Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
 
 

softlayer_provisioning

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date

parent directory

..
README.md
README.md
 
 

README.md

Provisioning VSes in SoftLayer

Overview

Big data requires platforms that provide sufficient compute and storage resources to accommodate its volume and velocity. Cloud computing platforms fit the big data problem domain well: cloud systems cluster easily to provide aggregate storage and compute resources. In addition, they can be flexibly provisioned, deprovisioned, etc. The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint you with the SoftLayer cloud platform, management tools for SoftLayer, and additional software to manage cloud deployments.

Tools Used

Preconditions

You must have a SoftLayer account; if you were not provided with one, or you cannot use the provided credentials to authenticate at https://control.softlayer.com/, please alert your instructor.

Access to a Unix shell—and experience with it—are assumed throughout the course. A terminal emulator in a recent version of any popular Linux distribution (Ubuntu or RedHat) or Mac OS X will work well. If you need help setting up a suitable Unix environment, or you need assistance using one, please alert an instructor.

Getting Started

Obtain SoftLayer API Key

Follow the instructions at http://knowledgelayer.softlayer.com/procedure/generate-api-key to generate an API key. The key is private credential information: keep it secret and speedily remove it if you suspect it has been compromised (see http://knowledgelayer.softlayer.com/procedure/remove-api-key for instructions). Retain this key for later configuration of the SoftLayer CLI tool.

Install the Python interpreter and Pip

Python version 2.7 or newer and a complementing pip program are required for this lab’s tools. Below are shell commands and successful output to test your system. If something is amiss, follow the installation instructions that follow.

python

Python 3.4.3 (default, Mar 25 2015, 17:13:50)
…
>>>

(Use the key sequence CTRL-d to escape the REPL)

pip --version
pip 6.1.1 from /usr/lib/python3.4/site-packages (python 3.4)

Install slcli in Docker (Windows, Mac, or Linux)

  • Install docker from http://docker.io
  • Save the contents of the snippet below to a file called "Dockerfile" (make sure to change YOUR_SL_API_ID and YOUR_SL_API_KEY to your values)
FROM ubuntu:16.04

RUN apt-get update 

RUN apt-get install -y \
    python \
    python-pip \
    python-setuptools \
    python-dev \ 
    openssh-client

RUN pip install SoftLayer

RUN echo '[softlayer]' > ~/.softlayer

RUN echo 'username = YOUR_SL_API_ID' >> ~/.softlayer

RUN echo 'api_key = YOUR_SL_API_KEY' >> ~/.softlayer

RUN echo 'endpoint_url = https://api.softlayer.com/xmlrpc/v3.1/' >> ~/.softlayer

RUN ssh-keygen -b 2048 -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa -q -N ""

ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/bash"]
  • Build a Docker image with the command:

docker build --tag slcli --file Dockerfile .

  • Open up powershell (Windows) or terminal (Mac) and spin up a docker container with the command:

docker run -it slcli

  • Work inside this container -- e.g. follow the ubuntu Linux steps below

Mac OS X Installation Steps (without docker)

  • Install Xcode from the Apple store

  • Accept the gcc license agreement

    sudo gcc

  • Install pip

    sudo easy_install pip

Ubuntu Linux Installation Steps

  • Install tooling

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install python python-pip python-dev build-essential curl

Install and configure the SoftLayer Python library

sudo pip install SoftLayer
slcli config setup

That last command will prompt you for your SoftLayer credentials; the default values for questions that provide them are sufficient.

Working with SoftLayer VSes

SoftLayer virtual servers can be provisioned through slcli. The tool can order systems that are billed hourly or monthly and with varying configurations. In this course we’ll often provision low-RAM hourly virtual servers as demonstrated below.

Provision a new VS with a command like the following (note that you should replace the content in <>'s with your own values):

slcli vs create --datacenter=dal09 --domain=<somedomain> --hostname=<some hostname> --os=CENTOS_7_64 --cpu=1 --memory=1024 --billing=hourly

(To understand available VS ordering options, consult slcli vs create-options; for help with CLI arguments, execute slcli vs create --help).

You can use slcli to query existing VSes, including those in being provisioned. During provisioning, find your VS with:

slcli vs list

Once provisioned, you should see a public IP address in the "primary_ip" column like this:

:..........:..................:................:...............:............:........:
:    id    :     hostname     :   primary_ip   :   backend_ip  : datacenter : action :
:..........:..................:................:...............:............:........:
: 25719819 :     mediator     :   5.43.33.24   :  10.20.3.100  :   dal09    :   -    :
...

Once provisioned, use slcli to discover the system's root password (note, replace the content in <>'s with the id or IP address of your VS:

slcli vs credentials <25719819>

:..........:..........:
: username : password :
:..........:..........:
:   root   : F7oglewp :
:..........:..........:

Use the discovered facts and SSH to access a shell remotely (again, replace the sample content in <>'s):

ssh root@<5.43.33.24>

Once you've successfully accessed the system's shell, deprovision it using the slcli tool:

slcli vs cancel <id>