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Rackspace Hosting

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    1. 1. About Rackspace Cloud Servers
    2. 2. RightScale Support for Cloud Servers
      1. 2.1. Supported Features
      2. 2.2. Unsupported Features
      3. 2.3. Concepts
      4. 2.4. Tutorials
      5. 2.5. Supported RightScale Objects
        1. 2.5.1. MultiCloud Images
        2. 2.5.2. Machine Images
        3. 2.5.3. Published ServerTemplates
      6. 2.6. Known Limitations
      7. 2.7. Defect Support
    3. 3. Rackspace US and Rackspace UK Feature Support
    4. 4. See also

    About Rackspace Cloud Servers

    One of the core offerings of the cloud hosting division of Rackspace is Cloud Servers. Cloud Servers features on-demand cloud storage and servers. To learn more about Cloud Servers technical features and pricing information, see http://www.rackspacecloud.com/.

    Use the RightScale Management Platform for additional server configuration capabilities with Cloud Servers.

    RightScale Support for Cloud Servers

    Launching and terminating plain instances from the 'Clouds' menu in the Dashboard is supported.
    ServerTemplates using Rackspace images have limited support. There are a number of resources that are Amazon-specific which are taken as assumptions in current ServerTemplates. As new ServerTemplates are published, they will be designed with cross-cloud compatibility in mind.

    Supported Features

    • Register a Rackspace cloud account with valid credentials (See Add Rackspace Cloud Credentials to a RightScale Account.)
    • Manage Instances, Images, Instance Types
    • Inputs for Chef Recipes and RightScripts
    • Add a Rackspace server to any Deployment
    • Launch servers as part of a Deployment
    • SSH into servers via the SSH Console button (Mindterm is required due to auth mechanism)
    • View progression of a server's state (pending-running-booting-operational-shutting down)
    • Run operational scripts
    • Instances can be launched and terminated
    • Root passwords are displayed for launched instances
    • Monitoring is supported at both the Deployment and Server levels using the rs_utils::default Chef Recipe;
      You can also create QuickMonitoring graphs
    • Server Arrays, Alerts and Alert Escalations
    • Connect Cloud Servers with managed hosted servers using RackConnectTM

    Unsupported Features

    • Change script inputs after a server launch
    • Run scripts that address Amazon-specific resources (EBS Volumes/Snapshot, Elastic IPs, etc.)
    • Run scripts that have Amazon-specific inputs (SSH keys, Env variables, etc.)

    Supported RightScale Objects

    MultiCloud Images

    Currently when designing MultiCloud Images, Rackspace images cannot be added. The workaround is to import an existing ServerTemplate from the MultiCloud Marketplace that contains an MCI with a Rackspace cloud image, then override the machine image on the server with a supported machine image (below).

    Machine Images

    Currently, these listed images are compatible with Rackspace and are supported and tested for use with RightScale servers, ServerTemplates, RightScripts and Chef recipes. This image currently bootstraps RightLink 5.1.1 (via installation of the rightlink Debian package). Other images will be supported in future releases with later versions of RightLink. 

    • RightImage-CentOS-5.4-x64-v5.6.32.2
    • RightImage-Windows-2008-x64-v5.6.5
    • RightImage-Windows-2008-i386-v5.6.5
    • RightImage-Windows-2003-x64-v5.6.5
    • RightImage-Windows-2003-i386-v5.6.5
    Published ServerTemplates

    At this time, there are several RightScale published ServerTemplates available in the MultiCloud Marketplace for use with Rackspace. For a tutorial with a Rackspace compatible ServerTemplate, see All-In-One LAMP Server.

    Known Limitations

    • If you are using RightImages, use a 1GB instance type size or larger for Windows servers. The latest RightImages support all Rackspace instance types for Linux servers.
    • 1GB is the default instance type for RightScale's published MultiCloud Images (MCIs) that support Rackspace.
    • Although there is no limit on the number of running instances within the Rackspace cloud, there is a 50GB limit on the total amount of allocated RAM across all concurrently running instances. To get this limit extended, please contact Rackspace.
    • Instances have been known to, on occasion, take longer than normal to transition to bootstrap.
      In the future (when possible) RightImagesTMwill be published which should improve the boot time
    • When defining inputs in Rackspace ServerTemplates, only use the 'Text' input type (e.g. using 'Ignore' has been known to prevent launch).
      Other input types can be set, but they may not behave as expected
    • Some cloud-dependent Chef recipes and RightScripts will not behave predictably. RightScale will continue to work with 3rd party Chef publishers to ensure that recipes are RightScale compatible on all supported images
    • When adding your Rackspace credentials, only Rackspace Cloud credentials will work with the RightScale Dashboard. However, if Rackspace Managed Hosting credentials are entered, this will not yield a warning message. Be sure when adding Rackspace to the Dashboard that your credentials are from your Rackspace Cloud account.

    Defect Support

    To report any bugs related to RightScale and The Rackspace Cloud, please raise a support ticket from the Dashboard or email support@rightscale.com.

    Rackspace US and Rackspace UK Feature Support

    Functionality Rackspace US Rackspace UK
    Instances X X
    Users and Accounts X X
    Usage and Costs X X
    RightLink X X
    Firewalls X X
    Monitoring X X
    Alerts X X
    Alert-Based Arrays X X
    Managed SSH X X
    RightImages X  
    Base ServerTemplates X  
    RightScripts X  
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