Configure Sandbox

Important

The feature on this page is no longer offered, but you can reference the legacy documentation below. See Non-Production Environments in the Cloud for details about our current offering for Alation Cloud Service customers.

Use this information to configure Alation Sandbox of versions 2.0.0.120180 and newer.

Sandbox includes a configuration utility for setting the configuration parameters. The parameter values should be sequentially set one by one. You can press Enter to go to the next parameter.

Important

Before you begin configuring, have the information you have previously noted down at the ready:

  • Path to the Alation license on the Sandbox instance

  • Alation version that should be installed (required for the Standalone mode)

  • Alation version for upgrade (required for both modes)

  • Path to the backup file:

    • Path on the main Alation instance if you prefer to download the backup form the main Alation instance

    • Path on the Sandbox instance if you have placed the backup file on the Sandbox instance

    • Path to the file on Amazon S3 if you prefer to auto-download from Amazon S3

  • For the SSL configuration:

    • Path to SSL certificate on the Sandbox instance

    • Path to SSL key on the Sandbox instance

To configure:

  1. On the Sandbox host, go to directory alation-sandbox:

    cd /opt/alation/alation-sandbox

  2. Run the command below to open the Sandbox configuration client. Initially, the client only displays the first parameter.

    sudo ./alation-sandbox edit-config
../../../_images/Sandbox_04.png

  1. Specify a value or leave the default, if relevant. See the table Configuration Parameters for parameter descriptions. Required parameters appear in pink; optional parameters appear in yellow.

  2. Press Enter to go to each next parameter:

../../../_images/Sandbox_05.png

  1. After you have gone through all the parameters, you will see the Configurations are updated successfully message and a preview of all values you have set:

../../../_images/Sandbox_06.png

Note

From Sandbox version 5.10.136653, you can update each parameter separately by using the edit-config command and the corresponding flag. See Update Sandbox Configuration Parameters for more information.

  1. Verify the configuration by running the pre-checks command from /opt/alation/alation-sandbox:

    cd /opt/alation/alation-sandbox
sudo ./alation-sandbox pre-checks

Configuration Parameters

For Sandbox, you can:

  • Configure SSL for the Sandbox instance (disabled by default)

  • Configure the Connected or Standalone mode:

    • Connected:

      • Set the host parameter to the IP or hostname of the main Alation instance

      • Set the current_version parameter to 0.0.0.0

    • Standalone:

      • Set the current_version parameter to the version number to be installed. Whenever current_version is set, the host parameter is ignored and Sandbox runs in Standalone mode.

  • Configure the automatic logs upload (enabled by default)

  • Configure the run time metrics collection (enabled by default)

  • Configure post-upgrade actions (disabled by default)

Parameters

Values

[alation_sandbox]

Use this section to configure settings for the Sandbox instance:

  • Name of the application, path to the license file, log level, and other parameters

  • Enable/disable SSL (disabled by default)

  • Enable/disable the logs upload (enabled by default)

  • Set some parameters for the Production mode.

alation_sandbox_host

Set this parameter when HTTPS is enabled. DNS name or Hostname of the Alation Sandbox Server. This parameter will be used as the base URL of Alation Sandbox instance. Use the same name that was used when generating SSL certificates.

backup_directory

Path to the Alation backup directory on the Alation Sandbox instance. Set if the path differs from default.

data_directory

Path to the Alation data directory on the Alation Sandbox instance. Set if the path differs from default.

enable_https

Choose whether HTTPS should be enabled for the Sandbox instance. false (HTTPS disabled) by default.

license_path

Specify the path to the Alation license on the Sandbox instance.

log_level

Log Level for Sandbox (INFO/DEBUG).

offline

Allow the automatic Sandbox logs upload to the Alation Cloud. When set to false (default), Alation Sandbox will upload all the log files generated during the run time to the Alation Cloud. Set to true to disable logs uploading.

sleep_time

Sleep time in seconds to let Alation services settle.

ssh_private_key

This parameter is used in the Connected mode when connection to the main Alation instance is allowed. In the Standalone mode, this parameter does not apply.

