics
chown root.www-data /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics
mkdir /var/lib/rrdcached/journal/
mkdir /var/lib/rrdcached/db/
mkdir --mode=775 /var/lib/rrdcached/db/{x1x6,x2x7,x3x8,x4x9,x5x0}
chown root:apache /var/lib/rrdcached/db/{x1x6,x2x7,x3x8,x4x9,x5x0}

mkdir -p /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics

chmod 755 /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics

chown root.www-data /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics

mkdir /var/lib/rrdcached/journal/

mkdir /var/lib/rrdcached/db/

mkdir --mode=775 /var/lib/rrdcached/db/{x1x6,x2x7,x3x8,x4x9,x5x0}

chown root:apache /var/lib/rrdcached/db/{x1x6,x2x7,x3x8,x4x9,x5x0}

And start the service:

/sbin/service rrdcached start

1	/sbin/service rrdcached start

Install and Configure Apache

Install Apache “httpd” package and SSL support:

yum install httpd mod_ssl

1	yum install httpd mod_ssl

Edit /etc/httpd/conf.d/vhosts.conf and add:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@reliablepenguin.com
    ServerName scalr.domain.com
    DocumentRoot /opt/scalr/app/www
    ErrorLog logs/scalr.domain.com-error_log
    CustomLog logs/scalr.domain.com-access_log combined
    <Directory /opt/scalr/app/www>
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Order allow,deny
        allow from all
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

ServerAdmin webmaster@reliablepenguin.com

ServerName scalr.domain.com

DocumentRoot /opt/scalr/app/www

ErrorLog logs/scalr.domain.com-error_log

CustomLog logs/scalr.domain.com-access_log combined

Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews

AllowOverride All

Order allow,deny

allow from all

</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Set Apache to start on boot and start it now:

/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 httpd on
/sbin/service httpd start

1 2	/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 httpd on /sbin/service httpd start

Configure Scalr

Copy the sample config file:

cp /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml-sample /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml

1	cp /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml-sample /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml

Now edit the config file at /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml and set the following parameters:

scalr:
  connections:
    mysql: &connections_mysql
      host: 'localhost'
      port: ~
      name: scalr_db
      user: scalr_user
      pass: 'XXXXXXXXXXXXX'
  email:
    address: 'scalr@domain.com'
    name: 'RP Scalr'
  endpoint:
    host: 'scalr2.domain.com'
  load_statistics:
    connections:
      plotter:
        host: http://scalr2.domain.com
        port: 8080
    rrd_dir: /var/lib/rrdcached/db
    img_dir: /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics
    img_url: /graphics

scalr:

connections:

mysql: &connections_mysql

host: 'localhost'

port: ~

name: scalr_db

user: scalr_user

pass: 'XXXXXXXXXXXXX'

email:

address: 'scalr@domain.com'

name: 'RP Scalr'

endpoint:

host: 'scalr2.domain.com'

load_statistics:

connections:

plotter:

host: http://scalr2.domain.com

port: 8080

rrd_dir: /var/lib/rrdcached/db

img_dir: /opt/scalr/app/www/graphics

img_url: /graphics

Leave the other parameters at default settings.

Configure the Scalr Cronjobs

Edit “apache” cronjobs:

crontab -e -u apache

1	crontab -e -u apache

and add the following:

* * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --Scheduler
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --UsageStatsPoller
*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --Scaling
*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --SzrMessaging
*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --BundleTasksManager
*/15 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --MetricCheck
*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --Poller
* * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --DNSManagerPoll
17 5 * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --RotateLogs
*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --EBSManager
*/20 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --RolesQueue
*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --DbMsrMaintenance
*/20 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --LeaseManager
*/1 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --ServerTerminate

* * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --Scheduler

*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --UsageStatsPoller

*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --Scaling

*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --SzrMessaging

*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --BundleTasksManager

*/15 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --MetricCheck

*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --Poller

* * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --DNSManagerPoll

17 5 * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --RotateLogs

*/2 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --EBSManager

*/20 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron/cron.php --RolesQueue

*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --DbMsrMaintenance

*/20 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --LeaseManager

*/1 * * * * /usr/bin/php -q /opt/scalr/app/cron-ng/cron.php --ServerTerminate

Configure the Scalr Daemons

Edit /etc/init.d/scalr and copy/paste the following contents:

