2011-01-05

Compatibility Release

In order to help our customers better understand the compatibility and dependency information surrounding our published RightScale components (e.g. ServerTemplates, RightScripts and MultiCloud Images), we will start to release RightScale components in Compatibility Releases.  For more information, see Compatibility Release.

Support for multiple DNS Providers

Previously, all of our MySQL Manager RightScripts were designed to use DNS Made Easy as the DNS provider for handling dynamic DNS in the cloud.  You can now use DynDNS, Amazon's Route 53 DNS service, or configure support for another DNS provider of your choice.  For more information, see Domain Setup.  (wh-17360)

New RightImages for Windows will include Windows Updates

The latest RightImages published by RightScale now include all of the "critical" Windows Updates for .Net 3.5 SP1 (11/18/2008).  See the OS and Software Package Support matrix for details.  (az-17159)

Updates to Windows Installer

The instructions for our Windows Installer tutorial, RightLink Installer for Windows, explains how to create a RightScale-enabled image by installing the latest version of RightLink onto an instance that was launched with a base AMI from Amazon or a custom Windows AMI that you've customized yourself.   

RightLink v5.6 Release

The following ServerTemplates use MultiCloud Images that map to RightImages that were built with the latest version of RightLink.  RightLink v5.6 is the first release since the v5.5 GA (General Availability) release.  The latest release includes various bug fixes including the problem where audit entries were occasionally listed out of order. It also supports our source code repository mirroring service, called Repose. 

Modifications to collectd Installation

Previously, the collectd version that was installed on an instance (v4.5) was determined by the mirrors.   So, if the software repositories were either unfrozen or modified to use a different freeze date, an incompatible version of collectd could have been installed on the instance, which might have broken RightScale's ability to collect instance data.  When RightScale upgraded their ServerTemplates and RightScripts to use the latest version of collectd (v4.10) it was necessary to break the dependency on the mirrors.  Instead of using the RightScale mirrors for installing collectd onto an instance at boot time, collectd is now installed via packages (core, utils, dev, and lib) that are attached to the 'SYS Monitoring' installation RightScripts.  Although the collectd version can be manually changed by modifying the configuration files, such modifications have not been tested and are not supported by RightScale.

The latest version of collectd also supports several additional plugins.  If you wrote collectd plugins for older versions of collectd, you may need to modify them to support collectd v4.10.  For more information on how to modify a custom plugin to be compatible with v4.10, please refer to http://collectd.org.

There are also several RightScripts which extend RightScale's monitoring capabilities.  See the "RightScripts" section below.

Base ServerTemplate 11H1.b1

Description: This ServerTemplate is a starting point for custom ServerTemplate development.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16344

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• The "SYS lvm on /mnt v9 [rev 6]" and "SYS Add Swap Partition [rev 7]" RightScripts were modified so that on a server reboot, they wouldn't leave /etc/fstab in a broken state.  (w-3517)
• The "MAIL Postfix Local Delivery" RightScript no longer overwrites changes to the configuration files on a server reboot.  (w-3176)
• Added a syslog plugin configuration to collectd in order to support Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid), which enables the logging of useful debugging information to syslog.  (w-3539)
• The "SYS Syslog Remote Logging Client v8" RightScript was modified to support start/stop functionality on CentOS instances (EBS-based). The log directory is now correctly set in the syslog-ng.conf file.  (w-3610)

LAMP All-In-One with MySQL 5.0 11H1.b1

Description: Basic all-in-one LAMP server (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). Server is configured to take continuous backups of a MySQL 5.0 database and save them to a user-specified S3 bucket. Suitable for single server test, development and production (non-redundant) purposes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link:  http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...ySQL-5-0/16444

Ancestor:  LAMP v4 All-In-One

Supported OS: CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Ubuntu 10.04 does not support MySQL 5.0
• The problem where the "WEB app s3 code checkout" RightScript could have caused an undesireable symlink looping situation has been fixed. (w-3587)

