2009-04-21

Merge ServerTemplates

The ability to merge ServerTemplates has been added to this release.  It works similar to the "merge RightScripts" feature, but pertains to ServerTemplates as opposed to RightScripts.  (3423)

Detecting New RightScripts

RightScripts are constantly being revised and newer versions/revisions are released.  Previously, there was no clear indication when a newer/updated version of a RightScript was available.  Under the Scripts tab of an editable (private) ServerTemplate, a RightScript's icon will denote if an updated version of a RightScript is available.   When at least one RightScript is out-of-date, an "Update" button will be displayed.

To learn more, see Update to latest RightScripts in a ServerTemplate. (3519)

Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud ("Eucalyptus Technology Preview" release)

The RightScale Cloud Management Platform now supports the global debut of the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (powered by Eucalyptus) to help enterprises deploy and manage “private” clouds in their own data centers.  To learn more, please read our Press Release.  To view a step-by-step tutorial on installing, configuring and running a two host Eucalyptus cloud, please click here.

To learn more, see Eucalyptus.

Multi-cloud Administrative Interface

There is now an administrative interface for registering and managing private Eucalyptus clouds: including the ability to invite other accounts as managers.  Clouds to which you have access will be listed under the Settings -> Account -> Clouds tab.  Resources for your private cloud will dynamically show up in the accordian menu. (3751)

To learn more, see Register a Eucalyptus Cloud with RightScale and Add a Eucalyptus Cloud to a RightScale Account.

User Interface (UI) changes

The user interface for the RightScale Cloud Managment Platform has been redesigned.  In addition to a more cohesive and aesthetically pleasing look and feel, performance improvements should also be recognized.  The key take aways from this UI redesign are as follows:

• From a user point of view there are no functional changes.  Navigation has gone virtually untouched.  Those already familiar with the RightScale Dashboard will find a very smoothe transition.
• Performance improvements - All tested browsers show a significant reduction in memory usage
• Pop-up notifications - You will notice temporary pop-up notifications being displayed in the upper right portion of your screen.  Previous releases of the RightScale Dashboard did not use pop-up notifications.

Important!  Existing screenshots in our product documentation have not been updated as of yet!   We will be doing this over time, starting with the most used documents and tutorials and progressing from there.

(2998w)

ServerTemplate MultiCloud Marketplace

Much work has been done with the underlying ServerTemplates (and often associated RightScripts) to lift several dependencies.  In particular, cloud dependencies have been removed.  When you create a new ServerTemplate for the first time, you will need to select a cloud infrastructure.  ServerTemplates are now cloud-agnostic.  So, once you've created a ServerTemplate, you can add additional clouds under the new Clouds tab, which will allow you to use the same ServerTemplate across multiple cloud infrastructures.  You no longer have to replicate templates across different clouds/regions. (e.g. EC2-US to EC2-EU)  (3413)

Account Registration and Plans

The sign up process has been improved.  The flow is much more intuitive now, and is better documented from within the process itself.  A summary of the flow is as follows:

• Fill out your basic contact information (name, company, e-mail, password)
• Choose your cloud account type.  There are three possibilities:
  1. I have an AWS account
  2. I want to obtain an AWS account
  3. I want to use RightScale's AWS account for now

Several deployments have been developed to help jump-start your RightScale Cloud Management Platform user experience.  With one button click you can launch a macro that creates one of the following deployments for you:

• LAMP stack application
• RAILS application
• WordPress blog
• Trac Wiki

You are also given the choice to skip these macros, and simply start using the Dashboard.  (4061)

MySQL Slave Database Initialization

When you brought up a new server, and ran the Operational RightScript "EBS Slave Init," a timeout condition occurred resulting in an erroneous error in the Audit Entries.  Although the database initialization takes some time, it would complete correctly.  The error that use to be logged was:

Error code: 2002
Error message: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)
Error SQLSTATE: HY000

The error message was triggered as a side effect of the way we use to check if MySQL was up and running.  We have refined the check and this condition should no longer occur.  (The script waits longer for the database to come up.)

(2510w)

Inconsistent behavior of the "Update to latest RightScripts" button

We've noticed that the "Update to latest RightScripts" button under the Scripts tab of a ServerTemplate doesn't always update all of the scripts.  In some cases, you may receive an internal error message and none of the scripts will have been updated.  If this happens, you should update each script individually.  We are currently working on a fix to this problem.

Please report issues to:  support@rightscale.com