Rackspace Cloud Orchestration Templates User Guide

This guide provides tutorials for writing Orchestration templates for the Rackspace Cloud Orchestration service, built on OpenStack’s Heat project.

Topics covered include bootstrapping software configuration, such as using Ansible, as well as information about interacting with Rackspace Cloud services that have resources provided through Orchestration templates.

Generic software config

Brief summary

If you have ever needed to configure a server with Heat, chances are you have written a user_data script inside of a OS::Nova::Server resource. The OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig resource is another way to configure a server. It provides several advantages over defining a user_data script.

One SoftwareConfig resource can be associated with many servers. Each time it is triggered, it can be run with different parameters. In addition, a SoftwareConfig resource can be updated and rerun without causing the server to be rebuilt.

SoftwareConfig can also be used to configure your server using configuration management software, such as Ansible or Puppet. In this tutorial, we will configure the server with a simple shell script.

Pre-reading

The following introductory material should give you enough background to proceed with this tutorial.

Example template

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  A template which demonstrates doing boot-time installation of the required
  files for script based software deployments.
  This template expects to be created with an environment which defines
  the resource type Heat::InstallConfigAgent such as
  ../boot-config/fedora_pip_env.yaml

parameters:

resources:

outputs:

Parameters section

Add a template parameter for the server image:

image:  
  type: string

Resources section

Add an OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig resource, which will be used to define a software configuration.

config:  
  type: OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig  
  properties:  
    group: script  
    inputs:  
    - name: foo  
    - name: bar  
    outputs:  
    - name: result  
    config: |  
      #!/bin/sh -x  
      echo "Writing to /tmp/$bar"  
      echo $foo > /tmp/$bar  
      echo -n "The file /tmp/$bar contains \`cat /tmp/$bar\` for server $deploy\_server\_id during $deploy\_action" > $heat\_outputs_path.result  
      echo "Written to /tmp/$bar"  
      echo "Output to stderr" 1>&2

The “group” property is used to specify the type of SoftwareConfig hook that will be used to deploy the configuration. Other SoftwareConfig hooks are available in the openstack/heat-templates repository on GitHub.

Add an OS::Heat::SoftwareDeployment resource, which will be used to associate a SoftwareConfig resource and a set of input values with the server to which it will be deployed.

deployment:  
  type: OS::Heat::SoftwareDeployment  
  properties:  
    signal_transport: TEMP\_URL\_SIGNAL  
    config:  
      get_resource: config  
    server:  
      get_resource: server  
    input_values:  
      foo: fooooo  
      bar: baaaaa

It is advisable to specify a “signal_transport” of “TEMP_URL_SIGNAL”, because Rackspace’s deployment of Heat does not support the other transports at this time. However, since this is the default transport on the Rackspace Cloud, it should be safe to omit.

Add an InstallConfigAgent resource, which will be mapped via the environment to a “provider” resource:

boot_config:  
  type: Heat::InstallConfigAgent

The purpose of this resource is to provide output for the user_data section that will be used to install the config agent on the Server resource below. See the Usage section below for more information on using this resource.

Add a Nova server key pair resource as a way to access the server to confirm deployment results:

ssh_key:  
  type: OS::Nova::KeyPair  
  properties:  
    name: private\_access\_key  
    save\_private\_key: true

Finally, add the OS::Nova::Server resource and reference the boot_config resource in the user_data section:

server:  
  type: OS::Nova::Server  
  properties:  
    image: 6f29d6a6-9972-4ae0-aa80-040fa2d6a9cf  \# Ubuntu 14.04  
    flavor: 2 GB Performance  
    key_name: { get_resource: ssh_key }  
    software\_config\_transport: POLL\_TEMP\_URL  
    user\_data\_format: SOFTWARE_CONFIG  
    user_data: {get_attr: \[boot_config, config\]}  
    config_drive: True

Outputs section

Add the following to your outputs section:

result:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[deployment, result\]  
stdout:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[deployment, deploy_stdout\]  
stderr:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[deployment, deploy_stderr\]  
status_code:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[deployment, deploy\_status\_code\]  
server_ip:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[server, accessIPv4\]  
private_key:  
  value:  
    get_attr: \[ssh_key, private_key\]

This will show the actual script output from the SoftwareConfig resource.

Full template

heat\_template\_version: 2014-10-16  
description: |  
  A template which demonstrates doing boot-time installation of the required  
  files for script based software deployments.  
  This template expects to be created with an environment which defines  
  the resource type Heat::InstallConfigAgent such as  
  ../boot-config/fedora\_pip\_env.yaml
parameters:

  image:  
    type: string

resources:

  config:  
    type: OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig  
    properties:  
      group: script  
      inputs:  
      - name: foo  
      - name: bar  
      outputs:  
      - name: result  
      config: |  
        #!/bin/sh -x  
        echo "Writing to /tmp/$bar"  
        echo $foo > /tmp/$bar  
        echo -n "The file /tmp/$bar contains \`cat /tmp/$bar\` for server $deploy\_server\_id during $deploy\_action" > $heat\_outputs_path.result  
        echo "Written to /tmp/$bar"  
        echo "Output to stderr" 1>&2

  deployment:  
    type: OS::Heat::SoftwareDeployment  
    properties:  
      signal_transport: TEMP\_URL\_SIGNAL  
      config:  
        get_resource: config  
      server:  
        get_resource: server  
      input_values:  
        foo: fooooo  
        bar: baaaaa

  boot_config:  
    type: Heat::InstallConfigAgent

  ssh_key:  
    type: OS::Nova::KeyPair  
    properties:  
      name: private\_access\_key  
      save\_private\_key: true

  server:  
    type: OS::Nova::Server  
    properties:  
      image: 6f29d6a6-9972-4ae0-aa80-040fa2d6a9cf  \# Ubuntu Ubuntu 14.04  
      flavor: 2 GB Performance  
      key_name: { get_resource: ssh_key }  
      software\_config\_transport: POLL\_TEMP\_URL  
      user\_data\_format: SOFTWARE_CONFIG  
      user_data: {get_attr: \[boot_config, config\]}  
      config_drive: True

outputs:  
  result:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[deployment, result\]  
  stdout:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[deployment, deploy_stdout\]  
  stderr:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[deployment, deploy_stderr\]  
  status_code:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[deployment, deploy\_status\_code\]  
  server_ip:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[server, accessIPv4\]  
  private_key:  
    value:  
      get_attr: \[ssh_key, private_key\]

Usage

Before you create the stack, you need an environment file that will define a Heat::InstallConfigAgent resource to tell Heat how to install the config agent on Ubuntu 14.04.

First, clone the heat-templates repository:

git clone https://github.com/openstack/heat-templates.git

The environment file you will use is located under heat-templates/hot/software-config/boot-config/ubuntu_pip_env.yaml. It will supply the image parameter to the template. A ready-made InstallConfigAgent resource for Fedora also exists in the heat-templates repository in case you want to use Fedora.

Then, issue the stack-create command with the template and environment file just created using python-heatclient:

heat --heat-url=https://dfw.orchestration.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1/$RS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER --os-username $RS_USER_NAME --os-password $RS_PASSWORD --os-tenant-id $RS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER --os-auth-url https://identity.api.rackspacecloud.com/v2.0/ stack-create -f generic-software-config.yaml -e heat-templates/hot/software-config/boot-config/ubuntu_pip_env.yaml generic-software-config1

Next, edit the template and perform a stack-update. Edit the SoftwareDeployment parameters in the template:

sed -i.bak -e 's/fooooo/fooooo1/' -e 's/baaaaa/baaaaa1/' generic-software-config.yaml

Issue the stack-update command:

heat --heat-url=https://dfw.orchestration.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1/$RS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER --os-username $RS_USER_NAME --os-password $RS_PASSWORD --os-tenant-id $RS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER --os-auth-url https://identity.api.rackspacecloud.com/v2.0/ stack-update -f generic-software-config.yaml -e heat-templates/hot/software-config/boot-config/ubuntu_pip_env.yaml generic-software-config1

Notice that the config agent re-runs the script without rebuilding the server. In a couple of minutes, a new file should exist alongside the original one: /tmp/fooooo1 with the content baaaaa1.

Reference documentation

Bootstrapping software config

Brief summary

In the Generic software config tutorial, you learned how to use Heat’s generic software configuration mechanism to treat the configuration of compute instances the same way you treat any other resource in your template. This tutorial goes into more detail about bootstrapping a pristine image for use with software config as well as show how you can then create your own image with the necessary tools pre-installed for easier use in future stacks.

Pre-reading

Make sure you completed the previous tutorial, Generic software config first as we will be using that example template as a basis for this tutorial. You will also need a very basic understanding of Heat template composition and Environments.

Following along

You will probably want to clone this repository (https://github.com/rackerlabs/rs-heat-docs/) in order to easily follow along. Otherwise, you may need to modify some of the commands to point to the correct locations of various templates and environments. You may also have to modify the environment file to point to the correct bootconfig_all.yaml.

Modifying the example template

We have started by making a copy of the original example template and saving it as software_config_custom_image.yaml. We then removed resources from the resource section except for the parts that bootstrap the instance as well as the server itself. The following resources were removed from the template:

  • config
  • deployment
  • other_deployment

We revised the outputs section so that we can easily access the server’s IP address and root credentials (we will explain a little more in the next section):

outputs:

  server_ip:
    value: { get_attr: [ server, addresses, public, 0, addr ] }
    description: IP address of the server

  admin_password:
    value: { get_attr: [ admin_password, value ] }
    description: Root password to the server

We left the parameters, description, and heat_template_version sections as-is.

