Install a Windows Compute Host

Add Windows compute hosts to a Linux cluster. A mixed cluster is useful if you have cross-platform applications that can run on either Linux or Windows.

  1. What you need to know

  2. Configure the cluster administrators

  3. Installing EGO on a Windows host

  4. Running work

  5. Managing the mixed cluster after installation

1. What you need to know

To expand the cluster, you can add Windows compute hosts to the Linux cluster. This kind of mixed cluster is for advanced users.

When you plan a mixed cluster, you must be aware of the following points.

a) Supported hosts

The Windows hosts in your cluster may be any of the following supported versions:

  • Windows 2003

  • Windows 2000

  • Windows XP

It is not necessary that all Windows hosts run the same OS version.

For a compute host, we suggest at least a 1-CPU (>2.4GHz) machine with 512MB RAM.

b) Cluster administrator account

To support Windows hosts, the cluster requires a Windows OS user account as the cluster administrator (egoadmin). The Windows egoadmin account must exist on every Windows host and have the same name as the Linux egoadmin account. For example, if the actual Linux account name is newadmin, the Windows account can be named .\newadmin or domain\newadmin, but cannot be named .\user4 or domain\user4.

The Windows cluster administrator is the only person who can start up, restart, or shut down all Windows hosts in the cluster. The Local Administrator of the host can start and stop EGO services on the host as well.

Both cluster administrator and local administrator have full control over all EGO files.

You must create the egoadmin account before you start the installation. The account requires the following privileges on each host:

  • Act as part of the operating system

  • Debug programs

  • Increase quotas

  • Log on as a service

  • Replace a process level token

We recommend that the egoadmin account belong to the Local Administrators group on each host.

c) Installation directory

The Windows installation directory is the directory where the EGO binaries are installed on a Windows host. It does not need to have the same name as the Linux installation directory.

The installation directory must be the same directory on every host.

The default installation directory is C:\EGO. To use a different directory, you must customize the installation.

The installer creates the installation directory if it does not already exist. If it does exist, make sure it is not already in use.

d) Other considerations

When you install on the Windows host:

  • Use the same base port as Linux hosts (to check the base port, see EGO_LIM_PORT in $

    EGO_CONFDIR/ego.conf
    on the master host)

  • Use the same cluster name as Linux hosts (the cluster name is displayed in the Platform Management Console and is part of the file name

    $EGO_CONFDIR/ego.cluster.cluster_name
    )

2. Configure the cluster administrators

Log on as egoadmin.

For proper administration of a mixed cluster, configure the cluster to recognize both Linux and Windows cluster administrator accounts.

  1. Open the cluster file.

    For example, edit ego.cluster.cluster1.

  2. Find the ClusterAdmins section.

    Begin ClusterAdmins

    ...

    End ClusterAdmins

  3. Add the Windows egoadmin account to the Administrators parameter (which already contains the Linux egoadmin account).

    Begin ClusterAdmins

    ...

    Administrators=egoadmin domain\egoadmin

    ...

    End ClusterAdmins

  4. Save the file.
  5. Restart the master host.

    egosh ego restart HostM

3. Installing EGO on a Windows host

Choose either method: interactive or silent installation. Install the software on each Windows compute host.

When you install on Windows hosts, joining the cluster and starting the host is an automatic part of the installation process. There is no need to configure a host after installation is complete.

Obtain the MSI package

EGO has one MSI package for Windows hosts. This package is named ego1.2.3_win32.msi

Run the MSI package on a compute host

Check the following:
  • You have an EGO MSI package

  • Your Windows operating system is using MSI 2.0 or later. The EGO MSI package does not support MSI 1.0.

    Tip:

    Run msiexec to determine your version of MSI.

  • The Windows cluster administrator account exists with the same name as the Linux cluster administrator account (for example, egoadmin and domain\egoadmin).

  • The installation account (we suggest you use egoadmin ) is a member of the Local Administrators group.

  • If the installation directory exists, it is not in use. The default installation directory is C:\EGO.

  • The required connection ports are not in use. You must use the same ports as Linux hosts. The default base connection port is 7869. EGO uses five consecutive ports starting from this base port (7869-7873)

You can install two ways:

  • Interactive installation
  • Silent installation

Interactive installation

If you customized the cluster name, cluster administrator, installation directory, or ports, you must use the same settings when adding additional hosts to the cluster. Do not take the default settings when adding another host if you customized the installation on the master host.

  1. Log on to the compute host as a Local Administrator account.

    For example, log on as DOMAIN\egoadmin.

