Clusters View | Riedel Online Help Center

This view allows creating and managing Cluster Setups on which Server Configurations are then installed.

Depending on the level of risk-aversion to an outage, this will change the number of nodes required.

No high availability: One node is required to form the cluster.
High availability: Three identically-configured nodes are required to form the cluster.
See also chapter Network Setup in High-Availability Scenarios.

The Clusters View uses Server Configurations created in the Configurations View. The selected server configuration is used by the Riedel Software Manager to deploy the selected applications and their configuration on the Hosts. The Riedel Software Manager determines if it is a single host or a high availability cluster and will deploy the required applications accordingly.

Furthermore, you can upgrade a single node cluster to a high availability cluster during runtime.

Overview

Riedel Software Manager - Clusters

Clusters

This section shows all Cluster Setups created in this view. The Server Configuration selected in the Configurations section is used to form a Cluster Setup selected here. See chapter Configurations View.

	Set a filter to display only content whose search text is found in the name. These filters are available for different sections.
	Click to create a new Cluster Setup. See section #Creating-a-Cluster-Setup.
	Click to connect to an existing cluster and to provide a previously stored Management Certificate saved on your computer / on the server. By default this file is exported in the default download folder of the computer. See section #Connecting-to-an-existing-Server-Setup.
	Click to disconnect the selected Cluster Setup.
	Click to delete the selected Cluster Setup. See section #Destroy-a-Cluster-Setup.
	Indicates whether the corresponding Cluster has a valid ( ) or invalid ( ) setup.
Name	Shows the name of the Cluster Setup.
FQDN	Shows the Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP address of the Cluster via which the installed software can be opened in your browser.
Installed Configuration	Name of the Server Configuration that is deployed to the Cluster Setup.
HA	The symbol indicates that this Cluster Setup is configured for high availability (on three nodes).

Creating a Cluster Setup

It is necessary that the correct date and time are set on the device on which the Riedel Software Manager is running.
During cluster creation, a certificate is created with the time and date of the computer on which the RSM is running. After the cluster has been created, the time is synchronized with NTP. If the time differs from the certificate created by RSM, time synchronization is not possible and errors occur.

In the Clusters section, click Create….

Ensure that:

The computer running Riedel Software Manager has network connectivity to the servers or virtual machines via the provided IP address or host name.
The servers or virtual machines have been prepared with the operating system required for the software to be installed.
The servers or virtual machines have password based SSH access enabled.
The user used in the SSH connection has root access.

A wizard will appear which guides through the creation:

Type tab

Enter a name (without spaces) for the Cluster Setup, for example, My-STAGE-Cluster.
Choose whether you want to use
1. no high availability (single node)
2. high availability (3 nodes)
  See chapter Network Considerations.
Click Next.

Connectivity tab

Select whether you want to address your nodes via domain names (resolved by DNS) or via IP addresses.
use domain names : The Cluster will use fully qualified domain names (FQDN) to address the individual nodes and the cluster. This setup allows to use dynamic IP addresses (e.g. via DHCP) but requires DNS resolution to be set up in the network correctly.
use IP address: The cluster will use IP addresses to address the nodes and a floating IP address to address the cluster. This setup does not allow to change the IP addresses after creation of the cluster, but does not require additional DNS configuration in the network.

The DNS Name will be the address used to access the web interface of the Application you will install. Please make sure that the DNS Name will be resolved to the IP address of your Cluster Setup. This can be achieved by configuring your DNS server in the network or providing static entries to the hosts-file on your computers operating system.
In case your network does not provide DNS resolution and static entries are not an option, the Cluster Setup can also be created based on IP Addresses. In this case, select the use of IP adresses.

Click Next.

Nodes tab

If required, you can edit the Node Names by clicking on them.
Depending on the selection in the previous Connectivity tab, enter the name(s) or IP address(es) of the node(s).
Enter the SSH credentials of the node(s).
After entering the information, the connection is verified and RSM will check if the corresponding node file has been provides before. Information about that is displayed in the status column.
If appears, click the upload icon and follow the wizard for importing the *.node file from your computer that corresponds to the operating system on your server, e.g. ues-node-1.0.0-debian-12-bookworm_amd64.node.
If all SSH connections are established and the corresponding node files are available, click Next.

FQDN tab

If necessary, edit the domain / IP address of the cluster.
Click Next.

Summary tab

Review the provided information. Click on Back to switch to the corresponding tab to correct it.
Click Create Cluster to start preparing the servers or virtual machines according the Cluster setup.

Creation tab

Riedel Software Manager is now creating the Cluster Setup and adding the specified servers or virtual machines to it. During this process it will install the required packages on the servers to form the Cluster Setup.

The duration of this process is dependent on the network connectivity speed between the computer running Riedel Software Manager and the individual servers or virtual machines that form the cluster.

