Changes between Version 3 and Version 4 of CloudServer

Timestamp:

Jan 28, 2009, 5:50:47 AM (16 years ago)

Author:

dkondo

Comment:

--

CloudServer

@@ -1 +1 @@
 = Deploying a BOINC server on the Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud =
+
+=== What is Cloud Computing? ===
+
+Cloud Computing is a form of computation and storage that
+hides the complexity of hardware and software management
+from a user.  Typically, cloud computing services allow you
+to rent computing or storage services.  These services
+charge on a pay-per-use basis (roughly, about 0.10 per CPU
+hour or per GB/month).  Cloud computing services such as
+Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) also allow one to
+tailor a computing environment through the use of virtual
+machines.  In addition, Amazon offers a Simple Storage
+Service (S3) for enabling remote storage.
 
 === Why use a Cloud? === #why
@@ -7 +20 @@
  * It's easier and faster to use an existing OS image with the BOINC server already installed than to compile and configure it on one's own.
 
-=== Quick Start === #start
+=== How to use a Cloud for a BOINC server? ===
 
-This Quick Start guide assumes you already have some experience (and accounts) with Amazon's EC2 and S3. If not, see the detailed starting instructions.
+We have created a custom virtual machine with a BOINC server
+installed and configured.  This includes all server software
+prerequisites and the correct permissions and accounts
+already setup.  All you need to do is to deploy this virtual
+machine image on the cloud and your server should be up and
+running.  This guide describes how to deploy this Amazon
+Machine Image (AMI) over Amazon's EC2 cloud. This can be
+done in minutes.
 
-1. Download the server bundle.
+=== Prerequisites ===
 
-2. Assuming you've extracted the archive to /tmp, upload the bundle to Amazon's S3:
+[http://paulstamatiou.com/2008/04/05/how-to-getting-started-with-amazon-ec2 Create and setup an account with Amazon's EC2.] 
 
-{{{ec2-upload-bundle -b boinc-debian-etch -m /tmp/boinc-debian-etch.manifest.xml -a $ACCESS_KEY -s $SECRET_KEY}}}
+=== Deploying the BOINC Server Image ===
 
-where $ACCESS_KEY and $SECRET_KEY are your environment variables set to the corresponding keys.
+Start the instance (ami-ab9374c2) with the BOINC server
+(stable 6.3.14 JAN 28 2009) installed on Debian Etch:
 
-3. Register the uploaded image:
+{{{  ec2-run-instances ami-ab9374c2 -k [key-pair] }}}
 
-{{{ec2-register boinc-debian-etch/boinc-debian-etch.manifest.xml}}}
+Show the instance deployment status:
 
-This should output an Amazon instance id (ami-XXX).
+{{{ ec2-describe-instances }}} 
 
-4. Start an instance of the boinc server:
+After the instance status goes from pending to running
+(takes a few minutes), you
+should see the hostname of the form
+ec2-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com.
 
-{{{ec2-run-instances ami-XXX}}} 
- 
-And voila, assuming you've opened port 80, you should now have a running BOINC server.
+If you haven't already, open ports 22 and 80:
 
-=== Detailed Start === #detailed
+{{{ ec2-authorize default -p 22 }}}
+{{{ ec2-authorize default -p 80 }}}
 
-1. [http://paulstamatiou.com/2008/04/05/how-to-getting-started-with-amazon-ec2 Create and setup account with Amazon's EC2 and S3.] 
+At this point, you should be able to access the web server
+at the URL:
+{{{http://ec2-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com/}}}
 
-2. [http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=368 Install Amazon's AMI tools.]
+Then login to the instance:
+
+{{{ ssh -i [private_key]  root@ec2-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com }}}
+
+In the home directory is a README.txt file with important
+information.
+
+=== Setting Up a Test Project ===
+
+Here we describe how to create a test project using the
+uppercase application.
+
+As root,
+
+{{{sudo boincadm; cd}}}
+
+Create a test project uppercase:
+
+{{{~/boinc/tools/make_project --url_base http://ec2-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX.z-2.compute-1.amazonaws.com --test_app cplan}}}
+
+Answer yes to all questions.
+
+{{{ cd ~/projects/cplan}}}
+
+{{{{bin/xadd}}}
+
+{{{bin/update_version}}}
+
+{{{bin/start}}}
+
+To check that all daemons are running:
+
+{{{bin/status}}}
+
+Now any [http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php BOINC client] should be able to attach to the project and download
+workunits.
+
+=== Technical Notes ===
+
+Below is not required reading, but we describe how and why
+the image was built.
+
+==== Why Xen? ====
+
+The general approach was to build a Debian EC2 AMI from a
+Xen image.  (The alternative approach was to use an existing
+Debian AMI.)  However, we chose the Xen approach primarily
+to be able to install and test things without having to
+worry about EC2 hourly costs. As a side-effect, one can use
+the Xen image either as a standalone server or over EC2 (as
+it's Xen based).
+
+[http://jimmyg.org/2007/09/01/custom-debian-ec2-amis-from-xen-images/ This describes the setup involved.]
+
+If you would like to use the Xen image directly, you can
+download the Xen image
+[http://mescal.imag.fr/membres/derrick.kondo/disk.img.tgz disk.img.tgz (MB)] and 
+[http://mescal.imag.fr/membres/derrick.kondo/swap.img.tgz swap.img.tgz (MB)] and go from there.
+
+==== Configuration ====
+
+The hostname can change each time an instance is started.
+As such, the start-up script {{{rc.local}}} was modified to query
+Amazon for the hostname and to set it at each boot.
+
+{{{rc.local}}} is also configured to randomly change the root
+password at each boot, and to download your ssh public key
+and cat it to the authorized_keys file to allow remote
+passwordless access.
+
+==== IP Address ====
+
+The IP address could change each time the instance is
+created.  To associate a fixed address (regardless of the
+instance), one should use
+[http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/  Amazon's Elastic IP Addresses].
+
+In addition, one can configure the image to use dynamic DNS
+to associate a domain name with the instance. See the following links.
+[http://www.ioncannon.net/system-administration/120/dynamic-dns-with-ec2-and-zoneedit/ Dynamic DNS with ZoneEdit]
+[http://blog.spaceprogram.com/2008/03/how-to-set-up-dynamic-dns-for-your.html Dynamic DNS Setup]
+
+=== To do ===
+
+ * Consider setting up dynamic DNS by default in the bundle
+
+=== Questions? ===
+
+Email Derrick Kondo (derrick.kondo :: inria fr)