rvtconfig tool

Configuration YAML files can be validated and uploaded to the CDS using the rvtconfig tool. The rvtconfig tool can be run either on the SIMPL VM or any custom Rhino application VM.

On the SIMPL VM, you can find the command in the resources subdirectory of any custom Rhino application (rem) CSAR, after it has been extracted using csar unpack.

/home/admin/.local/share/csar/<csar name>/<version>/resources/rvtconfig

On any custom Rhino application VM, the rvtconfig tool is in the PATH for the sentinel user and can be run directly by running:

rvtconfig <command>

The available rvtconfig commands are:

  • rvtconfig validate validates the configuration, even before booting any VMs by using the SIMPL VM.

  • rvtconfig upload-config validates, encrypts, and uploads the configuration to the CDS.

  • rvtconfig delete-deployment deletes a deployment from the CDS.

    Note Only use this when advised to do so by a Customer Care Representative.

  • rvtconfig delete-node-type deletes state and configuration for a given node type from the CDS

    Note Only use this after deleting all VMs for a given node type.

  • rvtconfig list-config displays a summary of the configurations stored in the CDS.

  • rvtconfig dump-config dumps the current configuration from the CDS.

  • rvtconfig print-leader-seed prints the current leader seed as stored in the CDS.

  • rvtconfig split-sdf splits an SDF definition into separate ones, one for each instance.

  • rvtconfig generate-private-key generates a new private key for use in the SDF.

  • rvtconfig export-audit-history exports the Rhino license audit history from the CDS.

  • rvtconfig export-log-history exports the quiesce log history from the CDS.

  • rvtconfig describe-versions prints the current values of the versions of the VM found in the config and in the SDF.

  • rvtconfig compare-config compares currently uploaded config with a given set of configuration.

Commands that read or modify the CDS state take a --cds-address parameter (which is also aliased as --cds-addresses, --cassandra-contact-point, --cassandra-contact-points, or simply -c). For this parameter, specify the management address(es) of at least one machine hosting the CDS database. Separate multiple addresses with a space, for example --cds-address 1.2.3.4 1.2.3.5.

For more information, run rvtconfig --help or rvtconfig upload-config --help.

Note

The node type name and the rvtconfig command <node type> value are not always equal. For rvtconfig commands, the REM node type(s) use the rem value(s) respectively.

Verifying and uploading configuration

  1. Create a directory to hold the configuration YAML files.

    mkdir yamls

  2. Ensure the directory contains the following:

    • configuration YAML files

    • the Solution Definition File (SDF)

    • Rhino license for nodes running Rhino.

Note Do not create any subdirectories. Ensure the file names match the example YAML files.

Verifying configuration with validate

To validate configuration, run the command:

rvtconfig validate -t <node type> -i ~/yamls

where <node type> is the node type you want to verify, which can be rem. If there are any errors, fix them, move the fixed files to the yamls directory, and then re-run the above rvtconfig validate command on the yamls directory.

Once the files pass validation, store the YAML files in the CDS using the rvtconfig upload-config command.

Tip

If using the SIMPL VM, the rvtconfig validate command can be run before any of the other VMs are booted. We recommend that you validate all configuration before any of the VMs are booted.

Uploading configuration to the CDS with upload-config

To upload the YAML files to the CDS, run the command:

rvtconfig upload-config -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -t <node type> -i ~/yamls
(--vm-version-source [this-vm | this-rvtconfig | sdf-version] | --vm-version <vm_version>) [--reload-resource-adaptors]

Note

The <cds-mgmt-addresses> value can either be any single CDS management IP address or a space-separated list of CDS management IP addresses.

  • --vm-version specifies the version of the VM to target (as configuration can differ across a VM upgrade).

  • --vm-version-source automatically derives the VM version from the given source. Failure to determine the version will result in an error.

    • Use this-rvtconfig when running the rvtconfig tool included in the CSAR for the target VM, to extract the version information packaged into rvtconfig.

    • Use this-vm if running the rvtconfig tool directly on the VM being configured, to extract the version information from the VM.

    • Option sdf-version extracts the version value written in the SDF for the given node.

Note

Whatever way you enter the version, the value obtained must match the version on the SDF. Otherwise, the upload will fail.