Modify the server

We added an OS::Heat::RandomString resource to generate a random root password for the instance so that we can log into the instance after the stack is complete. This is so that we can make some small modifications later if we want to create an image we can reuse the next time we want to apply software config to a server.

admin_password:
  type: OS::Heat::RandomString

Since we are not actually deploying any software config to the instance, we can just use cloud-init to do our installation. To do this, we will clean up some of this from the server resource by removing the software_config_transport property and changing the user_data_format to RAW. We will also pass in the generated password to the instance:

server:
  type: OS::Nova::Server
  properties:
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    admin_pass: { get_attr: [ admin_password, value ] }
    image: { get_param: image }
    flavor: 2 GB Performance
    user_data_format: RAW
    user_data: {get_attr: [boot_config, config]}

Your template should now look like:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16
description: |
  A template that creates a server bootstrapped for use
  with Heat Software Config

parameters:

  image:
    type: string

resources:

  boot_config:
    type: Heat::InstallConfigAgent

  admin_password:
    type: OS::Heat::RandomString

  server:
    type: OS::Nova::Server
    properties:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      admin_pass: { get_attr: [ admin_password, value ] }
      image: { get_param: image }
      flavor: 2 GB Performance
      user_data_format: RAW
      user_data: {get_attr: [boot_config, config]}

outputs:

  server_ip:
    value: { get_attr: [ server, addresses, public, 0, addr ] }
    description: IP address of the server

  admin_password:
    value: { get_attr: [ admin_password, value ] }
    description: Root password to the server

The Heat::InstallConfigAgent resource

You will notice that this resource has no real properties or other configuration. That is because we use the Environment and Template Resource features of Heat so that we can create several bootstrap configurations and use them for different base images as required.

The configuration template

First, look at the template that we will use to provide the underlying definition for the boot_config resource. Since this template is a bit large, it will not be included in its entirety here, but it can always be found in the templates directory of this repository as bootconfig_all.yaml.

In Generic Software Config, we used the same mechanism to bootstrap our clean instance using a template provided by the OpenStack Heat project. While that works well, the repository used is laid out for maximum reusability, so it can be hard to follow what is actually going on in the template. For this tutorial, we’ve “de-normalized” the bootstrap template to more easily explain the different sections and what they do.

Before we dive in, also note that there is nothing special about this template. Heat allows for and encourages template composition so that you can abstract and reuse parts of your application architecture. Having said that, we will not talk at all about basic things like descriptions or versions, but rather go over the resources and how they prepare the instance for use with Heat Software Config.

Install the basics

The first resource is the most complex and uses cloud-init to lay down the needed software, scripts, and configuration needed. Since there is a lot going on here, we will break down the actual cloud-config rather than the resource wrapping it.

First, we install the supporting software packages:

apt_upgrade: true
apt-sources:
- source: "ppa:ansible/ansible"
packages:
- python-pip
- git
- gcc
- python-dev
- libyaml-dev
- libssl-dev
- libffi-dev
- libxml2-dev
- libxslt1-dev
- python-apt
- ansible
- salt-minion

The next section writes several files. The first four are fairly generic and are to configure the base OpenStack agents os-collect-config, os-apply-config, and os-refresh-config. Note that these agents are actually installed in a separate section described later. You can read more about these agents in the reference sections. Their job is to coordinate the reading, running, and updating of the software configuration that will be sent via Heat.

Following are a few files that tell the generic OpenStack agents how to handle configurations received from Heat. The script written to /opt/stack/os-config-refresh/configure.d/55-heat-config is executed when a config is to be applied or refreshed. It is this script that decides which config handler agent to call to apply the configuration (shell script, Ansible, Puppet, Salt, and so forth).

The script written to /var/lib/heat-config/hooks/script is the default config handler agent that executes the configuration in the default group and assumes the configuration is a shell script.

The other available agent handlers are written similarly using the same root hooks directory (/var/lib/heat-config/hooks) and using the name of the config group handled as the file name. In our example, we have included handlers for using configurations in the default, Ansible, Salt, and Puppet config groups. You can customize this for your needs by removing handlers you do not want or adding additional ones from https://github.com/openstack/heat-templates/tree/master/hot/software-config/elements. Note that you may also need to add required packages to the packages or runcmd sections of the cloud-config if you add additional handlers.

The final section installs puppet for the puppet group handler and then runs the commands that bootstrap the generic OpenStack agents.

runcmd:
- wget https://apt.puppetlabs.com/puppetlabs-release-trusty.deb
- dpkg -i puppetlabs-release-trusty.deb
- apt-get update
- apt-get install puppet
- os-collect-config --one-time --debug
- cat /etc/os-collect-config.conf
- os-collect-config --one-time --debug
Install the generic agents

The actual generic OpenStack agents are installed using Python pip since there aren’t any reliable packages for them on the Ubuntu operating system.

install_agents:
  type: "OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig"
  properties:
    group: ungrouped
    config: |
      #!/bin/bash
      set -eux
      pip install os-collect-config os-apply-config os-refresh-config dib-utils
Configure the agents service

Next, we declare a config resource to create the service configuration (upstart or systemd) that will start the collection agent and ensure that it runs on boot:

start:
  type: "OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig"
  properties:
    group: ungrouped
    config: |
      #!/bin/bash
      set -eux

      if [[ `systemctl` =~ -\.mount ]]; then

          # if there is no system unit file, install a local unit
          if [ ! -f /usr/lib/systemd/system/os-collect-config.service ]; then

              cat <<EOF >/etc/systemd/system/os-collect-config.service
      [Unit]
      Description=Collect metadata and run hook commands.

      [Service]
      ExecStart=/usr/bin/os-collect-config
      Restart=on-failure

      [Install]
      WantedBy=multi-user.target
      EOF

      cat <<EOF >/etc/os-collect-config.conf
      [DEFAULT]
      command=os-refresh-config
      EOF
          fi

          # enable and start service to poll for deployment changes
          systemctl enable os-collect-config
          systemctl start --no-block os-collect-config
      elif [[ `/sbin/init --version` =~ upstart ]]; then
          if [ ! -f /etc/init/os-collect-config.conf ]; then

              cat <<EOF >/etc/init/os-collect-config.conf
      start on runlevel [2345]
      stop on runlevel [016]
      respawn

      # We're logging to syslog
      console none

      exec os-collect-config  2>&1 | logger -t os-collect-config
      EOF
          fi
          initctl reload-configuration
          service os-collect-config start
      else
          echo "ERROR: only systemd or upstart supported" 1>&2
          exit 1
      fi
Combine and expose the configs

Finally, the configurations are all combined into a single multi-part-mime so that they can be output as a single file for use in user-data:

install_config_agent:
  type: "OS::Heat::MultipartMime"
  properties:
    parts:
    - config: { get_resource: configure }
    - config: { get_resource: install_agents }
    - config: { get_resource: start }
outputs:
  config:
    value: { get_resource: install_config_agent }

The environment file

The environment file that we will send as part of our stack-create call is quite simple:

# Installs software-config agents for the Ubuntu operating system with pip install

parameters:
  image: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)

resource_registry:
  "Heat::InstallConfigAgent": bootconfig_all.yaml

This sets the image parameter value to “Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)” and maps the resource namespace Heat::InstallConfigAgent to the template resource we created in the previous section. If you have used another file name or want to use the one included in this repository, be sure to change this mapping to point to the appropriate location.

Deploy the bootstrapped instance

All that is left to do is to deploy the template:

heat stack-create -f templates/software_config_custom_image.yaml -e templates/bootconfig.all.env.yaml sw_config_base

Wait for the stack to be CREATE_COMPLETE and you have a basic vm configured for use with Heat software config. You can stop here and modify this template to actually deploy software configurations to your server using OS::Heat::SoftwareConfig and OS::Heat::SoftwareDeployment using “clean” images. However you may prefer to continue directly to the next section, since it explains how you can use this bootstrapped instance to create your own image pre-configured for use with Heat software config. Also, future advanced tutorials, such as Using Ansible with Heat later in this guide, will make use of this pre-bootstrapped image, so that is another reason you may want to continue directly to the next section.

Custom Image

Remove cloud-init artifacts

In order for cloud-init to run on machines booted from the new image, we will need to remove some artifacts from the current vm left over from the initial bootstrapping. First, retrieve the root password from the stack:

heat output-show sw_config_base admin_password

Now, log into the server via ssh by issuing the following command:

ssh root@$(heat output-show sw_config_base server_ip)

Enter the password you retrieved previously.

Once logged into the server, run the following commands to remove the artifacts created by cloud-init when it bootstrapped this server:

  • rm /var/lib/cloud/instance
  • rm -rf /var/lib/cloud/instances/*
  • rm -rf /var/lib/cloud/data/*
  • rm /var/lib/cloud/sem/config_scripts_per_once.once
  • rm /var/log/cloud-init.log
  • rm /var/log/cloud-init-output.log

Snapshot your bootstrapped server

Now we can create an image of our server. First, log into the Rackspace Cloud control panel and under Orchestration, find the sw_config_base stack. Viewing the details, you should see the server listed in the Infrastructure section. Select that server to view its details. Under the Actions button, select Create an Image and name it “Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (HEAT)”.

Once this process is complete, you are all done!

Using your new image

We will make use of this new image in our future tutorials on using Heat software config, but in summary, you can omit using the Heat::InstallConfigAgent resource once you have this image. Instead, set the image property of any servers you want to configure this way to “Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (HEAT)” and the user_data_format property to “SOFTWARE_CONFIG” and it should just work!

