Warning
The Endpoint license installed on the designated DRP Endpoint Manager must have entitlement to the Multi Site Manager and High Availability features. These are Enterprise license features. For each Endpoint that is managed under Multi-Site Manager, the Endpoint must also be listed as an authorized Endpoint in the License.
Please contact RackN support with any licensing questions.
Manager Operations¶
This section will address usage of the manager system. The architecture and implementation of the Mulit-Site Manager system is described at Manager Architecture.
Manager Enablement - Portal¶
The Multi-Site Manager Preferences must be set to enabled. To do so, please do the following in the Portal:
- go to the Info & Preferences page
- under the System Preferences setting panel to the right
- set the value named Multi-Site Manager to enabled
- ensure you hit Save in the upper right
Manager Enablement - CLI¶
To enable the manager functions in an endpoint, you will need to set the manager preference to true.
To disable the manager functions in an endpoint, you will need to set the manager prefence to false
Manager Enablement - API¶
The manager setting can be applied with the /api/v3/prefs POST endpoint API.
The POST requires an object with the manager string type value set to either "true" or "false". For example:
Manager Actions¶
The manager system provides the same actions that the manager plugin had in v4.4.x and earlier versions. These have
also been included in the endpoints plugin for backwards compatibility reasons.
Note
It is recommended to set up a user account that is dedicated to Manager endpoint management functions, and to not use the generic "rocketskates" superuser role. Create a new User and assign it the superuser role for this purpose.
Note
A valid license with Multi-Site Manager enablement must be installed on each DRP Endpoint. The Portal addEndpoint method will automatically install the license from the Manager, on the Managed endpoints.
HOWEVER - the CLI and API methods do not do this. You must FIRST install a valid license on the Endpoint before adding them under management.
addEndpoint - Portal¶
Use the Endpoints menu entry and the blue Add button at the top center to add a new Endpoint.
You must provide the fully qualified Endpoint URL (eg https://192.168.1.10:8092) and a username/password pair that has
the superuser role.
addEndpoint - CLI¶
Utilizing the plugin actions mechanism, it is possible to add a new Endpoint under management in a single CLI step with the following command line:
# install a valid license on the to be managed Endpoint first
# assumes rackn-license.json carries a valid license with entitlements
drpcli contents create rackn-license.json
# bring the endpoint under management
drpcli plugins runaction manager addEndpoint manager/url https://192.168.1.10:8092 manager/username manager manager/password manager-password
The manager/url is the remote Endpoint URL that is being added in to the Manager system for management.
addEndpoint - API¶
The /api/v3/plugins/manager/addEndpoint POST endpoint allows for the auto-creation of the Endpoint object and
validates connectivity.
You must first install a valid License on the remote Endpoint that will be managed. To do this; use the
API /api/v3/contents endpoint with a POST operation containing the content pack rackn-license.json as a payload.
The addEndpoint POST requires an object with the manager/url, manager/username, and manager/password values. For
example:
{
"manager/url": "https://192.168.124.10:8092",
"manager/username": "constantBackUpUsername",
"manager/password": "constantBackUpPassword"
}
This will validate the credentials and add the Endpoint object for that system named correctly. This is the preferred method to add an endpoint to the manager instead of directly creating the Endpoint object and then populating it with values.
buildCatalog¶
The /api/v3/plugins/manager/buildCatalog POST endpoint allows for the building or rebuilding of the local catalog of
content packages and plugin providers.
The Manager will use its local catalog when applying content. The catalog is actually a content pack that is loaded into the manager. The default RackN catalog can be used and it will reference the internet, but often times content would like to be cached locally or expanded with additional components.
The buildCatalog action process the cache directory, files/rebar-catalog, and builds a catalog content package and
stores as rackn-catalog.json in that directory. It will then load that content package into the manager.
The files/rebar-catalog directory can be populated by the drpcli catalog updateLocal. This will by default use the
RackN catalog to cache all content locally. You can also provide options to the command to handle additional catalogs or
firewall and proxies. This will provide the layout for the catalog directories.
Custom content can be added to the catalog directories. You will need to follow the format for plugin providers or content packages. The files api can be used to update the catalog.
The UX has a helper button for this action (on the Endpoints menu, as "Rebuild Catalog" button).
Proxy Creating an Object on Managed Endpoint¶
It is possible to create objects on managed endpoints by using proxy pass-through from the manager. Details are available in DRP API.
Manager Common Methods¶
Here are some common manager actions.
Create and Populate the Initial Catalog Cache¶
The Manager requires a local catalog cache to install and manage items on downstream endpoints. This catalog can be built and initialized with the following commands.
To reduce the amount of content downloaded, the --version flag can be used to specify the minimum version to download
from the catalog. For example, --version=v4.5.4 would download things newer and including v4.5.4. If left off, the
command will download the whole catalog.
# Put the current license into the catalog.
drpcli contents show rackn-license > /tmp/v0.0.1.json
drpcli files upload /tmp/v0.0.1.json as rebar-catalog/rackn-license/v0.0.1.json
rm -f /tmp/v0.0.1.json
>
# Create the initial empty catalog
drpcli plugins runaction manager buildCatalog
>
# Populate the local cache from all items found in the system Catalog
drpcli catalog updateLocal
# OR limit local cache to v4.5.4 and newer only items
drpcli catalog updateLocal --version=v4.5.4
>
# Rebuild the initial catalog
drpcli plugins runaction manager buildCatalog
Update Catalog Cache¶
Once the catalog is initialized, you can incrementally update the catalog with the following commands. This can be put into a cron job to keep the catalog up to date.
To reduce the amount of content downloaded, the --version flag can be used to specify the minimum version to download
from the catalog. For example, --version=v4.5.4 would download things newer and including v4.5.4. If left off, the
command will download the whole catalog.