#!/bin/bash
# scalr daemon
# chkconfig: 345 20 80
# description: scalr daemons
# processname: scalr

PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in
start)
        printf "%-50s" "Starting message sender..."
        PID=`python -m scalrpy.msg_sender -p /var/run/msg_sender.pid -l /var/log/scalr.msg_sender.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`
        if [ -z $PID ]; then
            printf "%s\n" "Fail"
        else
            echo $PID > $PIDFILE
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Starting queue processor..."
        PID=`python -m scalrpy.dbqueue_event -p /var/run/dbqueue_event.pid -l /var/log/scalr.dbqueue_event.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`
        if [ -z $PID ]; then
            printf "%s\n" "Fail"
        else
            echo $PID > $PIDFILE
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Starting stats plotter..."
        PID=`python -m scalrpy.load_statistics -p /var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid -l /var/log/scalr.load_statistics.plotter.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --plotter --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`
        if [ -z $PID ]; then
            printf "%s\n" "Fail"
        else
            echo $PID > $PIDFILE
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Starting stats poller..."
        PID=`python -m scalrpy.load_statistics -p /var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid -l /var/log/scalr.load_statistics.poller.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --poller --start  > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`
        if [ -z $PID ]; then
            printf "%s\n" "Fail"
        else
            echo $PID > $PIDFILE
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
        fi

;;
status)
        printf "%-50s" "Checking message sender..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/msg_sender.pid
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then
                printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
            else
                echo "Running"
            fi
        else
            printf "%s\n" "Service not running"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Checking queue processor..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/dbqueue_event.pid
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then
                printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
            else
                echo "Running"
            fi
        else
            printf "%s\n" "Service not running"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Checking stats plotter..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then
                printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
            else
                echo "Running"
            fi
        else
            printf "%s\n" "Service not running"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Checking stats poller..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then
                printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"
            else
                echo "Running"
            fi
        else
            printf "%s\n" "Service not running"
        fi

;;
stop)
        printf "%-50s" "Stopping message sender..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/msg_sender.pid
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            cd $DAEMON_PATH
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            kill -HUP $PID
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
            rm -f $PIDFILE
        else
            printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Stopping queue processor..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/dbqueue_event.pid
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            cd $DAEMON_PATH
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            kill -HUP $PID
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
            rm -f $PIDFILE
        else
            printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Stopping stats plotter..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            cd $DAEMON_PATH
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            kill -HUP $PID
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
            rm -f $PIDFILE
        else
            printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"
        fi

        printf "%-50s" "Stopping stats poller..."
        PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid
            PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
            cd $DAEMON_PATH
        if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then
            kill -HUP $PID
            printf "%s\n" "Ok"
            rm -f $PIDFILE
        else
            printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"
        fi

;;

restart)
        $0 stop
        $0 start
;;

*)
        echo "Usage: $0 {status|start|stop|restart}"
        exit 1
esac

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#!/bin/bash

# scalr daemon

# chkconfig: 345 20 80

# description: scalr daemons

# processname: scalr

PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid

SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME

case "$1" in

start)

printf "%-50s" "Starting message sender..."

PID=`python -m scalrpy.msg_sender -p /var/run/msg_sender.pid -l /var/log/scalr.msg_sender.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`

if [ -z $PID ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Fail"

else

echo $PID > $PIDFILE

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

printf "%-50s" "Starting queue processor..."

PID=`python -m scalrpy.dbqueue_event -p /var/run/dbqueue_event.pid -l /var/log/scalr.dbqueue_event.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`

if [ -z $PID ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Fail"

else

echo $PID > $PIDFILE

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

printf "%-50s" "Starting stats plotter..."

PID=`python -m scalrpy.load_statistics -p /var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid -l /var/log/scalr.load_statistics.plotter.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --plotter --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`

if [ -z $PID ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Fail"

else

echo $PID > $PIDFILE

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

printf "%-50s" "Starting stats poller..."