LAMP All-In-One with MySQL 5.1 11H1.b1

Description: Basic all-in-one LAMP server (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). Server is configured to take continuous backups of a MySQL 5.1 database and save them to a user-specified S3 bucket. Suitable for single server test, development and production (non-redundant) purposes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...ySQL-5-1/16445

Ancestor:  LAMP v4 All-In-One

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Database Manager with MySQL 5.1 11H1.b1

Description: MySQL 5.1 database server that acts as either a standalone database server or as a master/slave database server designed for continuous backups and data replication. Includes RightScale's Database Manager functionality to create, restore, backup, promote, and terminate database servers in a cluster. Attached EBS Volumes are used to store MySQL data. Supports the use of multiple volumes (EBS Stripe) for increased performance. Micro instance types and Start/Stop functionalities are not supported.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...MySQL-5-/16411

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Support for multiple DNS Providers  (w-3087)
• The "DB MySQL 5.1 server install" RightScript has been modified so that it correctly sets the number of maximum MySQL connections for larger EC2 instance types.  (w-3516)

Database Manager with MySQL 5.0 11H1.b1

Description: MySQL 5.0 database server that acts as either a standalone database server or as a master/slave database server designed for continuous backups and data replication. Includes RightScale's Database Manager functionality to create, restore, backup, promote, and terminate database servers in a cluster. Attached EBS Volumes are used to store MySQL data. Supports the use of multiple volumes (EBS Stripe) for increased performance. Micro instance types and Start/Stop functionalities are not supported.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...MySQL-5-/16381

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Database Manager with MySQL 5.1 Toolbox 11H1.b1

Description: Basic MySQL 5.1 server that can be used for testing and troubleshooting purposes. Use the template's operational RightScripts to perform various maintenance, test, and diagnostic tasks.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...MySQL-5-/16412

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Database Manager with MySQL 5.0 Toolbox 11H1.b1

Description: Basic MySQL 5.0 server that can be used for testing and troubleshooting purposes. Use the template's operational RightScripts to perform various maintenance, test, and diagnostic tasks. The use of this template's scripts requires the matching dbtools version for this compatibility release, which supports the striping of EBS volumes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...MySQL-5-/16396

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

EBS Stripe Toolbox 11H1.b1

Description: This template includes a collection of useful RightScripts that can be used to perform various EBS-related tasks such as mounting an EBS volume with no database or creating custom ServerTemplates using EC2 EBS volumes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16428

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Load Balancer with Apache/HAProxy 11H1.b1

Description: Dedicated load balancer server with Apache and HAProxy. No 'application' processing is installed. The server acts as a load balancer that forwards requests to the registered backend application servers. All requests are forwarded to separate application servers that are dynamically registered with this load balancer at boot time. Can be configured for HTTPS (SSL).

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...er-with-/16398

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• The 'OPT_WEBSITE_PORT' input has been removed from the "WEB apache FrontEnd https vhost v2" RightScript. This input is now always set to (port) 443. (w-3581)
• The "WEB apache FrontEnd https vhost v2" RightScript was was modified so that it's no longer missing an input for the 'Certificate Chain' file. (w-3531)
• The "SYS Syslog-ng and HAProxy restart v2" RightScript was modified so that it no longer causes a server to potentially strand if it's run as a boot script. (w-3567)
• The 'LB_BACKEND_NAME' input has been removed from ServerTemplates that connect to HAProxy.  This value will now be determined based on your RightImage version. (w-3553) 
• In the "LB app to HA proxy connect v3" RightScript, there was a required input named 'HEALTH_CHECK_URI'. However, it had no effect when the script was run. This input has been removed so the user is not required to input an unused value. (w-3333)
• The HAProxy plugin was not properly sending stats when multiple HAProxy vhosts were configured. This issue has been resolved. (w-3475)

Tomcat6 Front End 11H1.b1

Description: Frontend web server that functions as a load balancer and application server. Installs HAProxy, Apache and Tomcat6. Server is designed to use HAProxy to load balance web requests across the local PHP application server and other remote Tomcat Frontend and/or Tomcat Application servers. Can be configured for HTTPS traffic (SSL).