Reference documentation

Customizing Rackspace supported templates for RackConnect V3 customers

Note: This document assumes that the reader is familiar with HOT specification. If that is not the case, please go to the References section given at the end of this tutorial for the HOT specification link.

Brief summary

Rackspace supported templates are not currently supported for RackConnect V3 customers. This document outlines the steps needed to make a template work in a rackconnected V3 account.

Prerequisite

Some of the Rackspace supported templates use the ChefSolo resource. If you are customizing a template that contains the ChefSolo resource, make sure that rackconnected servers can access the internet. This is required because the ChefSolo resource downloads chef from the internet. Please contact the RackConnect Customer Service to update outbound NAT for your RackConnect account.

Customizing a template

1. Clone the template repository you want to customize into your public personal github account. This repository must be accessible to the public without any authentication.

2. A template repository may have multiple template files (a template can have multiple child templates). Find all the template files ending with .yaml (except rackspace.yaml).

3. In the template files, find all the places where the OS::Nova::Server resource is being used and provide servicenet and RackConnect networks to that server resource.

server:
  type: "OS::Nova::Server"
  properties:
    name: test-server
    flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
    image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
    networks:
    - network: <rackconnect_network_name>
    - uuid: 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111

4. Find all the references to the OS::Heat::ChefSolo resource and use the servicenet/private IP of the rackconnected server instead of the public IP.

5. Inside the template, if any rackconnected server is connecting/communicating with other rackconnected servers, then use the rackconnected IP instead of the servicenet or public IP.

Example (customized template)

For example consider customizing the mongodb template.

1. Rackspace supported mongodb template that doesn’t work for RackConnect V3 customers is available at https://github.com/rackspace-orchestration-templates/mongodb-replset

2. Cloned and customized template repository is available at https://github.com/vikomall/mongodb-replset

3. List of changes made to the original template can be seen at https://github.com/rackspace-orchestration-templates/mongodb-replset/compare/master…vikomall:master

Reference

Rackspace Cloud Files CDN using Heat

Brief summary

A CDN-enabled container is a public container that is served by the Akamai content delivery network. The files in a CDN-enabled container are publicly accessible and do not require an authentication token for read access. However uploading content into a CDN-enabled container is a secure operation and does require a valid authentication token. (Private containers are not CDN-enabled and the files in a private container are not publicly accessible.)

You can download the full template for this example from this repository’s templates directory.

Prerequisite(s):

You should be familiar with general Heat template authoring and resource usage.

Example Template

This is a simple template that will illustrate using the Rackspace::Cloud::CloudFilesCDN resource to enable CDN functionality on a Cloud Files container.

As always, we start with a basic template outline:

heat_template_version: 2015-10-15

description: |
  Test Cloud Files CDN

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

We only need two simple resources for this template:

resources:

  container:
    type: OS::Swift::Container
    properties:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

  container_cdn:
    type: Rackspace::Cloud::CloudFilesCDN
    properties:
      container: { get_resource: container }
      ttl: 3600

The container resource simply creates a new Cloud Files container while the container_cdn resource activates CDN functionality for that container. The container property defines the container to enable while the ttl property tells the CDN service how long to cache objects.

Outputs section

We will use the outputs section to get relevant information from the CDN configuration:

outputs:

  show:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, show ] }
    description: |
      Show all attributes of the CDN configuration for the
      container.

  cdn_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, cdn_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for downloading the object over HTTP. This URI can be combined
      with any object name within the container to form the publicly
      accessible URI for that object for distribution over a CDN system.

  ssl_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, ssl_uri ] }
    description: The URI for downloading the object over HTTPS, using SSL.

  streaming_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, streaming_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for video streaming that uses HTTP Dynamic Streaming from Adobe.

  ios_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, ios_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for video streaming that uses HTTP Live Streaming from Apple.

Full example template

heat_template_version: 2015-10-15

description: |
  Test Cloud Files CDN

resources:

  container:
    type: OS::Swift::Container
    properties:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

  container_cdn:
    type: Rackspace::Cloud::CloudFilesCDN
    properties:
      container: { get_resource: container }
      ttl: 3600

outputs:

  show:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, show ] }
    description: |
      Show all attributes of the CDN configuration for the
      container.

  cdn_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, cdn_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for downloading the object over HTTP. This URI can be combined
      with any object name within the container to form the publicly
      accessible URI for that object for distribution over a CDN system.

  ssl_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, ssl_uri ] }
    description: The URI for downloading the object over HTTPS, using SSL.

  streaming_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, streaming_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for video streaming that uses HTTP Dynamic Streaming from Adobe.

  ios_url:
    value: { get_attr: [ container_cdn, ios_uri ] }
    description: |
      The URI for video streaming that uses HTTP Live Streaming from Apple.

Reference

SwiftSignal and SwiftSignalHandle

Brief summary

SwiftSignal can be used to coordinate resource creation with notifications/signals that could be coming from sources external or internal to the stack. It is often used in conjunction with SwiftSignalHandle resource.

SwiftSignalHandle is used to create a temporary URL and this URL is used by applications/scripts to send signals. SwiftSignal resource waits on this URL for a specified number of signals in a given time.

Example template

In the following example template, we will set up a single node Linux server that signals success/failure of user_data script execution at a given URL.

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Single node linux server with swift signaling.

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add a SwiftSignalHandle resource

SwiftSignalHandle is a resource to create a temporary URL to receive notification/signals. Note that the temporary URL is created using Rackspace Cloud Files.

signal_handle:
  type: "OS::Heat::SwiftSignalHandle"
Add SwiftSignal resource

The SwiftSignal resource waits for a specified number of “SUCCESS” signals (number is provided by the count property) on the given URL (handle property). The stack will be marked as a failure if the specified number of signals are not received in the given timeout or if a non “SUCCESS” signal is received such as a “FAILURE”. A data string and a reason string may be attached along with the success or failure notification. The data string is an attribute that can be pulled as template output.

wait_on_server:
  type: OS::Heat::SwiftSignal
  properties:
    handle: {get_resource: signal_handle}
    count: 1
    timeout: 600

Here SwiftSignal resource would wait for 600 seconds to receive 1 signal on the handle.

Add a Server resource

Add a Linux server with a bash script in the user_data property. At the end of the script execution, send a success/failure message to the temporary URL created by the above SwiftSignalHandle resource.

linux_server:
  type: OS::Nova::Server
  properties:
    image: 4b14a92e-84c8-4770-9245-91ecb8501cc2
    flavor: 1 GB Performance
    user_data:
      str_replace:
        template: |
          #!/bin/bash -x
          # assume you are doing a long running operation here
          sleep 300

          # Assuming long running operation completed successfully, notify success signal
          wc_notify --data-binary '{"status": "SUCCESS", "data": "Script execution succeeded"}'

          # Alternatively if operation fails a FAILURE with reason and data may be sent,
          # notify failure signal example below
          # wc_notify --data-binary '{"status": "FAILURE", "reason":"Operation failed due to xyz error", "data":"Script execution failed"}'

        params:
          # Replace all occurances of "wc_notify" in the script with an
          # appropriate curl PUT request using the "curl_cli" attribute
          # of the SwiftSignalHandle resource
          wc_notify: { get_attr: ['signal_handle', 'curl_cli']

Outputs section

Add swift signal URL to the outputs section.

#Get the signal URL which contains all information passed to the signal handle
signal_url:
  value: { get_attr: ['signal_handle', 'curl_cli'] }
  description: Swift signal URL

#Obtain data describing script results. If nothing is passed, this value will be NULL
signal_data:
  value: { get_attr: ['wait_on_server', 'data'] }
  description: Data describing script results

server_public_ip:
  value:{ get_attr: [ linux_server, accessIPv4 ] }
  description: Linux server public IP

Full example template

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Single node linux server with swift signaling.

resources:

  signal_handle:
    type: "OS::Heat::SwiftSignalHandle"

  wait_on_server:
    type: OS::Heat::SwiftSignal
    properties:
      handle: {get_resource: signal_handle}
      count: 1
      timeout: 600

  linux_server:
    type: OS::Nova::Server
    properties:
      image: 4b14a92e-84c8-4770-9245-91ecb8501cc2
      flavor: 1 GB Performance
      user_data:
        str_replace:
          template: |
            #!/bin/bash -x
            # assume you are doing a long running operation here
            sleep 300

            # Assuming long running operation completed successfully, notify success signal
            wc_notify --data-binary '{"status": "SUCCESS", "data": "Script execution succeeded"}'

            # Alternatively if operation fails a FAILURE with reason and data may be sent,
            # notify failure signal example below
            # wc_notify --data-binary '{"status": "FAILURE", "reason":"Operation failed due to xyz error", "data":"Script execution failed"}'

          params:
            wc_notify: { get_attr: ['signal_handle', 'curl_cli'] }

outputs:
  #Get the signal URL which contains all information passed to the signal handle
  signal_url:
    value: { get_attr: ['signal_handle', 'curl_cli'] }
    description: Swift signal URL

  #Obtain data describing script results. If nothing is passed, this value will be NULL
  signal_data:
    value: { get_attr: ['wait_on_server', 'data'] }
    description: Data describing script results

  server_public_ip:
    value: { get_attr: [ linux_server, accessIPv4 ] }
    description: Linux server public IP

Reference

Rackspace Cloud Server

Note: This document assumes that the reader is familiar with HOT specification. If that is not the case, please go to the References section listed at the end of this tutorial for the HOT specification link.

Brief summary

Rackspace Cloud Servers can be created, updated, and deleted using Cloud Orchestration.

