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High Availability: Upgrade to Chef Backend 2

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Warning

Chef Backend is deprecated and no longer under active development. Contact your Chef account representative for information about migrating to Chef Automate HA.

This document is no longer maintained.

This documentation describes the process for upgrading a high availability Chef Infra Server cluster.

The Chef Infra Server 14 upgrade process requires downtime for stopping the server, installing the new package, and then upgrading the server, which will include an automatic Elasticsearch reindexing operation for existing Solr users. We estimate the reindexing operation will take 2 minutes for each 1000 nodes, but the it could take more time, depending on your server hardware and the complexity of your Chef data.

Overview

These instructions cover the process of upgrading a Chef Backend cluster. Please use to the version of Chef Backend already running on your system and your target upgrade version.:

Prerequisite

  1. Download the Chef Backend package for your target upgrade version and copy it onto each of the nodes in your system.

  2. Identify the leader node in the back-end storage cluster:

    Find leader node in the Role column in the output of the cluster-status subcommand. In this example, backend-1 is the leader node, as indicated by its role in the Role column.

    chef-backend-ctl cluster-status

    Name       IP              GUID                              Role      PG        ES
backend-1  192.168.33.215  dc0c6ea77a751f94037cd950e8451fa3  leader    leader    not_master
backend-2  192.168.33.216  008782c59d3628b6bb7f43556ac0c66c  follower  follower  not_master
backend-3  192.168.33.217  1af654172b1830927a571d9a5ba7965b  follower  follower  master

Minor Version Upgrade

The minor version update is appropriate for all upgrades of a Chef Backend cluster within a version. For example, updating from 1.3 to 1.4 or 2.3 to 2.4.

Step 1: Block Failover

Prevent the cluster from failing-over to a follower node while during its upgrade. Start by disabling failover, by running the following command on any one backend node:

  1. chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover off

Step 2: Update the followers

Update the followers sequentially. Upgrading them simultaneously is not supported and may result in data loss. Verify the successful rejoin after each upgrade.

  1. Install the new Chef Backend package:

    RHEL and CentOS:

    yum install PATH_TO_FILE.rpm

    Debian and Ubuntu:

    dpkg -i PATH_TO_FILE.deb

    You may also want to look at the chef-ingredient cookbook to automate downloading and installing the latest package.

  2. Run the upgrade command:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade

The update command will make any changes necessary to start the new service and verify that the updated node has rejoined the cluster.

Repeat the previous steps in this section for each remaining follower.

Step 3: Update the leader

Unblock failover, trigger upgrade with failover, block it again.

% chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover on
% chef-backend-ctl upgrade --failover
% chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover off

Step 4: Re-enable failover

Allow failover again:

chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover on

Step 5: Verify the cluster is stable

Check the status of the cluster:

chef-backend-ctl status

Chef Backend 1.x to 2.x Upgrade

Warning

Upgrading from Chef Backend 1.x to Chef Backend 2.x requires full cluster downtime.

  1. Install the new Chef Backend package on all nodes in the cluster:

    RHEL and CentOS:

    yum install PATH_TO_FILE.rpm

    Debian and Ubuntu:

    dpkg -i PATH_TO_FILE.deb

  2. On the leader, run the following command to take the node down for the upgrade:

    chef-backend-ctl down-for-upgrade

  3. Then issue the same command on the follower nodes:

    chef-backend-ctl down-for-upgrade

  4. Upgrade on the follower nodes first:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade

  5. Then upgrade on the leader node:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade

  6. On each Chef Infra Server front-end node, apply the Chef Backend cluster upgrade configuration from the previous steps:

    chef-server-ctl reconfigure

  7. To continue the upgrades on Chef Infra Server front-end nodes using this back-end cluster, see Upgrade Front-ends Associated with a Chef Backend Cluster.

Chef Backend Upgrade 2.x to 3.x

The Chef Backend 3.0 upgrade requires Chef Backend 2.1 or later. Upgrade earlier versions to Chef Backend 2.1 or later. Chef Backend 2.3.16 is the latest of the version 2 stable releases.