MultiCloud MarketplaceLink: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16387

Ancestor:  Tomcat6 FrontEnd v9

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Previously, if you didn't specify an SVN repository for your application (SVN_APP_REPOSITORY = ignore:$ignore), the server would strand in booting.  The "WEB tomcat6 svn code checkout" RightScript has been modified so that a server can now safely reach the operational state even if the SVN repository is not defined.  (w-3527)

Tomcat6 App Server 11H1.b1

Description: Tomcat application server running Apache with mod_jk or http connections.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16360

Ancestor:  Tomcat6 App Server v9

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Previously, if you didn't specify an SVN repository for your application (SVN_APP_REPOSITORY = ignore:$ignore), the server would strand in booting.  The "WEB tomcat6 svn code checkout" RightScript has been modified so that a server can now safely reach the operational state even if the SVN repository is not defined.  (w-3527)

PHP5 Front End 11H1.b1

Description: Frontend web server that functions as a load balancer and application server. Installs HAProxy, Apache, and PHP5. Server is designed to use HAProxy to load balance web requests across the local PHP application and other remote PHP Frontend and/or PHP Application servers. Can be configured for HTTPS traffic (SSL).

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16436

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

PHP5 App Server 11H1.b1

Description: PHP application server with Apache.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16446

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Rails Front End 11H1.b1

Description: Frontend web server that functions as a load balancer and application server. Installs HAProxy, Apache, and Rails. Server is designed to use HAProxy to load balance web requests across the local Rails application and other remote Rails Frontend and/or Rails Application servers. Can be configured for HTTPS traffic (SSL).

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16417

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

Rails App Server 11H1.b1

Description: Rails application server running a cluster of mongrels.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...-11H1-b1/16409

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• N/A

PHP5 App Server for ELB 11H1.b1

Description: PHP application server with Apache to be used in conjunction with Amazon's Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) service.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...B-11H1-b/16434

Ancestor:  N/A

Supported OS: Ubuntu 10.04, CentOS 5.4 (default)

Additional Documentation (if any):

• The RightScripts used to connect/disconnect an application server to an Amazon Elastic Load Balancer ("ELB connect instance to balancer" and "ELB disconnect instance to balancer") have been modified to detect and handle rate throttling exceptions.   (w-3636)

Quick Start for Windows (Chef Alpha)

Description: This ServerTemplate is designed to use RightScale-enabled images (with RightLink preinstalled) for running Windows 2003 or 2008 instances. Instances will automatically connect to the RightScale platform at boot time and have monitoring enabled.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/server_templates/Quick-Start-for-Windows-Chef-A/16329

Ancestor:  same

Supported OS: Windows 2003, Windows 2003 SQL Server 2k5, Windows 2003 SQL Server Express 2k5, Windows 2008 SQL Server 2k8, Windows 2008 SQL Server Express 2k8

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Alpha version
• RightLink v5.6.5

BlogEngine All-In-One (Chef Alpha)

Description: Installs the BlogEngine web application on Windows 2003 or 2008 instance with monitoring enabled. This template is an example of a IIS/.NET/SQLServer stack. By default you are required to define a new admin password of your choice as an input when the instance is launched.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/server_templates/BlogEngine-All-In-One-Chef-Alp/16322

Ancestor:  same

Supported OS: Windows 2003 SQL Server Express 2k5, Windows 2008 SQL Server Express 2k8

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Alpha version
• RightLink v5.6.5

ASP.NET All-In-One Developer (Chef Alpha)

Description: Configures an instance as a ASP.NET application server with IIS and SQL Server Express on a single server. Configured for HTTP traffic only (not SSL). Includes centralized monitoring.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/server_templates/ASP-NET-All-In-One-Developer-C/16321