A basic template to create a server is shown below

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16
resources:
  test_server:
    type: "OS::Nova::Server"
    properties:
      name: test-server
      flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
      image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)

OS::Nova::Server properties

The complete list of properties that can be provided to a server resource follows below:

admin_pass: {Description: The administrator password for the server., Type: String}
admin_user: {Description: 'Name of the administrative user to use on the server.
    The default cloud-init user set up for each image (e.g. "ubuntu" for Ubuntu
    12.04+, "fedora" for Fedora 19+ and "cloud-user" for CentOS/RHEL 6.5).', Type: String}
availability_zone: {Description: Name of the availability zone for server placement.,
  Type: String}
block_device_mapping: {Description: Block device mappings for this server., Type: CommaDelimitedList}
block_device_mapping_v2: {Description: Block device mappings v2 for this server.,
  Type: CommaDelimitedList}
config_drive:
  AllowedValues: ['True', 'true', 'False', 'false']
  Description: If True, enable config drive on the server.
  Type: Boolean
diskConfig:
  AllowedValues: [AUTO, MANUAL]
  Description: Control how the disk is partitioned when the server is created.
  Type: String
flavor: {Description: The ID or name of the flavor to boot onto., Type: String}
flavor_update_policy:
  AllowedValues: [RESIZE, REPLACE]
  Default: RESIZE
  Description: Policy on how to apply a flavor update; either by requesting a server
    resize or by replacing the entire server.
  Type: String
image: {Description: The ID or name of the image to boot with., Type: String}
image_update_policy:
  AllowedValues: [REBUILD, REPLACE, REBUILD_PRESERVE_EPHEMERAL]
  Default: REBUILD
  Description: Policy on how to apply an image-id update; either by requesting a
    server rebuild or by replacing the entire server
  Type: String
key_name: {Description: Name of keypair to inject into the server., Type: String}
metadata: {Description: Arbitrary key/value metadata to store for this server. Both
    keys and values must be 255 characters or less.  Non-string values will be serialized
    to JSON (and the serialized string must be 255 characters or less)., Type: Json}
name: {Description: Server name., Type: String}
networks: {Description: 'An ordered list of nics to be added to this server, with
    information about connected networks, fixed ips, port etc.', Type: CommaDelimitedList}
personality:
  Default: {}
  Description: A map of files to create/overwrite on the server upon boot. Keys
    are file names and values are the file contents.
  Type: Json
reservation_id: {Description: A UUID for the set of servers being requested., Type: String}
scheduler_hints: {Description: Arbitrary key-value pairs specified by the client
    to help boot a server., Type: Json}
security_groups:
  Default: []
  Description: List of security group names or IDs. Cannot be used if neutron ports
    are associated with this server; assign security groups to the ports instead.
  Type: CommaDelimitedList
software_config_transport:
  AllowedValues: [POLL_SERVER_CFN, POLL_SERVER_HEAT, POLL_TEMP_URL]
  Default: POLL_TEMP_URL
  Description: How the server should receive the metadata required for software
    configuration. POLL_SERVER_CFN will allow calls to the cfn API action DescribeStackResource
    authenticated with the provided keypair. POLL_SERVER_HEAT will allow calls to
    the Heat API resource-show using the provided keystone credentials. POLL_TEMP_URL
    will create and populate a Swift TempURL with metadata for polling.
  Type: String
user_data: {Default: '', Description: User data script to be executed by cloud-init.,
  Type: String}
user_data_format:
  AllowedValues: [HEAT_CFNTOOLS, RAW, SOFTWARE_CONFIG]
  Default: HEAT_CFNTOOLS
  Description: How the user_data should be formatted for the server. For HEAT_CFNTOOLS,
    the user_data is bundled as part of the heat-cfntools cloud-init boot configuration
    data. For RAW the user_data is passed to Nova unmodified. For SOFTWARE_CONFIG
    user_data is bundled as part of the software config data, and metadata is derived
    from any associated SoftwareDeployment resources.
  Type: String

Known behaviors/issues

  1. A rackconnected customer must provide the rackconnected network ID in the networks property to create a server in a rackconnected region
  2. A rackconnected managed operations customer must provide the ServiceNet id in networks property if the server is created in a rackconnected region (RackConnect compatibility information)
  3. If a shell script is provided in user_data property, user_data_format property must be set to RAW.
  4. To inject data into the file system of the cloud server instance, provide file name and contents in personality property.
  5. Provide key_name to authenticate via key-based authentication instead of password-based authentication.
  6. Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer is very similar to OS::Nova::Server, but it does not work with Rackconnected accounts(both Rackconnect v2 and v3).

Example template-1

In the following example template, we will create a single Linux server using the Orchestration service. For the sake of simplicity, we will not use template parameters in this example.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud server using orchestration service.

resources:
  test_server:
    type: "OS::Nova::Server"
    properties:
      name: test-server
      flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
      image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
outputs:
  server_ip:
    value:
      get_attr: [test_server, accessIPv4]

Example template-2

In the following example template, we will create a single Linux server and provide user_data that can be used by a server when booting an image.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud server with user_data.

resources:
  test_server:
    type: "OS::Nova::Server"
    properties:
      name: test-server
      admin_pass: password1
      flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
      image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
      user_data_format: RAW
      user_data: |
          #!/bin/bash -x
          echo "hello world" > /root/hello-world.txt
outputs:
  server_ip:
    value:
      get_attr: [test_server, accessIPv4]

This template creates a server in the Rackspace cloud and during the server boot time, the script provided in the user_data property will be executed. Here the user_data script is creating a hello-world.txt file with ‘hello world’ as contents. You can login to the cloud server using admin_pass and verify whether the ‘hello-world.txt’ file exists or not.

Please note that if there was any error during execution of the script that was provided as user_data, then it will be silently ignored and the stack-creation will continue. To handle error scenarios, please take a look at SwiftSignal resource documentation.

Example template-3

In the following example template, we will create a single Linux server providing private key for SSH access.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud server with SSH access private key.

resources:
  ssh_key:
    type: OS::Nova::KeyPair
    properties:
      name: private_access_key
      save_private_key: true

  test_server:
    type: "OS::Nova::Server"
    properties:
      name: test-server
      flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
      image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
      key_name: { get_resource: ssh_key }
outputs:
  server_ip:
    value:
      get_attr: [test_server, accessIPv4]
  private_key:
    value:
      get_attr: [ssh_key, private_key]

This template first creates a Nova server key pair. Instead of using username/password, private_key can be used to access the server.

Example template-4

This template creates a single Linux server and installs the WordPress application on the server.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Create a Rackspace cloud server and install wordpress application.

resources:
  wordpress_server:
    type: "OS::Nova::Server"
    properties:
      name: test-server
      flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
      image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
      user_data_format: RAW
      user_data:
        str_replace:
          template: |
            #!/bin/bash -v
            yum -y install mysql-server httpd wordpress
            sed -i "/Deny from All/d" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
            sed -i "s/Require local/Require all granted/" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
            sed --in-place --e "s/localhost/%dbhost%/" --e "s/database_name_here/%dbname%/" --e "s/username_here/%dbuser%/" --e "s/password_here/%dbpass%/" /usr/share/wordpress/wp-config.php
            /etc/init.d/httpd start
            chkconfig httpd on
            /etc/init.d/mysqld start
            chkconfig mysqld on
            cat << EOF | mysql
            CREATE DATABASE %dbname%;
            GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON %dbname%.* TO "%dbuser%"@"localhost"
            IDENTIFIED BY "%dbpass%";
            FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
            EXIT
            EOF
            iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
            iptables-save > /etc/sysconfig/iptables
          params:
            "%dbhost%": localhost
            "%dbname%": wordpress
            "%dbuser%": admin
            "%dbpass%": test_pass
outputs:
  server_public_ip:
    value:
      get_attr: [wordpress_server, accessIPv4]
      description: The public ip address of the server

  website_url:
    value:
      str_replace:
        template: http://%ip%/wordpress
        params:
          "%ip%": { get_attr: [ wordpress_server, accessIPv4 ] }
    description: URL for Wordpress wiki

Please note that to keep the template simple, all the values were hard coded in the above template.

Reference

SecurityGroup and SecurityGroupAttachment

Brief summary

SecurityGroupAttachment is used to attach a security group to a port.

SecurityGroupAttachment resource is used in the following cases;

  1. If the user wanted to attach a security group to an operator-created port.
  2. The user created a port outside of a template and wanted to attach a security group to the port as part of a template.

Limitations / Known Issues

  1. In Rackspace cloud you cannot apply security groups to a port at boot time.
  2. Security groups can be applied to Rackspace Cloud Servers on Public and ServiceNet Neutron ports. They are not supported for Isolated Networks.
  3. Applying Security Groups to outbound traffic, or egress direction, is supported via the API only (via curl or neutron client).
  4. Limited to no more than 5 security groups per Neutron port. When a Neutron port has multiple security groups applied, the rules from each security group are effectively aggregated to dictate the rules for access on that port.
  5. RackConnect v3 customers are able to use Security Groups if you plan on using Cloud Load Balancers as part of your RackConnected environment. To enable Security Groups on RackConnect v3, please contact Rackspace Support.

Example template

In the following example template, we will create a Linux server and attach a security group to the public network port of the server.

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  A linux server with security group attached to public port.

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add a Server resource

Add a Linux server to the template.

server:
  type: OS::Nova::Server
  properties:
    image: 4b14a92e-84c8-4770-9245-91ecb8501cc2
    flavor: 1 GB Performance

This creates a server with the given image and flavor and also by default attaches public and ServiceNet to the server instance created.

