Cluster the Application Server

Prerequisites for Clustering

Before you begin the process of clustering your servers, there are a few tasks that you need to do and some specific requirements that must be met in order to successfully implement a Pentaho deployment on a Tomcat or JBoss cluster.

Initialize and Configure Repository

After you have determined that your systems meet all of the requirements listed in the checklist, you need to first initialize and then configure the repository for clustering. Finally, there are a few steps to take in order to verify your clustering setup, before you move on to setting up the jackrabbit journal.

1. Initialize your database using the steps in the appropriate article for your system. Initialize Repository has sections for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, and Oracle databases.
2. After you have initialized your database, you will need to configure the data connections to the BA Repository. Specify Connections walks you through the steps for JDBC and JNDI connections for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle.
3. The next step is to configure your repository using the appropriate tasks in the Configure Repository article.
4. After you have initialized and configured your repository, you should clean up these files by following these steps.

   • Locate the ...biserver-ee/tomcat directory and remove all files and folders from the temp folder.

   • Locate the ...biserver-ee/tomcat directory and remove all files and folders from the work folder.

   • Locate the ...biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit/repository directory and remove all files and folders from the final repository folder.

   • Locate the ...biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit/repository directory and remove all files and folders from the workspaces folder.

You now have a configured repository and are ready to move to the next step for clustering.

Configure Jackrabbit Journal

These directions explain how to set up the Jackrabbit journal for your cluster. Make sure that each node has a unique ID.

1. Locate the repository.xml file in the .../bi-server/pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit directory and open it with any text editor.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the file and replace the section that begins with <!-- Run with a cluster journal --> with the correct code for your type of database repository.
3. Save and close the file.

For PostgreSQL only:

<!--
Run with a cluster journal
-->
<Cluster id="Unique_ID">
    <Journal class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.journal.DatabaseJournal">
      <param name="revision" value="${rep.home}/revision.log"/>
      <param name="url" value="jdbc:postgresql://HOSTNAME:PORT/jackrabbit"/>
      <param name="driver" value="org.postgresql.Driver"/>
      <param name="user" value="jcr_user"/>
      <param name="password" value="password"/>
      <param name="databaseType" value="postgresql"/>
      <param name="janitorEnabled" value="true"/>
      <param name="janitorSleep" value="86400"/>
      <param name="janitorFirstRunHourOfDay" value="3"/>
    </Journal>
</Cluster>

For MySQL only:

<!--
Run with a cluster journal
-->
<Cluster id="Unique_ID">
    <Journal class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.journal.DatabaseJournal">
      <param name="revision" value="${rep.home}/revision.log"/>
      <param name="url" value="jdbc:mysql://HOSTNAME:PORT/jackrabbit"/>
      <param name="driver" value="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"/>
      <param name="user" value="jcr_user"/>
      <param name="password" value="password"/>
      <param name="schema" value="mysql"/>
      <param name="databaseType" value="mysql"/>
      <param name="janitorEnabled" value="true"/>
      <param name="janitorSleep" value="86400"/>
      <param name="janitorFirstRunHourOfDay" value="3"/>
    </Journal>
</Cluster>

 For Oracle only:

<!--
Run with a cluster journal
-->  

<Cluster id="Unique_ID">
    <Journal class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.journal.OracleDatabaseJournal">
        <param name="revision" value="${rep.home}/revision.log" />
        <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin://HOSTNAME:PORT/di_jackrabbit"/>
        <param name="driver" value="oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver"/>
        <param name="user" value="jcr_user"/>
        <param name="password" value="password"/>
        <param name="schema" value="oracle"/>
        <param name="janitorEnabled" value="true"/>
        <param name="janitorSleep" value="86400"/>
        <param name="janitorFirstRunHourOfDay" value="3"/> 
     </Journal>
</Cluster>"

For MS SQL Server only:

<!--
Run with a cluster journal
-->
<Cluster id="Unique_ID">
    <Journal class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.journal.MSSqlDatabaseJournal">
      <param name="revision" value="${rep.home}/revision.log"/>
      <param name="url" value="jdbc:sqlserver://HOSTNAME:PORT;databaseName=jackrabbit"/>
      <param name="driver" value="com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver"/>
      <param name="user" value="jcr_user"/>
      <param name="password" value="password"/>
      <param name="schema" value="mssql"/>
      <param name="janitorEnabled" value="true"/>
      <param name="janitorSleep" value="86400"/>
      <param name="janitorFirstRunHourOfDay" value="3"/>
    </Journal>
</Cluster>

Jackrabbit journaling is now set up for your BA cluster. The Jackrabbit Wiki has additional information about journaling. Next, you need to cluster the quartz tables to avoid duplicate scheduling on each node.

Configure Quartz

There are a few edits that you will need to make in the quartz.properties file to configure Quartz to work with your cluster.

org.quartz.scheduler.instanceId = AUTO

1. Locate the quartz.properties file in the .../bi-server/pentaho-solutions/system/quartz directory and open it with any text editor.
2. Find the org.quartz.scheduler.instanceId = INSTANCE_ID line and change INSTANCE_ID to AUTO.

3. org.quartz.scheduler.instanceId = AUTO
   

4. Find the #_replace_jobstore_properties section and change the default value of org.quartz.jobStore.isClustered to true as shown.

5. #_replace_jobstore_properties
   
   org.quartz.jobStore.misfireThreshold = 60000
   org.quartz.jobStore.driverDelegateClass = org.quartz.impl.jdbcjobstore.PostgreSQLDelegate
   org.quartz.jobStore.useProperties = false
   org.quartz.jobStore.dataSource = myDS
   org.quartz.jobStore.tablePrefix = QRTZ5_
   org.quartz.jobStore.isClustered = true
   

6. Add this line just after the org.quartz.jobStore.isClustered = true line.

   
   org.quartz.jobStore.clusterCheckinInterval = 20000
   

Quartz is now configured for your cluster. The Quartz Configuration Reference has additional information about clustering with Quartz.

Start and Test the Cluster

Follow the below instructions to start the cluster and verify that it is working properly.

1. Start the solution database.
2. Start the application server on each node.
3. Make sure that the load balancer is able to ping each node.
4. Repeat for each node that you have set up.
5. Test the cluster by accessing the BA Server through the load balancer's IP address, hostname, or domain name. Begin whatever test procedure you have designed for this scenario.