PID=`python -m scalrpy.load_statistics -p /var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid -l /var/log/scalr.load_statistics.poller.log -c /opt/scalr/app/etc/config.yml --poller --start > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $!`

if [ -z $PID ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Fail"

else

echo $PID > $PIDFILE

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

;;

status)

printf "%-50s" "Checking message sender..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/msg_sender.pid

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"

else

echo "Running"

else

printf "%s\n" "Service not running"

printf "%-50s" "Checking queue processor..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/dbqueue_event.pid

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"

else

echo "Running"

else

printf "%s\n" "Service not running"

printf "%-50s" "Checking stats plotter..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"

else

echo "Running"

else

printf "%s\n" "Service not running"

printf "%-50s" "Checking stats poller..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

if [ -z "`ps axf | grep ${PID} | grep -v grep`" ]; then

printf "%s\n" "Process dead but pidfile exists"

else

echo "Running"

else

printf "%s\n" "Service not running"

;;

stop)

printf "%-50s" "Stopping message sender..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/msg_sender.pid

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

cd $DAEMON_PATH

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

kill -HUP $PID

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

rm -f $PIDFILE

else

printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"

printf "%-50s" "Stopping queue processor..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/dbqueue_event.pid

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

cd $DAEMON_PATH

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

kill -HUP $PID

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

rm -f $PIDFILE

else

printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"

printf "%-50s" "Stopping stats plotter..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.plotter.pid

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

cd $DAEMON_PATH

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

kill -HUP $PID

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

rm -f $PIDFILE

else

printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"

printf "%-50s" "Stopping stats poller..."

PIDFILE=/var/run/load_statistics.poller.pid

PID=`cat $PIDFILE`

cd $DAEMON_PATH

if [ -f $PIDFILE ]; then

kill -HUP $PID

printf "%s\n" "Ok"

rm -f $PIDFILE

else

printf "%s\n" "pidfile not found"

;;

restart)

$0 stop

$0 start

;;

echo "Usage: $0 {status|start|stop|restart}"

exit 1

esac

Now set the service to start on boot and start it for the first time:

/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 scalr on
/sbin/service scalr start

1 2	/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 scalr on /sbin/service scalr start

Validate your Scalr installation

Now run the validation script:

cd /opt/scalr/app/www/
php testenvironment.php

1 2	cd /opt/scalr/app/www/ php testenvironment.php

Log in to Scalr

Open a browser and go to:

http://scalr.domain.com

Go to the Admin -> admin -> edit and change the admin password.

All Done!

Scalr install is now complete. You can get started using Scalr by adding a user and building an environment.

Vyatta VPN User Management

By leerb on January 12, 2014 in Vyatta

Here are the basic commands needed for managing VPN users on the Brocade Vyatta vRouter available in RackSpace Cloud.

Add New User

config
set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication local-users \
username [USERNAME] password [PASSWORD]
commit
save
exit

config

set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication local-users \

username [USERNAME] password [PASSWORD]

commit

save

exit

Remove A User

config
delete vpn pptp remote-access authentication local-users username [USERNAME]
commit
save
exit

config

delete vpn pptp remote-access authentication local-users username [USERNAME]

commit

save

exit

Change User Password

Same as adding a new user.

config
set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication local-users \
username [USERNAME] password [PASSWORD]
commit
save
exit

config

set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication local-users \

username [USERNAME] password [PASSWORD]

commit

save

exit

Error 850 When Connecting to Vyatta VPN With Windows 8

By leerb on January 12, 2014 in Vyatta, Windows

While setting up a Windows 8 workstation to connect to a Brocade Vyatta firewall on RackSpace Cloud, I got the following error:

Error 850: The Extensible Authentication Protocol type required for authentication of the remote access connection is not installed on your computer.

Turns out the fix is pretty simple – on the Connections Properties -> Security tab we need to explicitly set the authentication protocols as shown in this image:

Credit goes to Brendan at SysadminSpot for providing this solution:

https://sysadminspot.com/server-administration/error-connecting-to-virtual-private-network-pptp-error-850-the-extensible-authentication-protocol-type-required-for-authentication/

Scale Out For SharkTank

By leerb on December 7, 2013 in Cloud Load Balancers, Cloud Servers, Varnish

Recently one of our clients was featured on SharkTank, the critically-acclaimed business-themed show, featuring the Sharks and their continuing the search to invest in the best businesses and products that America has to offer.

Fohawx is a line of cool accessories that can easily attach to any kind of safety helmet – instantly transforming annoying headgear into a fashion statement. The appearance on SharkTank was a great opportunity for Fohawx to showcase their product.

Based on past experience we know that their web site could get 5000 or more simultaneous users. The small RackSpace Cloud Server on which they were hosted would be vaporized by this traffic. Due to the proprietary nature of their application server (ColdFusion) we could not add additional web servers. So a couple of days before the event we outlined measures to temporarily scale out their hosting capacity:

1. Re-sized the web server to 16GB of RAM. We wanted to go to 30GB but there was not sufficient space available on the “huddle” so we could only go to 16GB. We could move to a diffierent huddle but this would require and IP address change.