Add SecurityGroup resource

A security group is a named container for security group rules, which provide Rackspace Public Cloud users the ability to specify the types of traffic that are allowed to pass through, to, and from ports (Public/ServiceNet) on a Cloud server instance.

security_group:
  type: OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup
  properties:
    name: the_sg
    description: Ping and SSH
    rules:
    - protocol: icmp
    - protocol: tcp
      port_range_min: 22
      port_range_max: 22
    - protocol: tcp
      port_range_min: 5000
      port_range_max: 5000

Here we added a rule for SSH traffic to the security group.

Add SecurityGroupAttachment resource

Now attach security group to the public network port of the server instance.

security_group_attachment:
  type: Rackspace::Neutron::SecurityGroupAttachment
  properties:
    port: { get_attr: [ server, addresses, public, 0, port ] }
    security_group: {get_resource: security_group}

Here we added a security group to public port of the server instance created.

Full Example Template

+heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  A linux server with security group attached to public port.

resources:
  server:
    type: OS::Nova::Server
    properties:
      image: 4b14a92e-84c8-4770-9245-91ecb8501cc2
      flavor: 1 GB Performance

  security_group:
    type: OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup
    properties:
      name: the_sg
      description: Ping and SSH
      rules:
      - protocol: icmp
      - protocol: tcp
        port_range_min: 22
        port_range_max: 22
      - protocol: tcp
        port_range_min: 5000
        port_range_max: 5000

  security_group_attachment:
    type: Rackspace::Neutron::SecurityGroupAttachment
    properties:
      port: { get_attr: [ server, addresses, public, 0, port ] }
      security_group: {get_resource: security_group}

Reference

Rackspace Cloud Load Balancer

Note: This document assumes that the reader is familiar with HOT specification. If that is not the case, please go to the References section listed at the end of this tutorial for HOT specification link.

Brief summary

A load balancer is used to distribute workloads between multiple back-end systems or services based on the criteria defined as part of its configuration.

Example load balancer template

A simple load balancer template is listed below.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud loadbalancer using orchestration service.

resources:
  api_loadbalancer:
    type: Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer
    properties:
      name: test_load_balancer
      metadata:
        rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      protocol: HTTPS
      port: 80
      algorithm: ROUND_ROBIN
      nodes: []
      virtualIps:
      - type: SERVICENET
        ipVersion: IPV4

Load balancer properties

The complete list of load balancer properties that can be provided to the resource follows.

accessList: {Type: CommaDelimitedList}
algorithm:
  AllowedValues: [LEAST_CONNECTIONS, RANDOM, ROUND_ROBIN, WEIGHTED_LEAST_CONNECTIONS,
    WEIGHTED_ROUND_ROBIN]
  Type: String
connectionLogging:
  AllowedValues: ['True', 'true', 'False', 'false']
  Type: Boolean
connectionThrottle: {Type: Json}
contentCaching:
  AllowedValues: [ENABLED, DISABLED]
  Type: String
errorPage: {Type: String}
halfClosed:
  AllowedValues: ['True', 'true', 'False', 'false']
  Type: Boolean
healthMonitor: {Type: Json}
httpsRedirect:
  AllowedValues: ['True', 'true', 'False', 'false']
  Default: false
  Description: Enables or disables HTTP to HTTPS redirection for the load balancer.
    When enabled, any HTTP request returns status code 301 (Moved Permanently),
    and the requester is redirected to the requested URL via the HTTPS protocol
    on port 443. Only available for HTTPS protocol (port=443), or HTTP protocol
    with a properly configured SSL termination (secureTrafficOnly=true, securePort=443).
  Type: Boolean
metadata: {Type: Json}
name: {Type: String}
nodes:
  Type: CommaDelimitedList
  Required: True
port:
  Type: Number
  Required: True
protocol:
  AllowedValues: [DNS_TCP, DNS_UDP, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAPS, IMAPv4, LDAP, LDAPS,
    MYSQL, POP3, POP3S, SMTP, TCP, TCP_CLIENT_FIRST, UDP, UDP_STREAM, SFTP]
  Type: String
  Required: True
sessionPersistence:
  AllowedValues: [HTTP_COOKIE, SOURCE_IP]
  Type: String
sslTermination: {Type: Json}
timeout: {MaxValue: 120, MinValue: 1, Type: Number}
virtualIps:
  MinLength: 1
  Type: CommaDelimitedList
  Required: True

Example template with load balancer

In the following example template, we will create a multi node WordPress application with two Linux servers, one Trove (DBaaS) instance, and one load balancer.

First add a database instance resource (OS::Trove::Instance) to the template.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud server with user_data.

resources:
  db:
    type: OS::Trove::Instance
    properties:
      name: wordpress
      flavor: 1GB Instance
      size: 30
      users:
      - name: admin
        password: admin
        databases:
        - wordpress
      databases:
      - name: wordpress

This template creates a database instance with the name wordpress and admin as the username and password.

Now add two server resources and install WordPress application.

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Creating Rackspace cloud server with SSH access private key.

resources:
  web_nodes:
    type: OS::Heat::ResourceGroup
    properties:
      count: 2
      resource_def:
        type: "OS::Nova::Server"
        properties:
          name: test-server
          flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
          image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
          user_data:
            str_replace:
              template: |
                #!/bin/bash -v
                yum -y install mysql-server httpd wordpress
                sed -i "/Deny from All/d" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
                sed -i "s/Require local/Require all granted/" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
                sed --in-place --e "s/localhost/%dbhost%/" --e "s/database_name_here/%dbname%/" --e "s/username_here/%dbuser%/" --e "s/password_here/%dbpass%/" /usr/share/wordpress/wp-config.php
                /etc/init.d/httpd start
                chkconfig httpd on
                /etc/init.d/mysqld start
                chkconfig mysqld on
                cat << EOF | mysql
                CREATE DATABASE %dbname%;
                GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON %dbname%.* TO "%dbuser%"@"localhost"
                IDENTIFIED BY "%dbpass%";
                FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
                EXIT
                EOF
                iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
                iptables-save > /etc/sysconfig/iptables
              params:
                "%dbhost%": { get_attr: [ db, hostname ] }
                "%dbname%": wordpress
                "%dbuser%": admin
                "%dbpass%": admin
  db:
    type: OS::Trove::Instance
    properties:
      name: wordpress
      flavor: 1GB Instance
      size: 30
      users:
      - name: admin
        password: admin
        databases:
        - wordpress
      databases:
      - name: wordpress

Here a ResourceGroup of type ‘OS::Nova::Server’ is added to the template. The user_data property contains a script to install the WordPress application. Please note that database instance hostname information is passed to the script.

Finally, add the load balancer resource and provide the server addresses to the load balancer. Given below is the complete template that can be used to create a load balanced multi node WordPress application.

Full Template

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Create a loadbalanced two node wordpress application.

resources:
  lb:
    type: "Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer"
    properties:
      name: wordpress_loadbalancer
      nodes:
      - addresses: { get_attr: [ web_nodes, privateIPv4 ] }
        port: 80
        condition: ENABLED
      protocol: HTTP
      halfClosed: False
      algorithm: LEAST_CONNECTIONS
      connectionThrottle:
        maxConnections: 50
        minConnections: 50
        maxConnectionRate: 50
        rateInterval: 50
      port: 80
      timeout: 120
      sessionPersistence: HTTP_COOKIE
      virtualIps:
      - type: PUBLIC
        ipVersion: IPV4
      healthMonitor:
        type: HTTP
        delay: 10
        timeout: 10
        attemptsBeforeDeactivation: 3
        path: "/"
        statusRegex: "."
        bodyRegex: "."
      contentCaching: ENABLED

  web_nodes:
    type: OS::Heat::ResourceGroup
    properties:
      count: 2
      resource_def:
        type: "OS::Nova::Server"
        properties:
          name: test-server
          flavor: 2 GB General Purpose v1
          image: Debian 7 (Wheezy) (PVHVM)
          user_data:
            str_replace:
              template: |
                #!/bin/bash -v
                yum -y install mysql-server httpd wordpress
                sed -i "/Deny from All/d" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
                sed -i "s/Require local/Require all granted/" /etc/httpd/conf.d/wordpress.conf
                sed --in-place --e "s/localhost/%dbhost%/" --e "s/database_name_here/%dbname%/" --e "s/username_here/%dbuser%/" --e "s/password_here/%dbpass%/" /usr/share/wordpress/wp-config.php
                /etc/init.d/httpd start
                chkconfig httpd on
                /etc/init.d/mysqld start
                chkconfig mysqld on
                cat << EOF | mysql
                CREATE DATABASE %dbname%;
                GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON %dbname%.* TO "%dbuser%"@"localhost"
                IDENTIFIED BY "%dbpass%";
                FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
                EXIT
                EOF
                iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
                iptables-save > /etc/sysconfig/iptables
              params:
                "%dbhost%": { get_attr: [ db, hostname ] }
                "%dbname%": wordpress
                "%dbuser%": admin
                "%dbpass%": admin
  db:
    type: OS::Trove::Instance
    properties:
      name: wordpress
      flavor: 1GB Instance
      size: 30
      users:
      - name: admin
        password: admin
        databases:
        - wordpress
      databases:
      - name: wordpress

outputs:
  wordpress_url:
    value:
      str_replace:
        template: "http://%ip%/wordpress"
        params:
          "%ip%": { get_attr: [ lb, PublicIp ] }
    description: Public URL for the wordpress blog

Please note that to keep the template simple, all the values were hard coded in the above template.

Reference

Cloud Monitoring resources for Heat

Brief summary

The Rackspace Cloud Monitoring resources allow you to configure monitoring on resources that you create with Heat.

In this tutorial, you create a web server that is monitored with a web site check and a CPU check.

Pre-reading

The following introductory material should give you enough background to proceed with this tutorial.

