Getting started with Microsoft Windows on AppLogic

Beginning with AppLogic 2.4, appliances can be based on Microsoft Windows 2003 Server (32-bit, Standard/Enterprise/!DataCenter/Web editions). Windows appliances/applications are not distributed with AppLogic due to licencing restrictions. However, depending upon your AppLogic license, you may be able to obtain ready-made Windows-based appliances/applications from 3tera:

• If you are a direct licencee who installs AppLogic on-premesis in your own datacenter or on your own hardware, please contact Microsoft for a Windows Volume License (you must obtain your own Microsoft license in order to use Windows appliances on AppLogic).
• If you own a VPDC (Virtual Private Datacenter) obtained directly from 3tera, contact your 3tera account manager for information on how to obtain ready-made Windows appliances and applications that you may use on your VPDC.
• If you own a VPDC (Virtual Private Datacenter) obtained directly from a 3tera partner, contact your sales representative with that vendor for information on how to obtain ready-made Windows appliances and applications that you may use on your VPDC.

If you are a 3Tera partner or customer that would like to use Microsoft Windows on your AppLogic grid, please follow the instructions below:

1. Verify that you have the 3rd party software license add-on (aka Turbogate addendum). It is part of all new license agreements signed with 3Tera; old agreements require an addendum.
2. Email or call 3Tera support and ask them to send you the Windows support-enabling hotfix (needed only for AppLogic 2.4.x releases; the hotfix is included in AppLogic 2.7.x). The correct hotfix number for each AppLogic release is listed in the AppLogic hotfix overview (currently, e2833 for AppLogic 2.4.8, e3160 for AppLogic 2.4.10).
3. Installing the hotfix creates a Windows appliance and application catalog, where everything is in place except for the appliance volumes. This includes the Windows filer and VDSes.
4. Make sure VT (hardware virtualization) is enabled on all servers -- frequently it is disabled by default. (Implied is that the servers have CPU that supports hardware virtualization; and the BIOS has been upgraded to the good, safe version -- see http://forum.3tera.com/showthread.php?t=861 regarding security and stability issues due to Intel errata).
5. The AppLogic user documentation has a set of step-by-step instructions about how to (the Windows user references are listed at the end of this topic):
   • get Windows installed into a "base" appliance (including the APK and PV drivers); this requires an ISO image from the Microsoft SPLA or volume license agreement; currently only Windows 2003 Server R2 32-bit is supported. 3Tera recommends using only the supported version of Windows (2003 Server R2 32-bit, Standard/Enterprise/Datacenter/Web editions)
   • create the Windows filer appliance (from the base appliance mentioned above)
   • create the remaining appliances/applications such as the Windows VDSes (all of the Windows appliances start from the base appliance mentioned above)
6. Once created, the Windows appliances can be migrated off of the grid to any other grid of the same company (within the Microsoft SPLA/volume license) -- the process of creating the Windows appliances/applications does not need to be done on every grid, it is done only once for the company for each AppLogic release. 3Tera recommends creating the Windows appliances/applications on an internal grid, and then migrating the appliances to customer grids only based on what the customer has ordered.
   • Exception - If a BYOL is used ("bring your own license" rather than using the hosting company's SPLA), then each such customer needs to go through the full process of building the Windows appliances/applications, from ripping the ISO, to using their keys and creating each appliance from the base appliance. It is OK to be assisted by the hosting company but using the customer's license key instead of the company's license key -- this method is essentially the same as for physical hosted servers.
7. 3Tera will send instructions for collecting the license use information for Windows appliances/physical servers from the 3Tera metering system.
8. 3Tera can work with the customer to set up more advanced metering for other Microsoft software (e.g., Exchange, SQL Server, Sharepoint, etc.).

While 3Tera prepares the full Windows appliance set in about 1-2 days; our experience has been that the first time it is done, it takes about a week or so to straighten things out for a new customer. Since AppLogic's Windows support is relatively new, 3Tera recommends planning enough time to evaluate the support, in terms of performance, quality, etc., before committing a customer to running it in production. Also, to perform the Windows installation and setup process, 3Tera recommends a sysadmin who is experienced in both Linux and Windows (and AppLogic, of course).

Note: a Microsoft Windows-based client machine with MSIE and/or Firefox is required for the setup process; currently 3Tera does not recommend installing Windows using a Mac or Linux client workstations due to some glitches in the Java-based virtual console on these platforms (i.e., can't submit Ctrl-Alt-Del).

3Tera can schedule a support session from the paid support to walk through the Windows installation/setup process with the customer -- this can be extremely benefiicial, especially for those who have not used AppLogic long enough to know which issues are AppLogic related and which are Windows-specific.

Windows References

Below are the set of references that are used to create Windows appliances and applications for a grid:

• Base Windows appliance installation: how to install a base windows appliance, including PV drivers and the APK
  • Windows Filer: creating the filer appliance (used for NTFS volume operations)
  • Windows VDSes: creating the virtual server template applications (VDS)
• Windows appliance notes: Windows appliances "quirks" (vs. Linux appliances / physical Windows)
• wincfg: utility for reconfiguring Windows - computer name, SID, etc. (never use newsid directly, use util wincfg")
• Windows Server Datasheets: generic Windows catalog appliance (should be branched in most cases; these appliances are for building connected applications with other appliances; use the VDS for standalone virtual servers with direct IP addresses)
• Windows VDS Datasheets: generic Windows virtual server (most users start here to run a standalone Windows box; use the catalog appliance above for creating connected applications)
• http://forum.3tera.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18: forum posts regarding issues and tips on Windows appliances

3Tera also has an SQL Server 2008 appliance and an IIS Web Server appliance - available in beta, as well as a .NET stack and clustered stack template (those can be requested from our engineering via support helpdesk; not officially supported). Below are installation instructions for these beta appliances and applications:

• IIS03y - Windows IIS Web Server 2003: Installation instructions
• SQL08y - Windows SQL Server 2008: Installation instructions
• WISA and WISAx4 - .NET stack and clustered stack templates: Installation Instructions

-- EricT - 22 Jun 2009