N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 System Administration Guide

About Hosts

The provisioning system has two types of hosts.

Physical hosts – Represent physical servers that are connected to the network. Within the provisioning system, a physical host can contain the following applications.
- Remote Agent – A physical host that can be used as a target for deploying or modeling components. You can also compare remote agents to one another.
- Local Distributor – A physical host that is used as a distributor of components.
Virtual hosts – Represent services that act as a host for other services. For example, a virtual host can represent an application server that acts as a host for web applications.

The provisioning system uses hosts in the following ways.

Deploying. If you need to deploy a file or an application (a component) to a server, the server must be registered as a host.
Distributing. A server used as an intermediary to help distribute deployed components to other hosts must be registered as a host.
Capturing. If you want to capture an application (or add a file to the data repository) so that it can be deployed to other hosts, the server that contains the application must be registered as a host.
Comparing. If you want to compare one server with another, both servers must be registered as hosts.

Physical Hosts

A physical host represents a server in your network that has been registered with the provisioning system.

Physical Host Characteristics

Each host must have a unique IP address.
Each host must have a unique host name.

When a server name is used to identify a new host, the server name is resolved to an IP address when the host is saved.
When a Remote Agent and a Local Distributor are installed on the same host, they must have different, dedicated ports.
Host locking prevents different users from simultaneously attempting to update the same host.

Before the provisioning system can work with a server, you must perform the following steps.

Install Remote Agent or Local Distributor software on the server.
Register the server as a physical host by creating a host record for the server.
Prepare the physical host.

The provisioning system prepares a host by installing plug-in specific software on the host's Remote Agent in the form of system service components. A host is considered prepared if all system service components that are applicable to the host have been installed on it. After a host has been prepared, you can perform operations on it, such as running comparisons and deploying applications.

Because each physical host represents a specific server, do not attempt to migrate a physical host record to another server. For example, if you need to replace a server that was registered as a Local Distributor, replace the server and create a new Local Distributor. If you attempt to migrate the old Local Distributor record to the new server, the Master Server might contain records indicating that the new server contains files that haven't been installed.

How to Create a Physical Host Record

You need to create a physical host record any time you need to replace a server or add a server to the provisioning system.

This procedure describes how to create new hosts by using the browser interface. You can also create hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.add – Creates a new host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Before You Begin

You must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.
Determine if the Remote Agent or Local Distributor software has been installed on the server.

The host record can be created when Remote Agent and Local Distributor software has not been installed. However, if you plan to use the host for other operations, the Remote Agents and Local Distributors must be running.

To install the Remote Agent and Local Distributor software, see the N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Installation Guide.
Determine if the Remote Agent or Local Distributor has been started.

The host record can be created when Remote Agents and Local Distributors are not running. However, if you plan to use the host for other operations, the Remote Agents and Local Distributors must be running.

See the Starting the N1 Grid Service Provisioning System Applications.
Ensure the parent host record has been created.

For each host, you need to define the connection between the physical host and the next host closer to the Master Server in the communication chain. Therefore, the host's parent must be added to the provisioning system before you can add the host itself.

Note –
The Master Server is created by the system during installation. You will not need to manually create the Master Server before creating other physical hosts.

Steps

Go to the Hosts page.

See How to View Hosts.

In the Host text box, type a name for the new host.

From the menu, select a host type for the host.

In the Description text box, type a brief description of the new host.

Click Create.

The Edit page for the new host is displayed.

Ensure that the host name, description, and host type display properly.

(Optional) Update the host-type attribute values.

If the host type that you selected has attributes associated with it, the host's Edit page lists the attributes and default values in the attribute table. To assign a non-default value to an attribute, select the checkbox next to the default value. In the text box that appears, type the new attribute value.

Indicate that you are creating a physical host by selecting Physical Host.

Indicate the type of provisioning system application that is installed on this host.

Configure the connection type, network address, and parent information for this host.