Example template

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2013-05-23

description: |
  Test template using Cloud Monitoring

resources:

Resources section

Add an OS::Nova::Server resource and configure it to install the Cloud Monitoring agent:

server:
  type: OS::Nova::Server
  properties:
    image: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)
    flavor: 2 GB Performance
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    user_data_format: RAW
    config_drive: true
    user_data:
      str_replace:
        template: |
          #!/bin/bash
          echo "deb http://stable.packages.cloudmonitoring.rackspace.com/ubuntu-14.04-x86_64 cloudmonitoring main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rackspace-monitoring-agent.list
          curl https://monitoring.api.rackspacecloud.com/pki/agent/linux.asc | sudo apt-key add -
          apt-get -y update
          apt-get -y install rackspace-monitoring-agent apache2
          echo "monitoring_token " > /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.cfg
          service rackspace-monitoring-agent restart
        params:
          "": { get_resource: token }
    metadata:
      rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

It is possible to monitor one or more servers by creating a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Entity resource 1. Entities are automatically created for cloud servers, so we will refer to the server resource above as our Cloud Monitoring entity.

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::AgentToken resource that will create a token used by the monitoring agent to authenticate with the monitoring service:

token:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::AgentToken
  properties:
    label: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check resource and configure it to check that the web service on the server entity is responsive:

webcheck:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check
  properties:
    entity: { get_resource: server }
    type: remote.http
    details:
      url:
        str_replace:
          template: http://server_ip/
          params:
            server_ip: { get_attr: [ server, accessIPv4 ] }
    label: webcheck
    metadata:
      rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    period: 120
    timeout: 10
    monitoring_zones_poll:
    - Northern Virginia (IAD)
    - Chicago (ORD)
    target_hostname: { get_attr: [ server, accessIPv4 ] }
    target_receiver: IPv4

Add another Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check resource and configure it to check the server’s CPU resources via the monitoring agent:

cpucheck:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check
  properties:
    entity: { get_resource: server }
    type: agent.cpu
    label: cpu_check
    details: {}
    metadata:
      rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    period: 30
    timeout: 10

The actual alarm criteria for the CPU check will be defined in the Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Alarm resource below.

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification resource that will send an email to [email protected] whenever it is triggered:

email_notification_1:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
  properties:
    label: email_ops_team
    type: email
    details:
      address: "[email protected]"

Add a similar Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification resource that will send an email to [email protected] whenever it is triggered:

email_notification_2:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
  properties:
    label: email_ops_team_2
    type: email
    details:
      address: "[email protected]"

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::NotificationPlan resource to configure Cloud Monitoring to trigger the email_notification1 notification whenever an alarm enters the WARNING or CRITICAL state and email_notification2 whenever an alarm enters the OK state:

notify_ops_team:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::NotificationPlan
  properties:
    label: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    warning_state:
    - { get_resource: email_notification_1 }
    critical_state:
    - { get_resource: email_notification_1 }
    ok_state:
    - { get_resource: email_notification_2 }

Finally, add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Alarm resource that will configure the agent to enter the WARNING state when CPU usage is over 85% for 5 seconds, the CRITICAL state when CPU usage is over 95% for 5 seconds, and the OK state otherwise:

alert_ops:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Alarm
  properties:
    label: test_cpu_alarm
    check: { get_resource: cpucheck }
    plan: { get_resource: notify_ops_team }
    criteria: |
      :set consecutiveCount=5
      if (metric['usage_average'] > 95) {
          return new AlarmStatus(CRITICAL, 'CPU usage is #{usage_average}%');
      }
      if (metric['usage_average'] > 85) {
          return new AlarmStatus(WARNING, 'CPU usage is #{usage_average}%');
      }
      return new AlarmStatus(OK);
    metadata:
      rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

Full template

The following template is a combination of all of the snippets above. It will create a web server that is monitored with a web site check and a CPU check.

heat_template_version: 2013-05-23

description: |
  Test template using Cloud Monitoring

resources:

  server:
    type: OS::Nova::Server
    properties:
      image: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)
      flavor: 2 GB Performance
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      user_data_format: RAW
      config_drive: true
      user_data:
        str_replace:
          template: |
            #!/bin/bash
            echo "deb http://stable.packages.cloudmonitoring.rackspace.com/ubuntu-14.04-x86_64 cloudmonitoring main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rackspace-monitoring-agent.list
            curl https://monitoring.api.rackspacecloud.com/pki/agent/linux.asc | sudo apt-key add -
            apt-get -y update
            apt-get -y install rackspace-monitoring-agent apache2
            echo "monitoring_token " > /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.cfg
            service rackspace-monitoring-agent restart
          params:
            "": { get_resource: token }
      metadata:
        rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
        stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

  token:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::AgentToken
    properties:
      label: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

  webcheck:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check
    properties:
      entity: { get_resource: server }
      type: remote.http
      details:
        url:
          str_replace:
            template: http://server_ip/
            params:
              server_ip: { get_attr: [ server, accessIPv4 ] }
      label: webcheck
      metadata:
        rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
        stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      period: 120
      timeout: 10
      monitoring_zones_poll:
      - Northern Virginia (IAD)
      - Chicago (ORD)
      target_hostname: { get_attr: [ server, accessIPv4 ] }
      target_receiver: IPv4

  cpucheck:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Check
    properties:
      entity: { get_resource: server }
      type: agent.cpu
      label: cpu_check
      details: {}
      metadata:
        rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
        stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      period: 30
      timeout: 10

  email_notification_1:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
    properties:
      label: email_ops_team
      type: email
      details:
        address: "[email protected]"

  email_notification_2:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
    properties:
      label: email_ops_team_2
      type: email
      details:
        address: "[email protected]"

  notify_ops_team:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::NotificationPlan
    properties:
      label: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      warning_state:
      - { get_resource: email_notification_1 }
      critical_state:
      - { get_resource: email_notification_1 }
      ok_state:
      - { get_resource: email_notification_2 }

  alert_ops:
    type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Alarm
    properties:
      label: test_cpu_alarm
      check: { get_resource: cpucheck }
      plan: { get_resource: notify_ops_team }
      criteria: |
        :set consecutiveCount=5
        if (metric['usage_average'] > 95) {
            return new AlarmStatus(CRITICAL, 'CPU usage is #{usage_average}%');
        }
        if (metric['usage_average'] > 85) {
            return new AlarmStatus(WARNING, 'CPU usage is #{usage_average}%');
        }
        return new AlarmStatus(OK);
      metadata:
        rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
        stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

Reference documentation

The following is an example of a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Entity resource definition:

entity:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Entity
  properties:
    label: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    metadata:
      rax-heat: { get_param: "OS::stack_id" }
      stack-name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    ip_addresses:
      web_server: { get_attr: [ server, accessIPv4 ] }

Rackspace Cloud Backup

Brief summary

Rackspace cloud backup configuration resource enables you to select and backup specific files/folders from a cloud server using Cloud Orchestration.

Prerequisite(s):

Cloud backup agent is installed on the server from where you want to backup files/folders.

Installing cloud backup agent on the server

Option-1

If the server from which you want to create a backup was created as part of a Heat stack, then pass ‘{build_config: backup_agentonly}’ as metadata to OS::Nova::Server or Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer. For example,

wordpress_server:
  type: "Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer"
  properties:
    name: wordpress-server
    flavor: 4GB Standard Instance
    image: Windows Server 2012
    metadata: {build_config: backup_agent_only}
Option-2

If the server was not created as part of a Heat stack, then follow the links given below to install backup agent manually.

Example template

In the following example template, we will set up a single node WordPress web application (on a Windows server) with a cloud backup resource. For the sake of simplicity, we will not use template parameters in this example.

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Wordpress application on a Windows server with cloud backup enabled.

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add a Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer resource that will create a Windows server and install the WordPress web application.

wordpress_server:
  type: "Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer"
  properties:
    name: wordpress-server
    flavor: 4GB Standard Instance
    image: Windows Server 2012
    metadata: {build_config: backup_agent_only}
    user_data:
      str_replace:
        template: |
          $source = "http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/0/4/704CEB4C-9F42-4962-A2B0-5C84B0682C7A/WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi"
          $destination = "webpi.msi"
          $wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
          $wc.DownloadFile($source, $destination)
          Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList "/i webpi.msi /qn"  -NoNewWindow -Wait
          echo DBPassword[@]%dbpassword% DBAdminPassword[@]%dbadminpassword% > test.app
          $tmpprofile = $env:userprofile
          $env:userprofile = "c:\users\administrator"
          $wpicmd = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\WebPICMD.exe"
          Start-Process $wpicmd -ArgumentList "/Install /Application:[email protected] /MySQLPassword:%dbadminpassword% /AcceptEULA /Log:.\wpi.log"  -NoNewWindow -Wait
          $env:userprofile = $tmpprofile
        params:
          "%dbpassword%": testpassword_123
          "%dbadminpassword%": testpassword_123

The above resource creates a Windows server and installs the WordPress application. Please note that ‘{build_config: backup_agentonly}’ was passed as metadata to install a cloud backup agent.