Any YAML configuration values which are specified as secrets are marked as such in the YAML files' comments. These values will be encrypted using the generated private-key created by rvtconfig generate-private-key and prior to uploading the SDF. In other words, the secrets should be entered in plain text in the SDF, and the upload-config command takes care of encrypting them. Currently this applies to the following:

  • Rhino users' passwords

  • REM users' passwords

  • SSH keys for accessing the VM

  • the HTTPS key and certificate for REM.

Tip

Use the rvtconfig describe-versions command to view the exact version values provided by this-vm, this-rvtconfig, and sdf-version.

If the CDS is not yet available, this will retry every 30 seconds for up to 15 minutes. As a large Cassandra cluster can take up to one hour to form, this means the command could time out if run before the cluster is fully formed. If the command still fails after several attempts over an hour, troubleshoot Cassandra on the machines hosting the CDS database.

This command first compares the configuration files currently uploaded for the target version with those in the input directory. It summarizes which files are different and how many lines differ. If any files are different, it will prompt the user to confirm the differences are as expected before continuing with the upload.

If the upload is canceled and --output-dir is specified, then full details of any files with differences will be put into the given output directory, which gets created by the command.

Changes to secrets and non-YAML files cannot be detected due to encryption; they will not appear in the summary or detailed output. Any such changes will still be uploaded.

This pre-check on config can be disabled by using the -f flag.

Caution
Restarting resource adaptors

Specify the --reload-resource-adaptors option whenever you upload configuration where you have changed the values of any YAML configuration fields that require a restart of one or more Rhino resource adaptors (RAs). Which fields these are will be defined by your application.

The --reload-resource-adaptors option instructs initconf to restart RAs where required. USE THIS OPTION WITH CAUTION, as it will cause a short service outage across all nodes in the deployment. It is strongly advised that you only make changes requiring RA restarts during a maintenance window.

If you apply configuration changes that don’t include changes to any fields marked as needing an RA restart, then you do not need to specify the --reload-resource-adaptors option to rvtconfig upload-config.

If you apply configuration changes that include changes to such fields, and do not specify the --reload-resource-adaptors option, you may see Rhino alarms stating that restarting a certain resource adaptor(s) is required for configuration to take effect. You can clear these by manually restarting the affected RA(s), or Rhino itself, on the affected nodes at a convenient time.

Comparing existing configuration in the CDS with compare-config

Compare the configuration in an input directory with the currently uploaded configuration in the CDS using the command:

rvtconfig compare-config -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -t <node type> -i ~/yamls --output-dir <output-directory>
[(--vm-version-source [this-vm | this-rvtconfig | sdf-version] | --vm-version <vm_version>)]

This will compare the currently uploaded configuration in the CDS with the configuration in the local input directory.

The version of configuration to look up will be automatically taken from the SDF. If the optional --vm-version-source or --vm-version parameter is provided, then this is used instead. This can be used to check what has changed just before running an upgrade, where the version in the SDF differs.

The files that have differences will be displayed, along with the number of different lines. The full contents of each version of these files will be put in the output directory, along with the differences found. When doing so, secrets and non-YAML files are ignored.

The files in this output directory use the suffix .local for a redacted version of the input file, .live for a redacted version of the live file, and .diff for a diff command run against the two showing the differences.

Note The contents of the files in the output directory are reordered and no longer have comments; these won’t match the formatting of the original input files, but contain the same information.

Deleting configuration from the CDS with delete-deployment

Delete all deployment configuration from the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig delete-deployment -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> [--delete-audit-history]

Note --delete-audit-history will delete stored audit logs with the deployment data.
Warning Only use this when advised to do so by a Customer Care Representative.

Deleting state and configuration for a node type from the CDS with delete-node-type

Delete all state and configuration for a given node type and version from the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig delete-node-type -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> --site-id <site-id> --node-type <node type>
(--vm-version-source [this-vm | this-rvtconfig | sdf-version -i ~/yamls] | --vm-version <vm_version>) [-y]

The argument -i ~/yamls is only needed if sdf-version is used.

Warning Only use this after deleting all VMs of this node type within the specified site. Functionality of all nodes of this type within the given site will be lost. These nodes will have to be redeployed to restore functionality.

Listing configurations available in the CDS with list-config

List all currently available configurations in the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig list-config -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id>

This command will print a short summary of the configurations uploaded, the VM version they are uploaded for, and which VMs are commissioned in that version.

