Custom Host Deployment Option
The “Custom” host deployment option allows the user to choose exactly which services are deployed on each host. This is an advanced option to configure more complex or non-standard deployments. If your deployment doesn’t fit one of the pre-defined 1, 2, 3 or 4 server deployments, you can use the custom option to deploy almost any other possible host configuration.
For example, if you are running multiple ANA or ODA hosts, use this option. If you’re running the Postgres database completely external to the Brainspace cluster, use this option as well.
Pre-requisites
Use of the custom deployment option requires one additional package to be installed on the application host only, the package: ‘jq’.
Install jq using the appropriate package manager for that Linux distribution. For example, on Fedora-based distros use:
dnf install jq
For Debian based distros, like Ubuntu, use:
apt-get install jq
Any version of jq should work fine.
If you cannot install jq for some reason, there are alternatives available for setting up complex deployments, they just involve some extra manual work. Contact Reveal support for details.
Using the Custom Option
The custom option will work for any number of hosts, so the first step in the process is to join the Docker Swarm from all the hosts that will participate in the Brainspace deployment. You will need to open a terminal with an interactive shell on each of the hosts to enter the docker swarm join command.
On the first screen after selecting the custom option, you will see the command to use on the other hosts to join the swarm. Copy and paste this command on to every host, and when finished choose “Yes” to indicate that all hosts have successfully joined the swarm.
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On the next screen you should see the list of hosts/nodes that have joined the swarm, with the node ID on the left and the node’s hostname on the right:
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Choose the first host you wish to configure, and you will be asked to choose the “tools” or services that you wish to deploy on that host.
For example, if using a Postgres database that is completely external to the Brainspace cluster, such as when using a hosted Postgres solution like Amazon RDS, the application node should have the “Application” and “Messenger” roles, and not the “Database” role. Use the arrow keys and the spacebar to select/deselect roles:
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By assigning a role to a node, the installer will set all the labels required to fulfill that role, including any dependent labels.
Using another example where there are multiple ANA or ODA hosts, or both, for each node that is to run the ANA/ODA, select either the “Analytics” or “On-Demand-Analytics” role:
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Then select <Ok>.
Once all nodes have been configured, you will be taken to the “Deploy Brainspace” screen where you can review the role selections for each node:
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Note
It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that all the necessary roles have been correctly assigned. The software will not check that all of the required roles have been assigned to a node. In order to ensure a working Brainspace instance gets deployed, the user must confirm that this is properly implemented when using the custom option.