Cloud backup config resource

Add a Rackspace::Cloud::BackupConfig resource to back up the WordPress application installed at c:\inetpub\wwwroot\wordpress folder.

rax_backup_config:
  properties:
    BackupConfigurationName: wordpress-daily-backup
    DayOfWeekId: null
    Frequency: Daily
    StartTimeHour: 11
    StartTimeMinute: 30
    StartTimeAmPm: PM
    HourInterval: 1
    IsActive: true
    Enabled: true
    NotifyFailure: true
    NotifyRecipients: [email protected]
    NotifySuccess: false
    TimeZoneId: Eastern Standard Time
    VersionRetention: 60
    host_ip_address: { get_attr: [wordpress_server, accessIPv4] }
    Inclusions:
    - {"FilePath": "c:\\inetpub\\wwwroot\\wordpress", "FileItemType": "Folder" }
  type: Rackspace::Cloud::BackupConfig

In the above backup resource, the cloud backup service was configured to create a backup of the ‘c:\inetpub\wwwroot\wordpress’ folder ‘Daily’ at ‘11:30PM’ and to retain the created backup for ‘60’ days. Also, it was configured to notify at the given email ID upon any error during the backup creation. Please note that host_ip_address is the IP address of the cloud server from where files/folders will be backed up. Here the IP address of the Windows server that was created in the earlier resource example was passed. If the server was created outside of the stack, make sure that a backup agent was installed on that server and pass the IP address to host_ip_address.

Outputs section

Add the WordPress website URL to the outputs section.

website_url:
  value:
    str_replace:
      template: http://%ip%/wordpress
      params:
        "%ip%": { get_attr: [ wordpress_server, accessIPv4 ] }
  description: URL for Wordpress site

Full Example Template

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  HEAT template for installing Wordpress on Windows Server

resources:

  rax_backup_config:
    properties:
      BackupConfigurationName: wordpressbackup
      DayOfWeekId: null
      Frequency: Daily
      StartTimeHour: 7
      StartTimeMinute: 30
      StartTimeAmPm: PM
      HourInterval: null
      IsActive: true
      Enabled: true
      NotifyFailure: true
      NotifyRecipients: [email protected]
      NotifySuccess: true
      TimeZoneId: Eastern Standard Time
      VersionRetention: 60
      host_ip_address: { get_attr: [rs_windows_server, accessIPv4] }
      Inclusions:
      - {"FilePath": "c:\\inetpub\\wwwroot\\wordpress", "FileItemType": "Folder" }
    type: Rackspace::Cloud::BackupConfig

  rs_windows_server:
    type: "Rackspace::Cloud::WinServer"
    properties:
      name: wordpress-server
      flavor: 4GB Standard Instance
      image: Windows Server 2012
      metadata: {build_config: backup_agent_only}
      user_data:
        str_replace:
          template: |
            $source = "http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/0/4/704CEB4C-9F42-4962-A2B0-5C84B0682C7A/WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi"
            $destination = "webpi.msi"
            $wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
            $wc.DownloadFile($source, $destination)
            Start-Process msiexec -ArgumentList "/i webpi.msi /qn"  -NoNewWindow -Wait
            echo DBPassword[@]%dbpassword% DBAdminPassword[@]%dbadminpassword% > test.app
            $tmpprofile = $env:userprofile
            $env:userprofile = "c:\users\administrator"
            $wpicmd = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\WebPICMD.exe"
            Start-Process $wpicmd -ArgumentList "/Install /Application:[email protected] /MySQLPassword:%dbadminpassword% /AcceptEULA /Log:.\wpi.log"  -NoNewWindow -Wait
            $env:userprofile = $tmpprofile
          params:
            "%dbpassword%": testpassword_123
            "%dbadminpassword%": testpassword_123

outputs:
  website_url:
    value:
      str_replace:
        template: http://%ip%/wordpress
        params:
          "%ip%": { get_attr: [ rs_windows_server, accessIPv4 ] }
    description: URL for Wordpress site

Reference

Rackspace Cloud Databases

Brief summary

Rackspace Cloud Databases can be created, updated, and deleted using the OS::Trove::Instance resource. Cloud Databases instances can also be created as replicas of other Cloud Databases instances.

Example template

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Create a Rackspace Cloud Database instance and make a replica.

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add an OS::Trove::Instance resource with a list of databases and users:

db:
  type: OS::Trove::Instance
  properties:
    name: db
    flavor: 1GB Instance
    size: 10
    databases:
    - name: my_data
    users:
    - name: john
      password: secrete
      databases: [ my_data ]

This resource will create your Cloud Databases instance.

Add another OS::Trove::Instance, but this time leave out the databases and users and specify a replica_of property:

db_replica:
  type: OS::Trove::Instance
  properties:
    name: db_replica
    flavor: 1GB Instance
    size: 10
    replica_of: { get_resource: db }

This will create a replica of your first Cloud Databases instance. Alternatively, you can add a template parameter for the UUID of the database instance that you want a replica of and pass in the UUID upon stack creation.

Outputs section

Add the following to your outputs section:

"DB ID":
  value: { get_resource: db }
  description: Database instance ID.

"DB hostname":
  value: { get_attr: [db, hostname] }
  description: Database instance hostname.

"DB href":
  value: { get_attr: [db, href] }
  description: Api endpoint of the database instance.

"DB replica ID":
  value: { get_resource: db_replica }
  description: Database replica ID.

"DB replica hostname":
  value: { get_attr: [db_replica, hostname] }
  description: Database replica hostname.

"DB replica href":
  value: { get_attr: [db_replica, href] }
    description: Api endpoint of the database replica.

Full template

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Test template using Trove with replication

resources:
  db:
    type: OS::Trove::Instance
    properties:
      name: db
      flavor: 1GB Instance
      size: 10
      databases:
      - name: my_data
      users:
      - name: john
        password: secrete
        databases: [ my_data ]

  db_replica:
    type: OS::Trove::Instance
    properties:
      name: db_replica
      flavor: 1GB Instance
      size: 10
      replica_of: { get_resource: db }

outputs:
  "DB ID":
    value: { get_resource: db }
    description: Database instance ID.

  "DB hostname":
    value: { get_attr: [db, hostname] }
    description: Database instance hostname.

  "DB href":
    value: { get_attr: [db, href] }
    description: Api endpoint of the database instance.

  "DB replica ID":
    value: { get_resource: db_replica }
    description: Database replica ID.

  "DB replica hostname":
    value: { get_attr: [db_replica, hostname] }
    description: Database replica hostname.

  "DB replica href":
    value: { get_attr: [db_replica, href] }
    description: Api endpoint of the database replica.

Reference documentation

Rackspace Cloud Databases and Scheduled Backups

Brief summary

Cloud Databases allows you to create a schedule for running a weekly backup for your database instance. There is an incremental backup run at the end of every day and a full backup is run on the day as defined by the backup schedule. The backup can always be restored to a new database instance.

Cloud Orchestration allows you to create, update, and delete these backup schedules by using the Rackspace::CloudDatabase::ScheduledBackup resource.

Example template

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2015-10-15

description: |
  Simple template to illustrate creating a scheduled backup
  for a Cloud Database instance

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

We first add an OS::Heat::RandomString resource to generate a password for the database user we’ll create later:

# generate a password for our db user
db_pass:
  type: OS::Heat::RandomString

Next, we add an OS::Trove::Instance resource with a test database and user. Note we’ve set the user’s password to the value of the OS::Heat::RandomString resource we defined earlier:

service_db:
  type: OS::Trove::Instance
  properties:
    name: trove_test_db
    datastore_type: mariadb
    datastore_version: 10
    flavor: 1GB Instance
    size: 10
    databases:
    - name: test_data
    users:
    - name: dbuser
      password: { get_attr: [ db_pass, value ] } # use generated password
      databases: [ test_data 

Lastly, we add the Rackspace::CloudDatabase::ScheduledBackup resource and configure it to backup our instance every Monday at 5:45pm and to retain the last 15 full backups:

backup:
  type: Rackspace::CloudDatabase::ScheduledBackup
  properties:
    source:
      id: { get_resource: service_db }
      type: instance
    day_of_week: 1  # Monday (0-6 Sunday to Saturday)
    hour: 17        # 5pm (24hr clock with 0 being midnight)
    minute: 45      # 5:45pm
    full_backup_retention: 15

Outputs section

As a convenience, we’ll output the user’s generated password so we can log in to the database if needed:

"Database Password":
  value: { get_attr: [ db_pass, value ] }
  description: Database password for "dbuser"

Reference documentation

Event and schedule-based auto scaling with Heat

Brief summary

Rackspace Auto Scale supports both schedule-based and event-based auto scaling. Schedule-based auto scaling can be used to scale your application up or down at a specific time of the day, whereas event-based auto scaling can be used to automatically scale your application up or down according to load. In this tutorial, we will use Rackspace Orchestration to automate the configuration of both event-based and schedule-based auto scaling.

Pre-reading

If you are just getting started with Rackspace Auto Scale, Cloud Monitoring, or Cloud Orchestration, the following introductory material should give you enough background to proceed with this tutorial.

Auto Scale

Cloud Monitoring

Cloud Orchestration

Schedule-based auto scaling

Schedule-based auto scaling can be useful if there is a particular time when your application experiences a higher load. By scheduling a scaling event, you will be able to proactively scale your application.

In this example, we will create a scaling group that scales up by one node each Monday at 1:00 AM and down by one node each Saturday at 1:00 AM.

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Rackspace Cloud Monitoring and Event-based scaling using Rackspace Cloud Autoscale

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add an OS::Nova::KeyPair resource that will generate an SSH keypair which you can use to login to your web servers if you need to:

access_key:
  type: OS::Nova::KeyPair
  properties:
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    save_private_key: true

Add a Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer resource that will balance the load between web servers.

scaling_lb:
  type: Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer
  properties:
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    protocol: HTTP
    port: 80
    algorithm: ROUND_ROBIN
    nodes: []
    virtualIps:
    - type: PUBLIC
      ipVersion: IPV4

Add a Rackspace::AutoScale::Group resource:

scaled_servers:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::Group
  properties:
    groupConfiguration:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      maxEntities: 5
      minEntities: 1
      cooldown: 120
    launchConfiguration:
      type: launch_server
      args:
        loadBalancers:
        - loadBalancerId: { get_resource: scaling_lb }
          port: 80
        server:
          name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
          flavorRef: performance1-1
          imageRef: 6f29d6a6-9972-4ae0-aa80-040fa2d6a9cf # Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)
          key_name: { get_resource: access_key }
          networks:
            - uuid: 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111

This resource will be responsible for creating/destroying Cloud Servers based on the auto scaling policy. The maxEntities and minEntities properties above ensure that the group will create at least 1 server but not more than 5 servers.