Retrieving configuration from the CDS with dump-config

Retrieve the VM group configuration from the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig dump-config -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> --group-id <group-id>
(--vm-version-source [this-vm | this-rvtconfig | sdf-version -i ~/yamls -t <node type>] | --vm-version <vm_version>)
[--output-dir <output-dir>]

Note Group ID syntax: RVT-<node type>.<site_id>
Example: RVT-tsn.DC1
Here, <node type> can be rem.

If the optional --output-dir <directory> argument is specified, then the configuration will be dumped as individual files in the given directory. The directory can be expressed as either an absolute or relative path. It will be created if it doesn’t exist.

If the --output-dir argument is omitted, then the configuration is printed to the terminal.

The arguments -i ~/yamls and -t <node type> are only needed if sdf-version is used.

Displaying the current leader seed with print-leader-seed

Display the current leader seed by running the command:

rvtconfig print-leader-seed -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> --group-id <group-id>
(--vm-version-source [this-vm | this-rvtconfig | sdf-version -i ~/yamls -t <node type>] | --vm-version <vm_version>)

Note Group ID syntax: RVT-<node type>.<site_id>
Example: RVT-tsn.DC1
Here, <node type> can be rem.

The command will display the current leader seed for the specified deployment, group, and VM version. A leader seed may not always exist, in which case the output will include No leader seed found. Conditions where a leader seed may not exist include:

  • No deployment exists with the specified deployment, group, and VM version.

  • A deployment exists, but initconf has not yet initialized.

  • A deployment exists, but the previous leader seed has quiesced and a new leader seed has not yet been selected.

The arguments -i ~/yamls and -t <node type> are only needed if sdf-version is used.

Splitting an SDF by product type with split-sdf

Create partial SDFs for each VM by running the command:

rvtconfig split-sdf -i <input-directory> -o <output-directory> <sdf>

Generating a private-key for Encrypting Passwords with generate-private-key

Rhino TAS and REM require the configuration to supply passwords that are encrypted with a private key. rvtconfig can generate a private-key to encrypt a password with the following command:

rvtconfig generate-private-key

The SDF can be updated with the generated private key.

See here for details.

Retrieving deployment TAS audit logs with export-audit-history

During upgrade, when a downlevel VM is removed, it uploads the Rhino TAS audit logs to CDS. Retrieve the TAS audit logs for a deployment from the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig export-audit-history -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> --zip-destination-dir <directory>

Note The audit logs retrieved are compressed in a zip file per VM and version.

Retrieving VM logs with export-log-history

During upgrade, when a downlevel VM is removed, it uploads Initconf and Rhino logs to the CDS. The log files are stored as encrypted data in the CDS.

Note Only the portions of the logs written during quiesce are stored.

Retrieve the VM logs for a deployment from the CDS by running the command:

rvtconfig export-log-history -c <cds-mgmt-addresses> -d <deployment-id> --zip-destination-dir <directory>
--private-key <private-key>

Note The --private-key must match the key used in the SDF (secrets-private-key).
Note The Initconf and Rhino logs are exported in unencrypted zip files. The zip file names will consist of VM hostname, version, and type of log.

Viewing the values associated with the special sdf-version, this-vm, and this-rvtconfig versions with describe-versions

Some commands, upload-config for example, can be used with the special version values sdf-version, this-vm, and this-rvtconfig.

  • Calling sdf-version extracts the version from the value given in the SDF for the given node.

  • The this-vm option takes the version of the VM the commands are being run from. This can only be used when running commands on a node VM.

  • Using this-rvtconfig extracts the version from the rvtconfig found in the directory the command is being run from. This can only be used on a SIMPL VM.

To view the real version strings associated with each of these special values:

rvtconfig describe-versions [-i ~/yamls -t <node type(s)>]

Both optional arguments -i ~/yamls and -t <node type(s)> are required for the sdf-version value to be given. Multiple node types can be taken as arguments.

If a special version value cannot be found, for example if this-vm is run on a SIMPL VM or neither of the optional arguments are called, the describe-versions command will print N/A for that special version.

rvtconfig Limitations

Any paths to files given to rvtconfig must conform to the following requirements:

  • relative paths may not use .. to navigate out of the current directory, and

  • absolute paths may be used without restrictions.

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