Automatic installation

D0 farm

• set BIOS to load from network
• connect node to network
• boot

• a boot area in which /etc/fstab with mounts of D0 directories
• D0 directories

Responsabilities of the system manager:

• the preparation of the boot area on the server

Responsabilities of the application manager:

• The installation of the software on the server
• The verification of the correct execution of the software on the server
• The necessary modifations for running the program on a node

The D0 software consists of:

• ups/upd
  • fermi products (/usr/products)
  • D0 products (/d0usr/products)
  • D0 releases (/d0dist/dist)
• tar files
  • D0 MCC packages

The procedure works fine on a dedicated farm.

NIKHEF farm

• install the applications of all experiments on the same server
  • bootsector contains links to directories of all experiments
• each experiment has its own server
  • use separate bootserver which boots the initial system and directs the node to the proper application server

Gridification

The WP4 general picture: Configuration data is read from a database and compared with the status information in monitor From this comprison actions for the installation are generated and executed Information about the applications is stored in a separate database

• Concerning the configuration database
  • What is the format?
  • Who is responsible for the content?
• Concerning the application database
  • Does this contain a description of the s/w or the s/w itself?
• Is it possible to gridify the D0/NIKHEF solution?

Possible scenario

• The user installs the application on a private system.
• The user is responsible for the correct execution of the application.
• The user provides information about the files which should be on the disks of the nodes.
• The user creates a distribution tarfile.
• The distribution is shipped to a compatible system in the grid.
• The receiving centre installs the tarfile and verifies the correct functioning of the application.
• The receiving centre generates a boot sector for the application.
• The tarfile and bootsector are installed on a farmserver.
• The centre supplies a farm batch system.

• the specifications of the hardware and the system software
• the directories on the server which has to be NFS mounted from the node
• the batch commands (which have to be translated in the equivalent local commands)

• job dependent configuration files with its location
• url's of input and output files

Remarks

• the installation of the application
• the modification of the application
• the execution of the application
  • in batch mode
  • in debug mode
  • with the compilation of user routines
• the replacement of a node in a farm
  • before installation the machine parameters should be compared with the specifications in the purchase database
• the replacement of a farm server

• available platforms
• the versions of the installed applications

• a limited number of certified platforms
• the available certified versions of applications
• the location of the applications