Note –
For information on configuring SSL and SSH network connections, see Chapter 6, Configuring the N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 to Use Secure Shell, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Installation Guide, or Chapter 7, Configuring the N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 for SSL, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Installation Guide.

(Optional) To add this host to a host set, click Add to Host Sets in the Host Relationships area of the page.

In the window that appears, select the host set to which you want to add the host.

For more information on host sets, see About Host Sets.

(Optional) To hide the host, select Hidden at the bottom of the page.

Click Save.

Preparing a Physical Host

You might need to re-prepare a physical host in the following scenarios.

A new system service component is installed in the Master Server that needs to be deployed to the host.

This scenario is likely to occur if a new plug-in is imported.
The host's operating system has been upgraded and new system service components are required.

Whenever an operating system is upgraded, prepare the host again. The Master Server might not recognize that the host needs to be prepared again until the next time you attempt to perform an operation on the host.

The browser interface provides several options for when and how to prepare a host. You can prepare a host at the following times.

When you create the host
When you view the host's details
When you view the Hosts table

The browser interface will also prompt you to prepare a host if you attempt to perform an operation on an unprepared host.

How to Prepare a Physical Host

This procedure provides instructions for preparing a host through the Hosts table. This option allows you to prepare several hosts at the same time, which can be useful when you update the entire network after a provisioning system upgrade.

You can also prepare hosts by using the following command.

pe.h.prep – Prepares a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Before You Begin

Before you can prepare a physical host, you must create the host in the provisioning system. For more information on creating a physical host, see How to Create a Physical Host Record.

To prepare a physical host, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Hosts page.

See How to View Hosts.

From the Hosts page, select Indicate Un-prepared Hosts above the Hosts table.

The Hosts table reloads. Hosts that need to be prepared are highlighted in yellow.

Select each host that you need to prepare.

You can prepare more than one host at a time.

In the last row of the Hosts Table, click Prepare Host.

A window appears and provides the status for the host preparation. When the host preparation completes successfully, the window automatically closes. If host preparation fails, error messages appear in the content frame.

Virtual Hosts

A virtual host represents a service that acts as a host for other services.

Virtual Host Characteristics

Multiple virtual hosts can exist on a single physical server.
Every virtual host has a parent host, which can be either a physical host or another virtual host.
Virtual hosts can be nested arbitrarily, although the outermost parent host must be a physical host.
You can run comparisons against virtual hosts.
In most cases, virtual hosts will be created as a by-product of installing plug-in related components.

Note –
To determine if a component will create a host, view the component's Details page. If the Creates Host field has a location listed, the component will create a host at that location upon component installation.

Virtual hosts represent logical deployment targets. For example, a WebLogic virtual host can represent a WebLogic application server as a deployment target.

The virtual host provides an interface between the component being deployed (in this example, the web application) and the component being targeted (in this example, the application server).

Rather than deploy web applications directly to WebLogic, which would entail working with the application server's custom administrative console on each host, by using the virtual hosts within the provisioning system, you can deploy a web application to the virtual host and the virtual host will provide WebLogic with specific configuration information. This functionality is particularly useful if you need to deploy a web application to several hosts at once.

The following list includes examples of information supplied to a virtual host and used in the interaction between a virtual host and the service running on a remote machine.

user name and password for the service
port numbers
connection types

By using the provisioning system rather than performing deployments manually, you can receive the following benefits.

Simultaneous deployments to all hosts in a host set.
Version control that tracks all deployment and configuration data for reference, reconstruction, and automated rollback to previous states.
Logging and reporting that creates detailed logs of every action taken by the system across all applications and managed servers. These logs provide a complete audit history of every change made to every host.
Differential deployments that enable delta-only distribution of large content directories, thereby speeding up deployments significantly and optimizing incremental directory updates.

Virtual hosts are also useful for maintaining multiple instances of an application on a single physical host. These hosts establish a clear distinction between physical servers and the applications running on them. This distinction is especially useful when managing multiple applications that must interact with one another to function.

