perfSONAR User Q&A and Other Discussion

[Loukik Kudarimoti <>]

Roman Lapacz wrote:
> Nicolas Simar wrote:
> > Hi Roman,
> >
> > can you explain me the difference between the two? In particular in 
> > which case you would go for one or the other.
> >
> > How does it solve the issue raised by Chris and Warren? Does it 
> > install all with a single click?
> I'm not sure about single click but a user could have all required 
> things in one package and at least some of them could be configured 
> (for example eXist could have an account and needed collection, Axis 
> could be put in the application server).
>
> The second package is what we have now. Just pS services.
I more or less agree but I still think we can achieve this in one 
package (without causing any confusion to the user). Here is how I think 
it can be done:

The user can interact with the script in 4 ways in total:

1) ./perfSONAR pre-install

This will ask if the user already has ant, tomcat, axis and exist.
* If the user says 'yes' to any of them, it will ask the path where it 
is located.
* If the user says 'no' to any of them, it will ask if the user wants to 
install them manually or download them automatically and install it.
** If the user chooses 'Manually', the script will ask the user to run 
the same script again after installing the dependency. It will also 
suggest download sites where the user can find the software for downloading
** If the user chooses  'Automatically' the script will  know a list of 
sites where the software is available and it will download the software 
and install it.

The script will also prompt the user for the port number to run tomcat 
on. eXist can run on tomcat itself and hence on the same port as tomcat.

2) ./perfSONAR configure
The script configures the service (i.e. put the xml file in exist, log 
properties, etc)

3) ./perfSONAR install
At this point the script knows where all the packages are located. It 
simply installs perfSONAR (i.e. copies all necessary jar files to 
tomcat) and deploys the service

4) ./perfSONAR test
This script helps in testing the service. The test scripts will have the 
capability to test each part of the service. So, if the user comes back 
to us with support questions, a quick and complete diagnosis of the 
installation can be made. The test will ask the user what he/she is 
interested in testing.

Just by typing ./perfSONAR, the script would do all the above in 
sequence. There would then be no classpath configuration (as ant takes 
care of that)

The fact is, we have a lot of ant targets which can already do a 
majority of the above tasks. In perfSONAR 1.0, it was decided not to use 
ant but instead go with replacement perl scripts. While I understand the 
easiness of using perl scripts, I really think it needs to be a 
combination of both (i.e., perl scripts are simply making use of ant 
targets underneath once ant is installed)

What are your comments on these steps? Do you think it would then be 
simple and easy to install perfSONAR?

Regards,
Loukik.

> Roman
>
> > Cheers,
> > Nicolas
> >
> > Roman Lapacz wrote:
> > > Reading recent comments I believe that the next release should be 
> > > represented by two packages:
> > > - one which will contain pS services, application server (tomcat or 
> > > jetty), eXist (it might be run in the application server without the 
> > > need of GUI installation) or even JRE
> > > - one which will contain only pS services as it is now
> > >
> > >
> > > A user could choose which package is better for her/him.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Chris Welti wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > I'm afraid I have to agree with Warren here.
> > > > I tried to get the java perfSONAR suite 1.0 running investing more 
> > > > than a
> > > >  day and I couldn't even get axis and exist running properly.
> > > > Unless there is a really simple way of installing perfSONAR, you're
> > > > not going to get this tool widely used.
> > > > And by simple, i mean _really_ simple, like a debian package that can
> > > > be installed via apt-get install, or something like make / make 
> > > > install,
> > > > or just a script that does ALL the installation tasks for you.
> > > > The point here is that I want to be able to just execute ONE programm
> > > > that does the installation for me. No worries about which paths to use
> > > > for the different tools, version numbers of programs, setting 
> > > > environment
> > > > variables, configuring port numbers to use, and so on. There are 
> > > > way to many steps involved in the installation process that can
> > > > go wrong.
> > > > The problem is of course that you are depending on 
> > > > java/tomcat/axis/exist
> > > > and you don't have control about it's configuration/installation.
> > > > Well, that's the downside of not having a stand-alone application.
> > > > The perl installation was much less of a hassle and is still running
> > > >   
> > >
> > > probably you are talking about python  RRD MA :)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Roman
> > >
> > >
> > > > fine here at SWITCH.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Chris
> > > >
> > > > Warren Matthews wrote:
> > > >  
> > > >
> > > > > Hi All
> > > > >
> > > > > I hate to whine but Eric and Jeff say I should call it feedback 
> > > > > and send
> > > > > it to the list.
> > > > >
> > > > > We've had a terrible time with perfSONAR. I want to give up. 
> > > > > Actually we
> > > > > haven't even made it to trying to install perfSONAR. We haven't 
> > > > > even got
> > > > > the prerequisites installed yet.
> > > > >
> > > > > The real problem is we have no java expertise. I'm trying to get 
> > > > > another
> > > > > student but that'll be at least a few more weeks. The other 
> > > > > problem is
> > > > > we have to run RHEL. It is mandated by our director; Unfortunately 
> > > > > our
> > > > > site license does not include the application server channel, so we
> > > > > don't get tomcat. Frankly, we're also not really interested in
> > > > > understanding the packages and being experts on various server 
> > > > > software
> > > > > tools. We're network support staff, we want to measure and 
> > > > > trouble-shoot
> > > > > the network. Trying to get perfSONAR set up has been a real pain.
> > > > >
> > > > > Perhaps you will say we should wait for better documentation. But we
> > > > > would like to be an early adopter because we need to offer monitoring
> > > > > services for our global campus. I would like to use perfSONAR so in
> > > > > future we can use data from other networks. Furthermore I claim most
> > > > > network admins are not going to try as hard as we did. If it doesn't
> > > > > just work they won't use it.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Warren Matthews, International Research Network Initiatives,
> > > > > Georgia Institute of Technology.
> > > > >
> > > > > Adventure is a sign of incompetence. If you have an adventure, you're
> > > > > doing something wrong. If you really plan things out then you 
> > > > > don't have
> > > > > adventures - The great polar explorer Vilhjalmur Stefanson.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >     
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >