9.1. Comparing Staging and INI tpm Methods

tpm supports two different deployment methodologies. Both configure one or more Tungsten services, in a safe and secure manner, but differ in the steps and process used to complete the installation. The two methods are:

  • Staging Directory

    When using the staging directory method, a single configuration that defines all services and hosts within the deployment is created. tpm then communicates with all the hosts you are configuring to install and configure the different services required. This is best when you have a consistent configuration for all hosts and do not have any configuration management tools for your systems.

    Figure 9.1. tpm Staging Based Deployment

    tpm Staging Based Deployment

  • INI File

    When using the INI file method, configuration for each service must be made individually using an INI configuration file on each host. This is ideal for deployments where you have a configuration management system (e.g. Puppet and Chef) to manage the INI file. It also works very well for deployments where the configuration for each system is different from the others.

    Figure 9.2. tpm INI Based Deployment

    tpm INI Based Deployment

Table 9.1. TPM Deployment Methods

Feature Staging Directory INI File
Deploy Multiple Services Yes Yes
Deploy to Multiple Hosts Yes No
Individual Host-based Configuration Yes Yes
Single-Step Upgrade Yes No
Requires SSH Configuration Yes No
RPM Support Yes Yes

Note

Check the output of tpm query staging to determine which method your current installation uses. The output for an installation from a staging directory will start with # Installed from tungsten@staging-host:/opt/continuent/software/tungsten-replicator-7.0.3-141. An installation based on an INI file may include this line but the hostname will reference the current host and there will be an /etc/tungsten/tungsten.ini file present.

To install a three-node service using the staging method:

  1. Extract Tungsten Cluster on your staging server.

  2. On each host:

    1. Complete all the Appendix B, Prerequisites, including setting the ssh keys.

  3. Execute the tpm configure and tpm install commands to configure and deploy the service from the staging server.

To install a three-node service using the INI method:

  1. On each host:

    1. Extract Tungsten Cluster.

    2. Complete all the Appendix B, Prerequisites.

    3. Create the INI file containing your configuration.

    4. Execute the tpm install command to deploy the service.

When using the staging method, upgrades and updates to the configuration must be made using tpm from the staging directory. Configuration methods can be swapped from staging to INI only by manually recreating the INI file with the new configuration and running tpm update.