Because each virtual host represents a specific service, do not attempt to migrate a virtual host definition to another server. For example, if you need to migrate your WebLogic application server to a new physical host, migrate the application and create a new virtual host. If you attempt to migrate the virtual host to a different physical host, the Master Server will contain records with inaccurate information about the migrated application server.

Targetable Components

Hosts can be created manually or they can be created by a special type of component, the targetable component. Targetable components are available with many of the third-party plug-ins.

The targetable component represents a service that components and plans need to use as an installation or call target. When a targetable component is installed, the component creates the virtual or physical host, which acts as the interface between the targetable component and the other components and plans.

When the targetable component is installed, the host is created with a predefined set of information. This information set includes the following values.

Host name
Host type with default values

This host type is included with the plug-in.
Type of host: physical or virtual
The ID of the targetable component that created the host

After the targetable component creates the host, you can modify the host's description and host-type attributes.

If a new version of the targetable component is installed, the targetable component's host is updated with the new targetable component information.

When the targetable component is uninstalled, the host that it created is also deleted.

How to Create a Virtual Host Manually

For information about virtual hosts and their uses, see Virtual Hosts.

This procedure describes how to create virtual hosts by using the browser interface. You can also create virtual hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.add – Creates a new host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Before You Begin

Before you add a virtual host, you need to have a physical host setup that will contain the virtual host. You also need to have the deployment target set up.

To create a virtual host, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Hosts page.

See How to View Hosts.

In the top row of the Hosts table, perform the following steps.
1. Type a name for the new host in the Host text box.
2. From the menu, select a host type for the host.
3. Type a brief description of the new host in the Description text box.
4. Click Create.
The Edit page for the new host is displayed.

Ensure that the host name, description, and host type display properly.

If necessary, update the host-type attribute values.

If the host type that you selected has attributes associated with it, the Edit page lists the attributes and default values in the attribute table. To assign a custom value to an attribute, click the checkbox next to the default value. In the text box that appears, type the new attribute value.

Indicate that you are creating a virtual host by selecting Virtual Host.

Type the name of the parent host or click Select from List to select the host name from the window that appears.

Every virtual host has a parent host that is either a physical host or a virtual host. Virtual hosts can be nested arbitrarily, although the outermost parent host must be a physical host.

(Optional) To add this host to a host set, click Add to Host Sets in the Host Relationships area of the page.

Select the host set to which you want to add the host.

Click Save.

How to Create a Host With a Targetable Component

This procedure describes how to use a targetable component to create hosts by using the browser interface. You can also create hosts from targetable components by using the following commands.

pdb.p.genplan – Creates the plan from the install component procedure.
pe.p.run – Runs the plan.
hdb.h.mod – Configures the host.

Before You Begin

To create a virtual host with a targetable component, you must have Run Component Procedures and Allow of Host Sets permissions.

Steps

Install the targetable component.

Go to the Hosts page to see the new host and click Details.

(Optional) Update the host's description.

If necessary, update the host-type attribute values.

If the host type that you selected has attributes associated with it, the Edit page lists the attributes and default values in the attribute table. To assign a custom value to an attribute, click the checkbox next to the default value. In the text box that appears, type the new attribute value.

Click Save.

If the new host is a physical host, prepare the host.

See How to Prepare a Physical Host.

Viewing Hosts

When you view hosts, you see the list of virtual and physical hosts along with text describing the host. If the host is physical, information about the server's operating system is also displayed.

You might need to view hosts in the following situations.

You need to determine which hosts are currently registered in the provisioning system.
You need to know which hosts represent a particular host search.

You can filter hosts according to a host search. For more information on host searches, see About Host Searches.
You need to determine each host's functional role within the provisioning system.

For example, if a host is a Remote Agent, you have control to actively manage applications and components on that host. If the host is only a Local Distributor, you do not manage the host because it is merely a conduit for data to Remote Agents.