In case one or multiple Nodes stay in “Offline” status for a long time, this indicates either a network connection issue or a login problem through the SSH connection. In this case, close the wizard, remove the pending node and add another node manually.

Certificate tab

Once the Cluster has been created, click Export Management Certificate to download it. This certificate is the “key” to connect to this Cluster Setup with Riedel Software Manager at a later time or from another computer.

Connecting to the Cluster with Riedel Software Manager for maintenance, updates, and so on requires the Management Certificate of the respective Cluster. This certificate must be downloaded and stored in a safe place.

Reconnecting a Cluster with Riedel Software Manager without this certificate is not possible.

After confirming the download of the certificate by ticking the checkbox, click Next.
During the installation, a self-signed certificate was generated. This certificate may trigger security warnings in browsers or other applications when connecting to the cluster. To avoid these warnings, you can export the certificate and add it to your browser's trusted certificates, or you can import a certificate provided by your organization for the cluster to use.
Click Close to exit the wizard.

Connecting to an existing Server Setup

To connect to an existing Cluster Setup you will require the DNS Name of the Cluster Setup and the Management Certificate generated during creation of the Cluster Setup.

Click Import… in the center section of the Clusters View.
Provide the DNS Name and the Management Certificate and click Import.

The connection process will take a few seconds to discover the Cluster Setup topology.

Destroy a Cluster Setup

To remove a Cluster Setup from Riedel Software Manager, select the desired Cluster Setup and click Destroy.
A warning dialog will appear informing you that this will remove the running Configuration, release all Nodes from the Cluster and remove all Server files from the Nodes.
Click Delete to confirm and destroy the Cluster setup.

Nodes

This section shows all available Nodes created in the Cluster Setup.

The software of a Server Configuration that is deployed in a Cluster Setup is installed on a single node for normal availability and on three nodes for high availability. Ensure that you have enough nodes to form a cluster.

	Click to manage (import and delete) Node files.
	Click to delete the selected Node.
	Click to add another node.
	Indicates whether the corresponding node is online ( ) or offline ( ).
Name	Name of the corresponding Node.
Address	Fully qualified domain name or IP address of the corresponding Node.

Cluster / Node Details

Depending on the selection in the center section (Cluster or Node), the corresponding content is displayed in this Details section.

Cluster Details

Select a Cluster Setup in the list in the center section to inspect it. The right hand area will display the properties. The Cluster Details are displayed on several tabs:

Status tab

The Status tab displays information in various groups.

General	Name	Here you can change the name of the Cluster Setup and review the domain name / IP address and High Availability Status. Click Upgrade to High Availability to turn your single node setup into a three node setup. See section #Upgrading-a-Cluster-Setup-to-High-Availability.
	FQDN
	High Availability
	Status
Installed Configuration	Configuration Name	You can review the currently installed Configuration and its status. Click on Open Application to open the clusters domain name / IP address in your default browser. Click on Update to update the current Server Configuration of the selected Cluster Setup. See section #Update-a-Configuration-of-a-Cluster-Setup. Click on Uninstall Configuration to remove the current Server Configuration from the selected Cluster Setup. See section #Uninstalling-a-Configuration-from-a-Cluster-Setup.
Installed Configuration	Status
Health	Agent connected	The health section shows a sum up of the status of Server Setup components. A green indicator and `3/3` or `1/1` indicates a healthy Server Setup. Click on Download Cluster Diagnostics to download a zipped diagnostics file in .json format.
	Cluster networking
	Cluster orchestration
Settings	Floating IP	Indicates if the system operates with floating IPs.
	Time	Shows the current time of the cluster. Click the pencil icon to set the time.
	Last Time Sync	Timestamp of the last time synchronization.
	NTP Servers	Shows the time server.
Buttons	Cancel	Click to discard any changes you have made.
Buttons	Save	Click to apply any changes you have made.

Upgrading a Cluster Setup to High Availability

A Single Node Setup (no high availability) can be changed to a Cluster Setup (high availability).

Click on Upgrade to High Availability on the right of a Cluster Setup. Upgrading a Cluster Setup to High Availability is similar to creating a new Cluster Setup.
Verify that Riedel Software Manager has a Node File corresponding to the operating system of the servers or virtual machines to be added.
Provide host names or IP addresses and SSH credentials for the servers or virtual machines to be added. Click Add Nodes to start upgrading your Cluster Setup.
Riedel Software Manager is now upgrading the Cluster Setup and adding the provided servers or virtual machines to it. During this process it will install required packages on the servers to be able to join the Cluster Setup. Once all nodes show the “Online” Status, the process is finished. Click Next to proceed.

The duration of this process is dependent on the network connectivity speed between the computer running Riedel Software Manager and the individual servers or virtual machines of the cluster.