2. Added a separate database server. We spun up a 60GB server in RackSpace’s new Performance flavor and moved the application database from the web server to this new database server. The goal was to offload the web server and allow for faster database operations.

3. Added a pair of Varnish cache servers in front of the web server. The Varnish servers were built on small RackSpace Cloud Servers. As a caching proxy, Varnish can be used to offload static content from the web server. We used two Varnish servers to provide redundancy and increase throughput.

4. Added a RackSpace Cloud Load Balancer in front of the Varnish servers. The Cloud Load Balancer was configured to distribute traffic evenly between the Varnish servers.

In total this configuration cost about $3 per hour to operate and it ran for 4 days so the total cost was less then $220 hour.

The Sharks were not big fans of Fohawx but viewers seemed to disagree. In the hour after the initial airing the site served more the 1 million hits with a peak of over 4100 simultaneous users. Amazingly the Varnish cache servers handled 99% of all request and only passed 1% through to the web server.

This case study demonstrates how Reliable Penguin can combine RackSpace Cloud services with open-source components to rapidly meet emerging hosting challenges.

Watch the SharkTank episode here:

http://watchabc.go.com/shark-tank/SH559076/VDKA0_pbz8umsy/week-11

Fohawx starts around 00:23.

And don’t forget to get your Fohawx at:

http://fohawx.com

Configure Vyatta To Allow Incoming MySQL Connections

By admin on November 14, 2013 in Vyatta

This article demonstrates how to configure a Vyatta firewall to allow incoming requests from a group of clients to an internal MySQL server.

Assuming that you have three external MySQL clients with IPv4 addresses:

[A:y.y.y.y]
[B:y.y.y.y]
[C:y.y.y.y]

We’ll put these addresses in a group called [clientgroup]. You can name the group appropriately for your installation.

The external address of the firewall is [x.x.x.x] and the internal address of the MySQL server is [z.z.z.z].

# enter config mode
config

# create address group
set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [A:y.y.y.y]
set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [B:y.y.y.y]
set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [C:y.y.y.y]

# select "untrusted" firewall - this it firewall rule set that controls
# traffic passing through the device
edit firewall name untrusted

# allow the mysql traffic from the source address group
set rule 505 action accept
set rule 505 destination port '3306'
set rule 505 protocol 'tcp'
set rule 505 source group address-group [clientgroup]

# add nat rules
set nat destination rule 15 inbound-interface eth0
set nat destination rule 15 destination address [x.x.x.x]
set nat destination rule 15 destination port mysql
set nat destination rule 15 protocol tcp
set nat destination rule 15 translation address [z.z.z.z]

# enter config mode

config

# create address group

set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [A:y.y.y.y]

set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [B:y.y.y.y]

set firewall group address-group [clientgroup] address [C:y.y.y.y]

# select "untrusted" firewall - this it firewall rule set that controls

# traffic passing through the device

edit firewall name untrusted

# allow the mysql traffic from the source address group

set rule 505 action accept

set rule 505 destination port '3306'

set rule 505 protocol 'tcp'

set rule 505 source group address-group [clientgroup]

# add nat rules

set nat destination rule 15 inbound-interface eth0

set nat destination rule 15 destination address [x.x.x.x]

set nat destination rule 15 destination port mysql

set nat destination rule 15 protocol tcp

set nat destination rule 15 translation address [z.z.z.z]

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Archive | RackSpace

Scalr 4.5 Install Notes For Cento 6.4

Create UNIX Users and Group for Scalr

Configure your firewall

Install Scalr’s PHP Dependencies

Install Scalr’s Python Dependencies

Configure PHP for Scalr

Update System SNMP MIBs

Download and Install Scalr 4.5

Install and Configure MySQL

Create the Scalr Cache folder

Install and Configure rrdtool and rrdcached

Install and Configure Apache

Configure Scalr

Configure the Scalr Cronjobs

Configure the Scalr Daemons

Validate your Scalr installation

Log in to Scalr

All Done!

Vyatta VPN User Management

Add New User

Remove A User

Change User Password

Error 850 When Connecting to Vyatta VPN With Windows 8

Scale Out For SharkTank

Configure Vyatta To Allow Incoming MySQL Connections