How to View Hosts

This procedure describes how to view hosts by using the browser interface. You can also view hosts by using the following commands.

hdb.h.la – Displays all hosts.
hdb.h.lo – Displays detailed information about a particular host.

For a detailed description of these commands, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Steps

From the navigation menu, choose Host Setup.

The Hosts Setup page is displayed.

In the Hosts Setup page, click Hosts.

The Hosts page lists all the unhidden hosts.

(Optional) To include the hidden hosts, select Show Hidden Hosts in the upper right corner of the page.

(Optional) View more information about a host or host search.
- To view the details of a specific host, click Details in the row listing the host that you want to view.
  
  The Details page presents the configuration details of the host.
- If you would like to view the list of hosts in a particular host search, you can select the host search from the menu above the hosts table.
  
  The browser interface displays the list of hosts that belong to the selected host search.
Note –
If a host was created by a targetable component, the component name displays next to the Created by Component label.

Editing Hosts

You can modify host information after the host has been added to the provisioning system. Hosts are locked when a user saves a modification to prevent different users from simultaneously updating the same host.

You might want to edit a host in the following situations.

You need to update the host-type attributes of a particular host.

See How to Modify Host-Type Attributes of a Host.
You want to add the host to or remove the host from a new or existing host set.

See How to Add a Host to or Remove a Host From a Host Set.

This task can also be performed from a host set's Details page. For more information, see How to Edit or Hide Host Sets.
You want to modify the host description.

See How to Modify a Host Description.

How to Modify Host-Type Attributes of a Host

This procedure describes how to modify host-type attributes by using the browser interface. You can also edit hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.mod – Modifies a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

For information about host-type attributes, see About Host Types.

Before You Begin

To modify host-type attributes, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Details page of the host you plan to edit.

See How to View Hosts.

On the Details page, click the Edit button near the bottom of the page.

To update the host's host-type attributes, select the attribute value you want to modify.

An Attribute Value field appears and is highlighted.

Type the new value in the Attribute Value field.

When you have finished your modifications, click Save.

How to Add a Host to or Remove a Host From a Host Set

This procedure describes how to modify a host's host set membership by using the browser interface. You can also edit hosts by using the following command.

hdb.hs.mod – Modifies a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Note –

You cannot perform this task on a host created by a targetable component.

Before You Begin

To modify a host's host set membership, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Details page of the host you plan to edit.

See How to View Hosts.

On the Details page, click the Edit button near the bottom of the page.

Update the host's host set membership.
- To add the host to a host set, click Add to Host Sets.
  
  The Add to Host Sets window appears.
  1. Select the host set to which you want to add the host.
    
    You can select multiple host sets at once.
  2. Click Add Host to Selected Host Sets.
- To remove a host from a host set, select the host set in the Member of Host Sets Field and click Remove from Selected Host Sets.

When you have finished your modifications, click Save.

How to Modify a Host Description

This procedure describes how to modify a host description by using the browser interface. You can also edit hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.mod – Modifies a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Before You Begin

To edit a host, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Details page of the host you plan to edit.

See How to View Hosts.

On the Details page, click the Edit button near the bottom of the page.

To change the host description, edit the text located in the Description text field.

When you have finished your modifications, click Save.

Hiding Hosts

Because the objects you store in the provisioning system are deeply interconnected, you cannot always delete a host. You can choose to hide objects that you are not currently using to keep your work space uncluttered.

Hiding an object does not make it inactive or unusable. For example, if a host is contained in a host set, hiding the host does not remove the host from the host set. Therefore, if you run a plan on the host set, the host will still be included in the plan run.

Note –

When you hide a host, the host is hidden for all users and user groups.

For information on deleting a host, see How to Delete a Host.

How to Hide a Host

This procedure describes how to hide hosts by using the browser interface. You can also hide hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.mod -hide true – Hides a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Before You Begin

To hide a host, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Details page of the host you plan to hide.

