Cluster Administration Tools; Conga - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Cluster Suite Overview

1.9. Cluster Administration Tools

Red Hat Cluster Suite provides a variety of tools to configure and manage your Red Hat Cluster. This
section provides an overview of the administration tools available with Red Hat Cluster Suite:
Section 1.9.1, "Conga"
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Section 1.9.2, "Cluster Administration GUI"
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Section 1.9.3, "Command Line Administration Tools"
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1.9.1. Conga

Conga is an integrated set of software components that provides centralized configuration and
management of Red Hat clusters and storage. Conga provides the following major features:
• One Web interface for managing cluster and storage
• Automated Deployment of Cluster Data and Supporting Packages
• Easy Integration with Existing Clusters
• No Need to Re-Authenticate
• Integration of Cluster Status and Logs
• Fine-Grained Control over User Permissions
The primary components in Conga are luci and ricci, which are separately installable. luci is a server
that runs on one computer and communicates with multiple clusters and computers via ricci. ricci is
an agent that runs on each computer (either a cluster member or a standalone computer) managed by
Conga.
luci is accessible through a Web browser and provides three major functions that are accessible
through the following tabs:
• homebase — Provides tools for adding and deleting computers, adding and deleting users, and
configuring user privileges. Only a system administrator is allowed to access this tab.
• cluster — Provides tools for creating and configuring clusters. Each instance of luci lists clusters
that have been set up with that luci. A system administrator can administer all clusters listed on this
tab. Other users can administer only clusters that the user has permission to manage (granted by an
administrator).
• storage — Provides tools for remote administration of storage. With the tools on this tab, you can
manage storage on computers whether they belong to a cluster or not.
To administer a cluster or storage, an administrator adds (or registers) a cluster or a computer to a
luci server. When a cluster or a computer is registered with luci, the FQDN hostname or IP address of
each computer is stored in a luci database.
You can populate the database of one luci instance from another luciinstance. That capability
provides a means of replicating a luci server instance and provides an efficient upgrade and testing
path. When you install an instance of luci, its database is empty. However, you can import part or all
of a luci database from an existing luci server when deploying a new luci server.
Cluster Administration Tools
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