Virtual Job Servers - Cloning question - can it be done?

[corey_hallisey]

Hi folks.  I'm fairly new to virtualization...but I have a question...

Has anyone tried to "clone" an existing virtualized Job Server over and over, to new hosts, to scale out a farm?
And if so, what are some of the gotchas? 

Do you just have to go into Config Manager after the cloning, and change all the instances of the Host name in the config? 

Or do you have to build your job servers from scratch on your virtuals? 

Cloning a VM would be WAY more efficient for scaling out a big farm.  Currently I have a 48-core job server farm, and according to the Virtualization Whitepaper by Mike & Martin, optimal VM size is dual, which means I'll need to create between 12 and 24 VMs to have a farm with similar horsepower. 

Having to manually build this many virtual job servers is a sure-fire path to premature brain rot :)

Thanks in advance for any help / guidance / experiences you can share!

-Corey Hallisey, TranCanada Pipelines, Cognos Planning user since 2004.

[ericlfg]

Hey Corey,

I would imagine that this could be done, so long as you do not start the configuration after you've setup your 'template' VM.  Once you start the services it grabs the crypto information from the CM and builds its keystores.

:To setup your template I would:
- Install the DB tools
- Install the Planning server component and any fix packs required
- Configure your DB connection information in cognos config, but leave the localhost references and do not start services.
- Configure services for a job server role (dispatcher, planning job, monitor (opt.), event (opt.)
:Copy the template:
:Create the clone:
- Rename the localhost references to the actual machine name and start services.
:Test the new machine:
- Ensure that it's fully functional and that it can process every job.  I would even consider running it hard for a few hours or perhaps a full day to make sure it's stable.
:Create additional clones:

This should be all that's required.  However, something in the back of my memory makes me think that part of the install grabs the host name and does something in the back-end file structure.  Let us know how you make out!

Cheers

[SomeClown]

If it's an existing and operational job server, you'll probably need to erase the crypto key folders in /configuration after the clone:
  signedkeypair,  encryptkeypair, csk.

Once deleting those, you may have to re-enter all passwords (haven't tested this in a while).
Crypto keys use the servername in generating the keys.

[ducthcogtechie]

Having to manually build this many virtual job servers is a sure-fire path to premature brain rot :)

A script with an unattended install, importing a cogstartup.xml and running a cogconfigw command to boot it up should be kept as a plan B, in case it all goes downhill.
Server cloning is not supported by Cognos.