See How to View Hosts.

Click Edit.

Select Hidden at the bottom of the page.

Click Save.

The host no longer appears in the Hosts page.

(Optional) If you hide the host because you will no longer use it, verify that the host is not used in any host sets or found by a host search.

In the Host Relationships section of the host's Details page, verify that no host sets are listed in the Member of Host Sets box.

Note –
If a host search includes a hidden host and the host search is included in a host set, plans that are run on the host set will be run against the hidden host.

How to Display a Hidden Host

You might need to display a hidden host in the following situations.

You need to perform a task on a host that is hidden.
Your use of the host has changed and you now want to actively manage or delete it.

This procedure describes how to view hidden hosts by using the browser interface. You can also view hidden hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.la -sh true – Displays all hidden hosts.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Steps

Go to the Hosts page.

See How to View Hosts.

In the upper right corner of the Hosts page, select Show Hidden Hosts.

The Hosts page now lists hidden hosts as well as displayed hosts. Hidden hosts appear in a row colored dark gray.

(Optional) To remove the hide feature from this host, perform the following steps.
1. Find the row listing the host you want to view and click Details.
  
  A Details page for the host appears. The Details page presents the configuration details of the host.
2. Deselect Hidden at the bottom of the page.
3. Click Save.

Deleting a Host

By deleting a host, you remove the host from the provisioning system. If you want to keep the host but not view it, see How to Hide a Host.

When you delete a host, the provisioning system will also delete the following objects.

All virtual hosts nested in the host.
All component instances that were installed on the host.

Note –
If the component instances installed on the host were created from a resource that was originally collected from the host, the component is updated to remove the reference to the host.

You might want to delete a host in the following situations.

You need to decommission a server that was registered with the provisioning system.
You no longer want a record of the host.

How to Delete a Host

Caution –

Deleting a host is permanent and cannot be undone. Deleting a host might also be time consuming.

This procedure describes how to delete hosts by using the browser interface. You can also delete hosts by using the following command.

hdb.h.del – Deletes a host.

For a detailed description of this command, see Chapter 7, hdb: CLI Commands for Managing Hosts, in N1 Grid Service Provisioning System 5.0 Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

Note –

If the host that you want to delete was created by a targetable component, see How to Delete a Host Created by a Targetable Component.

Before You Begin

You cannot delete a host that is referenced by one of the following objects.

A comparison
A resource
A snapshot
A Remote Agent, Local Distributor, or CLI application
A targetable component

A host created by a targetable component cannot be deleted while the targetable component is still installed. However, if the parent host that contains the targetable component host is deleted, the targetable component host is also deleted.

To delete a host, you must belong to a user group that has Create, Edit, Delete permission on hosts.

Steps

Go to the Details page of the host that you plan to delete.

See How to View Hosts.

Click the Delete button to delete the selected host.

You are asked to verify that you want to delete the host.

Click the Continue to Delete button.

After the host has been deleted, the Hosts table no longer displays the host.

How to Delete a Host Created by a Targetable Component

This procedure describes how to delete a host that was created by a targetable component by using the browser interface. You can also delete hosts by using the following command.

pdb.p.genplan – Creates the plan from the uninstall component procedure.
pe.p.run – Runs the plan.

Before You Begin

To create a virtual host with a targetable component, you must have Run Component Procedures and Allow of Host Sets permissions.

Step

Uninstall the targetable component.

After the targetable component is uninstalled, the Hosts table no longer displays the host.

CLI Commands for Networking Hosts

The following net commands perform networking tasks related to hosts.

net.gencfg: Generates the Transport Configuration file for a provisioning system application. You will need to run this command manually if you updated the network configuration information of a host after the host was created.
net.ping: Checks connectivity to a Remote Agent or Local Distributor by executing the TCP/IP ping command.
net.traceroute: Determines the route to a Remote Agent or Distributor.