  2. Run the installation package by double-clicking the MSI file.
  3. At the Installation Directory dialog, specify the path to the installation directory and click Next.

    For example, C:\EGO.

  4. At the Master Host dialog, specify the name of your master host and click Next.

    For example, HostM.

  5. At the Install Type dialog, choose the type of installation.

    Choose Compute host only.

  6. At the Cluster Administrator dialog, specify the name of your cluster administrator and click Next.

    The default is the current account from which you logged in to your host. For example, DOMAIN\egoadmin.

    Important:

    This cluster administrator name must be the same as the cluster administrator name you specified when you installed on the master host.

  7. At the Connection Base Port dialog, specify the connection base port and click Next.

    The default is 7869.

    Important:

    This base port must be the same as the base port you specified when you installed on the master host.

  8. At the Startup dialog, click Next.

    The default is to enable Start system services after installation.

  9. At the Summary dialog, review your settings and click Install.

Silent installation

If you customized the cluster name, cluster administrator, installation directory, or ports, you must use the same settings when adding another host to the cluster. Do not take the default settings when adding another host if you customized the installation on the master host.

Ensure the information you specify is free from typographical errors: the installation will not continue if there are errors within parameter entries.

  1. Log on to the compute host as a Local Administrator account and install the MSI package. Use parameters to customize the installation as desired.

    For example, log on as DOMAIN\egoadmin.

  2. For the INSTALLDIR parameter, specify the path to the installation directory.

    The default is C:\EGO.

  3. For the MASTERHOST parameter, specify the name of your master host.

    For example, MASTERHOST=HostM.

  4. For the HOSTTYPE parameter, specify the type of installation, Management for the full installation or Compute to install a compute host only.

    For example, HOSTTYPE=Compute.

  5. For the CLUSTERADMIN parameter, specify the name of your cluster administrator.

    The default is the current account from which you logged in to your host. For example, DOMAIN\egoadmin.

    Important:

    This cluster administrator name must be the same as the cluster administrator name you specified when you installed on the master host.

  6. For the BASEPORT parameter, specify the connection base port.

    The default is 7869.

    Important:

    This base port must be the same as the base port you specified when you installed on the master host.

  7. For the STARTUP parameter, specify Yes to start services automatically or No to disable this feature.

    The default is Yes.

Using our example:

msiexec -i "ego1.2.3_win32.msi" MASTERHOST=HostM HOSTTYPE=Compute /qn

Using all possible variables:

msiexec -i "ego1.2.3_win32.msi" MASTERHOST=HostM HOSTTYPE=Compute CLUSTERADMIN=egoadmin INSTALLDIR=C:\EGO BASEPORT=7869 STARTUP=Yes /qn

After the silent installation, even if you have logged on as egoadmin, close and re-open the command console to reset the environment.

4. Running work

Some preparation is necessary before you can run work on Windows hosts. Take the following steps to configure your Windows hosts to run work.

a) Configure the execution account

For a consumer to execute work on both Linux and Windows hosts, you need one Linux execution user account and one Windows execution user account with the same user name. For example, if the actual Linux account name is test06, the Windows domain account can be domain\test06 or .\test06 but cannot be domain\test07 or .\test07.

Always input the Windows account name when you configure the execution user in the consumer properties. If the execution host is Linux, the domain name is automatically stripped (for example, domain\test06 is interpreted as test06 on Linux).

To do:

Log on to the Console. Edit the consumer and add the Windows domain name to the execution account user name, for example, change egoadmin to domain\egoadmin.

b) Register the execution account Windows password

To execute work on Windows, EGO requires the Windows password of the execution account.

To do:

Log on to any Windows host in the cluster as egoadmin. Log on to EGO as cluster administrator. Then register the actual password of the Windows user account. For example:

egosh user logon -u Admin -x mypasswd

egosh ego execpasswd -u domain\egoadmin -x mypasswd

This only has to be done once per execution account, no matter how many consumers use the account. However, you have to register the new password in EGO every time the execution account password changes in Windows.

Note:

The default password when running egosh user logon is Admin.

5. Managing the mixed cluster after installation

When you operate a mixed cluster, be aware of the following concepts.

a) Starting hosts

To start a Windows host, use the Windows egoadmin account. You cannot start a Windows host from a Linux host.

To start a cluster, log on to Linux with root permission and run egosh ego start all. Then log onto Windows as egoadmin and run egosh ego start all.

Remember, if you granted root permissions to egoadmin on Linux, you can start the Linux hosts with the Linux egoadmin instead of root.

b) Checking hosts

When you check the status of hosts in the cluster, run egosh resource view to see the OS (Host Type) in the output.