Add a Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy for scaling up:

scale_up_policy:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
  properties:
    group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale up policy
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    args:
      cron: "0 1 * * 1"
    change: 1
    cooldown: 600
    type: schedule

This resource will create a scaling policy that scales the auto scaling group up by one server every Monday at 1:00 AM.

Finally, add a Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy for scaling down:

scale_down_policy:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
  properties:
    group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale down policy
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    args:
      cron: "0 1 * * 6"
    change: -1
    cooldown: 600
    type: schedule

Similarly, this resource will scale the auto scaling group down by one server every Saturday at 1:00 AM.

Outputs sectio

Add the private SSH key to the outputs section. You will be able to log into your scaling group servers using this SSH key.

"Access Private Key":
  value: { get_attr: [ access_key, private_key ] }
  description: Private key for accessing the scaled server instances if needed

To see the stack outputs, issue a heat stack-show <stack name> on the created stack.

Full template

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Rackspace Cloud Monitoring and schedule-based scaling using Rackspace Cloud Autoscale

resources:

  access_key:
    type: OS::Nova::KeyPair
    properties:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      save_private_key: true

  scaling_lb:
    type: Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer
    properties:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      protocol: HTTP
      port: 80
      algorithm: ROUND_ROBIN
      nodes: []
      virtualIps:
      - type: PUBLIC
        ipVersion: IPV4

  scaled_servers:
    type: Rackspace::AutoScale::Group
    properties:
      groupConfiguration:
        name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
        maxEntities: 10
        minEntities: 2
        cooldown: 120
      launchConfiguration:
        type: launch_server
        args:
          loadBalancers:
          - loadBalancerId: { get_resource: scaling_lb }
            port: 80
          server:
            name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
            flavorRef: performance1-1
            imageRef: 6f29d6a6-9972-4ae0-aa80-040fa2d6a9cf # Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)
            key_name: { get_resource: access_key }
            networks:
              - uuid: 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111

  scale_up_policy:
    type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
    properties:
      group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
      name:
        str_replace:
          template: stack scale up policy
          params:
            stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      args:
        cron: "0 1 * * 1"
      change: 1
      cooldown: 600
      type: schedule

  scale_down_policy:
    type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
    properties:
      group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
      name:
        str_replace:
          template: stack scale down policy
          params:
            stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      args:
        cron: "0 1 * * 6"
      change: -1
      cooldown: 600
      type: schedule

outputs:

  "Access Private Key":
    value: { get_attr: [ access_key, private_key ] }
    description: Private key for accessing the scaled server instances if needed

Event-based auto scaling

To configure your web application running on the Rackspace Cloud to automatically scale up or down according to load, Rackspace Auto Scale can be used in conjunction with Rackspace Cloud Monitoring. The Cloud Monitoring agent monitors various resources on the servers inside the scaling group and makes calls to the Auto Scale API when it is time to scale up or down.

In the following example template, we will set up a web application with a load balancer and a scaling group that contains between 2 and 10 web servers. For the sake of simplicity, we will not use template parameters in this example.

Start by adding the top-level template sections:

heat_template_version: 2014-10-16

description: |
  Rackspace Cloud Monitoring and Event-based scaling using Rackspace Cloud Autoscale

resources:

outputs:

Resources section

Add an OS::Nova::KeyPair resource and a Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer as in the previous example:

access_key:
  type: OS::Nova::KeyPair
  properties:
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    save_private_key: true

Add a Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer resource that will balance the load between web servers.

scaling_lb:
  type: Rackspace::Cloud::LoadBalancer
  properties:
    name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    protocol: HTTP
    port: 80
    algorithm: ROUND_ROBIN
    nodes: []
    virtualIps:
    - type: PUBLIC
      ipVersion: IPV4
Autoscale resources

Add the Rackspace::AutoScale::Group resource, which will contain at least 2 servers and not more than 10 servers:

scaled_servers:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::Group
  properties:
    groupConfiguration:
      name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
      maxEntities: 10
      minEntities: 2
      cooldown: 120
    launchConfiguration:
      type: launch_server
      args:
        loadBalancers:
        - loadBalancerId: { get_resource: scaling_lb }
          port: 80
        server:
          name: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
          flavorRef: performance1-1
          imageRef: 6f29d6a6-9972-4ae0-aa80-040fa2d6a9cf # Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) (PVHVM)
          key_name: { get_resource: access_key }
          config_drive: true
          networks:
            - uuid: 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111
          user_data:
            str_replace:
              template: |
                #cloud-config
                apt_upgrade: true
                apt_sources:
                - source: deb http://stable.packages.cloudmonitoring.rackspace.com/ubuntu-14.04-x86_64 cloudmonitoring main
                  key: |  # This is the apt repo signing key
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                    -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
                write_files:
                - path: /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.conf.d/load.yaml
                  content: |
                    type: agent.load_average
                    label: Load Average
                    period: 60
                    timeout: 10
                    alarms:
                      load_alarm:
                        label: load average alarm
                        notification_plan_id: {notification_plan}
                        criteria: |
                          :set consecutiveCount=3
                          if (metric['5m'] > 0.85){
                              return new AlarmStatus(CRITICAL);
                          }
                          if (metric['15m'] < 0.3){
                              return new AlarmStatus(WARNING);
                          }
                          return new AlarmStatus(OK);
                - path: /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.cfg
                  content: |
                    monitoring_token {agent_token}
                packages:
                - rackspace-monitoring-agent
                - apache2
              params:
                "{notification_plan}": { get_resource: scaling_plan }
                "{agent_token}": { get_resource: agent_token }
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            write_files:
            \- path: /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.conf.d/load.yaml
              content: |
                type: agent.load_average
                label: Load Average
                period: 60
                timeout: 10
                alarms:
                  load_alarm:
                    label: load average alarm
                    notification\_plan\_id: {notification_plan}
                    criteria: |
                      :set consecutiveCount=3
                      if (metric\['5m'\] > 0.85){
                          return new AlarmStatus(CRITICAL);
                      }
                      if (metric\['15m'\] < 0.3){
                          return new AlarmStatus(WARNING);
                      }
                      return new AlarmStatus(OK);
            \- path: /etc/rackspace-monitoring-agent.cfg
              content: |
                monitoring\_token {agent\_token}
            packages:
            \- rackspace-monitoring-agent
            \- apache2
          params:
            "{notification_plan}": { get_resource: scaling_plan }
            "{agent_token}": { get_resource: agent_token }

In the resource above, the Cloud Monitoring agent is installed and configured via the user_data section (using the cloud-config format). The alarm is configured to trigger a warning state when the system load is below 0.3 for 15 minutes and a critical state when the system load is above 0.85 for 5 minutes. We use the warning state here to trigger scale-down events in lieu of an alternative alarm status.

The scaling_plan and agent_token resources referenced in the user_data section will be defined below.

Next, define a Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy resource for scaling up:

scale_up_policy:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
  properties:
    group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale up policy
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    change: 1
    cooldown: 600
    type: webhook

Add a Rackspace::AutoScale::WebHook resource:

scale_up_webhook:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::WebHook
  properties:
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale up hook
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    policy: { get_resource: scale_up_policy }

The webhook resource generates a URL that will be used to trigger the scale-up policy above.

Similarly to the previous two resources for scaling-up, we will add another Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy and Rackspace::AutoScale::WebHook resource for scaling down:

scale_down_policy:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::ScalingPolicy
  properties:
    group: { get_resource: scaled_servers }
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale down policy
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    change: -1
    cooldown: 600
    type: webhook

scale_down_webhook:
  type: Rackspace::AutoScale::WebHook
  properties:
    name:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale down hook
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    policy: { get_resource: scale_down_policy }
Cloud Monitoring resources

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::AgentToken resource that will create a token used by the monitoring agent to authenticate with the monitoring service:

agent_token:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::AgentToken
  properties:
    label:
      str_replace:
        template: stack monitoring agent token
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

Add a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification resource that will call the scale-up webhook created above:

scaleup_notification:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
  properties:
    label:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale up notification
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    type: webhook
    details:
      url: { get_attr: [ scale_up_webhook, executeUrl ] }

Below, the notification resource will be associated with an alarm state using a notification plan.

Add another Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification resource that will call the scale-down webhook:

scaledown_notification:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::Notification
  properties:
    label:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scale down notification
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }
    type: webhook
    details:
      url: { get_attr: [ scale_down_webhook, executeUrl ] }

Finally, create a Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::NotificationPlan and Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::PlanNotifications resource.

scaling_plan:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::NotificationPlan
  properties:
    label:
      str_replace:
        template: stack scaling notification plan
        params:
          stack: { get_param: "OS::stack_name" }

plan_notifications:
  type: Rackspace::CloudMonitoring::PlanNotifications
  properties:
    plan: { get_resource: scaling_plan }
    warning_state: # scale down on warning since this is configured for low load
    - { get_resource: scaledown_notification }
    critical_state:
    - { get_resource: scaleup_notification }

The scaling_plan resource was referenced in the Cloud Monitoring agent configuration inside of the