For the Connected mode, specify the path to the shared SSH Key on the Sandbox instance to be used to connect to the main Alation instance from the Sandbox instance.

ssl_cert_path

Set this parameter if HTTPS is enabled. Path to SSL certificate on the Sandbox instance.

ssl_key_path

Set this parameter when HTTPS is enabled. Path to the SSL key on the Alation Sandbox instance.

title

Name of the application.

validate_ssl

Added in version 5.1.0.136653

Set this parameter when HTTPS is enabled. Enables (true) or disables (false) SSL certificate validation.

[alation_source]

Use this section to configure the Connected or Standalone mode for the Sandbox.

backup_file_path

The path to a backup file to be restored on the Sandbox instance:

  • Specify the path to the backup file on the main Alation instance host if using the Connected mode (path inside the shell).

  • Specify the path to the backup file on the Sandbox instance host if the current_version parameter is set and you are using the Standalone mode.

  • If the backup is stored on Amazon S3, specify the path to the backup on S3. Example: s3://test-backups/alation-backup/backup.tar.gz

current_version

Default: 0.0.0.0.

Set to the version of Alation to install on the Sandbox instance if you want Sandbox to run in the Standalone mode.

For the Standalone mode:

  • current_version should be set to the version of the build to be installed

If current_version is set, Alation Sandbox will not connect to the main instance to fetch the Alation version of that instance or the backup file.

For the Connected mode, set this parameter to 0.0.0.0.

host

Set a value for this parameter to enable the Connected mode and to allow Alation Sandbox to connect to the main Alation instance

Accepts the hostname or IP Address of the Alation instance host server. If set, Alation Sandbox will connect to the Alation instance to fetch the backup file (specified in backup_file_path) and the current Alation version. For the Connected mode, the current_version parameter value should be set to 0.0.0.0

The default value is alation.sandbox.com

install_type

Package type used to install Alation on the Alation Sandbox instance: deb or rpm.

upgrade_version

Version of Alation to upgrade to on the Alation Sandbox instance

[monitor]

Configure Sandbox run time monitoring

enabled

Enable performance monitoring during the upgrade process. true or false. true by default (enabled).

frequency

Monitoring frequency in seconds to capture statistics.

[post_upgrade]

Configure post-upgrade actions.

create_conf_dump

Create a dump of alation_conf values after upgrading Alation on the Alation Sandbox instance.

false by default (disabled).

The dump file named alation_conf_dump.txt will be present in the default logs directory.

run_pg_dump

Run pg_dump of alation rosemeta database after upgrading Alation on the Alation Sandbox instance.

false by default (disabled).

The dump will be stored at /data2/tmp/rosemeta_dump.sql inside the Alation shell. This dump will not be sent to the Alation Cloud.

Example Configuration for the Connected Mode

[alation_sandbox]
alation_sandbox_host = "alation.sandbox.com"
backup_directory = "/backup"
data_directory = "/data"
enable_https = false
license_path = "./alation.lic"
log_level = "INFO"
offline = true
sleep_time = 120
ssh_private_key = "/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa"
ssl_cert_path = "/root/ssl.crt"
ssl_key_path = "/root/ssl.key"
title = "Alation Sandbox"
validate_ssl = false

[alation_source]
backup_file_path = "/data2/backup/202007030701_5-17-7-124815_alation_backup.tar.gz"
current_version = "0.0.0.0"
host = "alation.prod.com"
install_type = "rpm"
upgrade_version = "6.2.1.124921"

[monitor]
enabled = true
frequency = 120

[post_upgrade]
create_conf_dump = false
run_pg_dump = false

Example for Configuration for Standalone Mode

[alation_sandbox]
alation_sandbox_host = "alation.sandbox.com"
backup_directory = "/backup"
data_directory = "/data"
enable_https = false
license_path = "/root/alation.lic"
log_level = "INFO"
offline = true
sleep_time = 120
ssh_private_key = "/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa"
ssl_cert_path = "/root/ssl.crt"
ssl_key_path = "/root/ssl.key"
title = "Alation Sandbox"
validate_ssl = false

[alation_source]
backup_file_path = "/root/5_17_7_124815_backup.tar.gz"
current_version = "5.17.7.124815"
host = "alation.sandbox.com"
install_type = "rpm"
upgrade_version = "6.2.1.124921"

[monitor]
enabled = true
frequency = 120

[post_upgrade]
create_conf_dump = false
run_pg_dump = false

Proceed to Run the Sandbox Executable