c49c252f8f
Prior to this the dashboard front-end would use the configuration settings for `graphite[:server]`/`graphite[:prefix]` to locate a graphite server to use for rendering graphs. Now that we have multiple possible metrics backends, the front-end graph host for the dashboard could be entirely different from the back-end metrics server that we publish to (if any). This decouples those settings: - use `graphs[:server]` / `graphs[:prefix]` for the graphite-compatible web front-end to use for dashboard display graphs - fall back to `graphite[:server]`/`graphite[:prefix]` if `graphs` is not specified, in order to support legacy `vmpooler.yaml` configurations. Note that since `statsd` takes precedence over `graphite`, it's possible to specify both `statsd` (for publishing) and `graphite` (for reading). We still prefer `graphs` over `graphite`. Updated the example `vmpooler.yaml` config file. |
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| lib | ||
| scripts | ||
| spec | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| .travis.yml | ||
| API.md | ||
| Gemfile | ||
| LICENSE | ||
| Rakefile | ||
| README.md | ||
| vmpooler | ||
| vmpooler.yaml.example | ||
vmpooler
vmpooler provides configurable 'pools' of instantly-available (running) virtual machines.
Usage
At Puppet Labs we run acceptance tests on thousands of disposable VMs every day. Dynamic cloning of VM templates initially worked fine for this, but added several seconds to each test run and was unable to account for failed clone tasks. By pushing these operations to a backend service, we were able to both speed up tests and eliminate test failures due to underlying infrastructure failures.
Installation
Prerequisites
vmpooler requires the following Ruby gems be installed:
It also requires that a Redis server exists somewhere, as this is the datastore used for vmpooler's inventory and queueing services.
Configuration
The following YAML configuration sets up two pools, debian-7-i386 and debian-7-x86_64, which contain 5 running VMs each:
---
:vsphere:
server: 'vsphere.company.com'
username: 'vmpooler'
password: 'swimsw1msw!m'
:redis:
server: 'redis.company.com'
:config:
logfile: '/var/log/vmpooler.log'
:pools:
- name: 'debian-7-i386'
template: 'Templates/debian-7-i386'
folder: 'Pooled VMs/debian-7-i386'
pool: 'Pooled VMs/debian-7-i386'
datastore: 'vmstorage'
size: 5
- name: 'debian-7-x86_64'
template: 'Templates/debian-7-x86_64'
folder: 'Pooled VMs/debian-7-x86_64'
pool: 'Pooled VMs/debian-7-x86_64'
datastore: 'vmstorage'
size: 5
See the provided YAML configuration example, vmpooler.yaml.example, for additional configuration options and parameters.
Template set-up
Template set-up is left as an exercise to the reader. Somehow, either via PXE, embedded bootstrap scripts, or some other method -- clones of VM templates need to be able to set their hostname, register themselves in your DNS, and be resolvable by the vmpooler application after completing the clone task and booting up.
API and Dashboard
vmpooler provides an API and web front-end (dashboard) on port :4567. See the provided YAML configuration example, vmpooler.yaml.example, to specify an alternative port to listen on.
API
vmpooler provides a REST API for VM management. See the API documentation for more information.
Dashboard
A dashboard is provided to offer real-time statistics and historical graphs. It looks like this:
Graphite is required for historical data retrieval. See the provided YAML configuration example, vmpooler.yaml.example, for details.
Command-line Utility
- The vmpooler_client.py CLI utility provides easy access to the vmpooler service. The tool is cross-platform and written in Python.
- vmfloaty is a ruby based CLI tool and scripting library written in ruby.
Build status
License
vmpooler is distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See the LICENSE file for more details.