In case one or multiple Nodes stay in “Offline” status for a long time, this indicates either a network connection or a login problem through the SSH connection. In this case, close the wizard, remove the pending node and add another node manually.

Update a Configuration of a Cluster Setup

Click Update on the right of a Cluster Setup.
A wizard opens and explains the next steps.
Click Next to proceed.
In order to continue, a backup copy of the affected cluster must first be downloaded. This must be confirmed by ticking the checkbox before you can click Next to continue.
The currently available Suite files are displayed with their versions. New Suite files can be imported by clicking on the Import Suite button. Click Next to proceed.
The currently installed Suite files and the new Suite files to be installed are displayed with their versions. By default, the latest versions to be installed are displayed if several Suite files are available for an update. A different version can be selected in the dropdown.
Click Next to continue updating the Suite to the version displayed.
Enter a name for the updated configuration. By default, the name of the currently installed configuration is given the suffix “update” and the current date. Click Next to proceed.
Depending on the changes between the currently installed versions and the new versions, the newly created suite may be invalid if there are new mandatory parameters. The suites and the packages they contain are therefore displayed here and the corresponding settings can be made.
The contents in this example are based on the STAGE Suite and may differ for other suites. The Next button is only activated if the configuration is valid.
The preparation of the updated configuration is now complete and the next steps are explained.
Click Next to start the upload process.
Once the upload is completed, the system is ready to update the configuration. Click Next to start the update process. Please note that system availability may be briefly interrupted while the update is applied.
Once the update is completed, click Close to exit the wizard.

Uninstalling a Configuration from a Cluster Setup

To uninstall a Configuration from a Cluster Setup, click Uninstall Configuration in the Status view of a Cluster Setup.
In the confirmation dialog, click Delete to uninstall the configuration on the cluster.

Service tab

The Services tab shows all the individual services of the installed application and their status.

Name	Shows the name of the corresponding service.
Started at	Shows the date and time when the service was started.
State	Indicates whether the corresponding service is running ( ) or pending ( ).

Certificates tab

The Certificates tab allows to export and import certificates.

Cluster Certificate	The Cluster Certificate is required to connect to this cluster from another instance of Riedel Software Manager (e.g. from another computer).
HTTPS/SSL Certificate	The HTTPS/SSL Certificate is used to encrypt the connection from your web browser or other software to the installed system. You can download the current certificate from here or directly from your web browser when accessing the system's web interface. You can also replace and import the certificate with one provided by your organization.
User Directory Certificate	When using a User Directory, such as Microsoft Active Directory, only secure connections are accepted. If the User Directory service uses a self-signed certificate, provide it here to allow the connection to the User Directory service.

Backup tab

Export Backup	A backup contains a snapshot of the database installed application. It can be used to transfer the application data to another Cluster or to restore data in case the Cluster gets damaged.
Import Backup	Importing a backup will overwrite the application database with data from the backup. During the restore process, the application will be stopped and restarted after the backup has been restored.

Node Details

Select a Node in the list in the center section to inspect it. The right hand area will display the properties.

General	Name	Shows the name of the node.
	Address	Shows the domain name or IP address of the node.
	Status	Indicates whether the node is currently online ( ) or offline ( ) or whether there is a problem ( ). If software is currently being installed, the icon fades between online and offline status.
Health	SSH Connectivity Agent Connectivity Networking Service Orchestration Service	Indicates the status of the corresponding connectivity or service: online inactive unknown unavailable
	Node Type	Shows the cluster’s node type. Standard Node
	Readiness	Shows an overall health message for the node.
	OS Information	Shows details about the node’s operating system and the utilization of hardware resources such as RAM and Hard Disk.
Buttons	Cancel	Click to discard any changes you have made.
Buttons	Save	Click to apply any changes you have made.

Server Configurations

This section shows all Server Configurations created in the Configurations view. The Server Configuration selected here is used to form a Cluster that you create on the right.

	Set a filter to display only content whose search text is found in the name.
	Indicates whether the corresponding Server Configuration is valid ( ) or incomplete ( ).
Name	Name of the Server Configuration.
Install Configuration on selected Cluster	Click to install the selected Server Configuration on the selected Cluster Setup.

Installing a Server Configuration on a Cluster Setup

After creating the Cluster Setup, verify that the Setup is healthy by checking the indicators next to the Clusters and Nodes Names.
When all indicators light up green, select a Server Configuration on the left and a Cluster in the middle and click Install Configuration on selected Cluster at the bottom left.
The license agreement of the Application you are installing is shown.
Accept the terms by ticking the checkbox. Click Install to start the installation.
Riedel Software Manager is now installing the selected Configuration on the selected Cluster. This process can take a few minutes depending on the speed of your network connection.

Once the installation has been finished, the servers are started.

After all services are started, click Close to exit the wizard.

After the installation is finished you can proceed to open the web interface of the application or close the wizard.