Thanks, Aaron and Josh. I did have some problems in my vcld.conf; the vclsystem account hadn't been properly configured. So that was clearly part of my trouble.
Having fixed that, though, I'm still not getting a successful block reservation. Based on Josh's remarks about vcld reserving the slots "several hours" in advance, I wonder if that's an issue. In order to test this in a reasonable amount of time, I've been creating a time slot a few minutes in the future, which then comes and goes with no activity in the vcld log except 'lastcheckin' lines. I also find, in the database: mysql> select processed from blockTimes; +-----------+ | processed | +-----------+ | 0 | | 0 | +-----------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) How far advance do I need to do a block allocation in order for it to take effect? On Wed, Oct 03, 2012 at 03:03:46PM -0400, Josh Thompson wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Michael, > > Aaron gave some good info. > > One thing I'll point out is that when you view the status of a block > allocation through the web interface as you've described, the number > listed for "Failed" comes from > > (number of computers for block allocation) - (number of computers in > blockComputers table) > > It doesn't necessarily reflect that VCL attempted to load the machines > and that those loads failed. If vcld never processes the block > allocation, it will always show the full count in the Failed row. > > When the block allocation is created, an entry is created in the > blockTimes table for each time slot in which the block allocation will > occur. However, no computers are actually allocated for each time > slot until several hours before a time slot starts. Several hours > before any block time, vcld processes that block time to allocate the > computers and populate the blockComputers table for that blockTimes > entry. It does this by making an XMLRPC call to the web code. You > can check that vcld has actually processed a block time entry by > looking at the blockTimes.processed field in the database for a given > time slot. > > Josh > > On 10/03/12 13:59, Aaron Coburn wrote: > > Michael, > > > > You should make sure that /etc/vcl/vcld.conf has the proper values > > set for: > > > > xmlrpc_username xmlrpc_pass xmlrpc_url > > > > xmlrpc_username should be set as vclsystem@Local xmlrpc_url should > > be something like: > > https://vcl.myinstitution.edu/index.php?mode=xmlrpccall > > > > This is all described in the vcld.conf file as well as on this > > page: > > > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/VCL/VCL+2.3+Management+Node+Installation#VCL2.3ManagementNodeInstallation-Configurevcld.conf > > > > Then be sure to set the password for the user identified above > > (e.g. vclsystem@Local). Instructions are here: > > > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/VCL/VCL+2.3+Management+Node+Installation#VCL2.3ManagementNodeInstallation-Setthevclsystemaccountpasswordforxmlrpcapi > > > > (The instructions are for version 2.3, but they will work for > > 2.2.1 as well) > > > > Finally, restart vcld so that it can pick up the new information. > > > > If that doesn't help, then try inspecting the vcld logfile -- it > > will tell you more about why the reservations fail. > > > > Aaron > > > > > > > > -- Aaron Coburn Systems Administrator and Programmer Academic > > Technology Services, Amherst College [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Oct 3, 2012, at 1:30 PM, Michael Jinks <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > >> Hi List. > >> > >> We have a VCL 2.2 instance running, most things work, but one > >> glaring problem is still thwarting me. When I try to create a > >> block allocation, the computers always come up "Failed"; this in > >> spite of the fact that I can reserve the same image individually > >> with no issues. > >> > >> I've tried this so far with the admin@Local account, as well as > >> my user account which has full admin privileges (or at least as > >> close as we can get by assigning rights in the Privileges page). > >> > >> I go to the "Block Allocations" page, click "Create New Block > >> Allocation", fill in the form, choosing a known-working image in > >> the "Environment" dropdown, and a "List of Dates/Times" with one > >> time span in the near future. "Submit New Block Allocation" pops > >> up a confirmation window, that goes fine, and I have an entry > >> "Block Allocations" page under "Manage Block Allocations". Looks > >> fine. > >> > >> But, if I click an entry under "Your Active Block Allocations", > >> under "Current status of computers," the number by "Failed" is > >> equal to the number of seats I reserved, and as far as I can tell > >> the system never tries to deploy a VM. > >> > >> I'm guessing that there is some permission setting or some other > >> item within the management node that I've overlooked. Any hints > >> on where to look? > >> > >> Thanks, -j > >> > >> -- Michael Jinks :: [email protected] University of Chicago IT > >> Services > > > > - -- > - ------------------------------- > Josh Thompson > VCL Developer > North Carolina State University > > my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu > > All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which > are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public > Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v2.0.17 (GNU/Linux) > > iEYEARECAAYFAlBsjBIACgkQV/LQcNdtPQOcyQCfTQE1TzGXVFsIqitpPFrzJrM/ > SoIAn3p/PMlH+mjI0jWpHdwOC12/hwyu > =gnM2 > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Michael Jinks :: [email protected] :: 773-469-9688 University of Chicago IT Services