Ancestor:  same

Supported OS: Windows 2003 SQL Server Express 2k5, Windows 2008 SQL Server Express 2k8

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Alpha version
• RightLink v5.6.5

RightLink Starter for Windows (Chef Alpha)

Description: This template contains a bare image that, once enabled with RightLink, will boot onto the RightScale platform with monitoring enabled. You can use this template to enable monitoring for your custom Windows virtual machines.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link:  http://www.rightscale.com/library/se...Windows-/16330

Ancestor:  same

Supported OS: Windows 2003

Additional Documentation (if any):

• Alpha version
• RightLink v5.6.5

SYS Monitoring Apache Add - 11H1.b1

Description: On CentOS, installs the collectd-apache plugin. On Ubuntu, the plugin is compiled in. This script enables the monitoring of your Apache web server with extended statistics.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/right_scripts/SYS-Monitoring-Apache-Add-11H1/16359

SYS Monitoring File Stats Add - 11H1.b1

Description: This is a Ruby-based exec plugin installed from an attachment. This script provides the collectd plugin for monitoring file statistics and allows you to monitor the age and size of lockfile in "/var/run". It's used to monitor the backup status on databases and other critical processes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/right_scripts/SYS-Monitoring-File-Stats-Add-/16378

SYS Monitoring HAproxy 1.3 Add - 11H1.b1

Description: This is a Ruby-based exec plugin installed from an attachment. This script enables HAProxy monitoring with a collectd plugin (system statistics collection daemon).
 
MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/right_scripts/SYS-Monitoring-HAproxy-1-3-Add/16384

SYS Monitoring jcollectd Add - 11H1.b1

Description: This is a Java-based plugin installed from an attachment. This script sets up jcollectd-0.1.0 with the basic setting for monitoring TomCat. You can add more monitoring attributes to the jcollectd configuration file inside collectd.jar.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/right_scripts/SYS-Monitoring-jcollectd-Add-1/16358

SYS Monitoring MySQL Add - 11H1.b1

Description: On CentOS, installs the collectd-mysql plugin. On Ubuntu, the plugin is compiled in. This script adds the MySQL plugin to collectd for monitoring purposes.

MultiCloud Marketplace Link: http://www.rightscale.com/library/right_scripts/SYS-Monitoring-MySQL-add-11H1-/16377

V5 Images

'EBS' in the MCI name denotes that it's referencing EBS-based AMIs (i.e. bootable EBS Snapshots). 
If 'EBS' is not found in the namespace, the MCI will reference standard S3-based AMIs.

RightScale Public Windows [rev 8]

The following changes were made to the Windows Chef Cookbooks.

• utilities cookbook
  • Removed ruby install recipe
  • Updated firefox install recipe to install the latest version of firefox 3.6
  • Added recipe to enable attached volumes
  • Added recipe to register dns name using DNS Made Easy
• sys_monitoring cookbook
  • Added iis, file, and process monitors
• db_sqlserver cookbook
  • Added recipes to restore once, enable sql mixed mode authentication, create users, and create logins
  • Added upper limit on the number of backups
• code_checkout cookbook
  • Added metadata
• blog_engine cookbook
  • Moved iis monitors to sys_monitoring cookbook
  • Updated database provider
• aws cookbook updates:
  • Added terminate_instance recipe
  • Updated get and put for s3 provider
     

Unable to graph newest collectd metrics

The 11H1.b1 ServerTemplates use a newer collectd package (v4.10), which supports new rrd files that RightScale's sketchy servers are currently unable to graph.   (Sketchy servers are used for displaying graphs inside the Dashboard.)  As a result, there may be some missing graphs until RighScale's sketchy servers can be updated to display the newer metrics.   The following graphs are missing from the "Database Manager with MySQL 5.1" ServerTemplate.

• mysql::locks-immediate
• mysql::locks-waited
• processes::fork_rate
• swap::io-in
• swap::io-out