Chef Backend VersionUpgrade Target
2.1.0–2.3.163.0.0 or later
2.0.0–2.0.452.3.16
0.1.0–1.4.402.3.16

Planning

The versions of Chef Backend, Elasticsearch, and Chef Infra Server running your system determines the strategy, index treatment, and steps required for your upgrade.

Chef Backend VersionElasticsearch VersionRelease Date
3.0.06.8.23January 2022
2.3.165.6.16January 2022
2.2.05.6.16September 2020
2.1.05.6.16February 2020
2.0.305.4.1June 2018
2.0.15.4.1October 2017
1.4.62.3.1June 2017

See the Chef Backend Release Notes for more information.

Identify the Index Elasticsearch Version

Find the version of Elasticsearch that created the indexes. Run the following command on a back-end node and find value of he created_string: in the output:

curl -XGET localhost:9200/chef/_settings/index.version.created*?pretty\&human

Upgrade Strategy

The Chef Backend upgrade uses a rolling strategy, but the Elasticsearch version used to create the indexes determines if your upgrade is automatic or requires downtime.

  • Indexes created with Elasticsearch 5.4.1 ("created_string" : "5.4.1") or earlier require downtime.
  • Indexes created with Elasticsearch 5.6.16 ("created_string" : "5.6.16") or later are automatic and do not require downtime.
Running Backend VersionUpgrade TargetElasticsearch VersionUpgrade Strategy
2.3.163.0"created_string" : "5.6.16" or higherAutomatic
2.3.163.0lower than "created_string" : "5.6.16"Downtime
2.2.03.0"created_string" : "5.6.16" or higherAutomatic
2.2.03.0lower than "created_string" : "5.6.16"Downtime
2.1.03.0"created_string" : "5.6.16" or higherAutomatic
2.1.03.0lower than "created_string" : "5.6.16"Automatic
2.0.302.3.16"created_string" : "5.4.1"Automatic
2.0.302.3.16"created_string" : "2.3.1"Downtime

Index Treatment

The the version of Elasticsearch used to create the Chef Infra Server indexes determines the how the you will handle the indexes during the upgrade.

  • Indexes created by Elasticsearch 5.4.1 (created_string": 5.4.1) or earlier require that you delete and then reindex after the upgrade.
  • Indexes created by Elasticsearch 5.4.1 (created_string": 5.4.1) or earlier and then upgraded to version 6.8.23 require that you delete and then reindex after the upgrade.
  • Indexes created by Elasticsearch 5.6.16 (created_string : 5.6.16) or later will automatically reindexed.
Elasticsearch VersionIndex Treatment
"created_string" : "6.8.23"Automatic reindex
"created_string" : "5.6.16"Automatic reindex
"created_string" : "5.4.1"Delete and reindex
"created_string" : "2.3.1"Delete and reindex

Upgrade Chef Infra Servers with Elasticsearch 2.3.1 to 5.4.1

The Chef Backend upgrade for installations with indexes created by Elasticsearch 2.3.1–5.4.1 requires downtime to delete and reindex the Chef Infra Servers.

Stop ALL the Front-end Chef Infra Servers

  1. Stop all the front-end Chef Infra Servers. This prevents communication between the front-end and the back-end while upgrade deletes and reindexes the server indexes.

    1. On Chef Infra Server 14.6.32 or later, put the server nodes into maintenance mode, to temporarily disable the API:
    sudo chef-server-ctl maintenance on
    1. On Chef Infra Server 14.6.31 or earlier, stop all server nodes with the command:
    sudo chef-server-ctl stop

Upgrade the Back-end Cluster

  1. Prevent the cluster from failing-over to a follower node while during its upgrade. Start by disabling failover, by running the following command on any one backend node:

    chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover off

  2. Install the new Chef Backend package on each of the nodes in the back-end storage cluster:

    RHEL and Centos:

    yum install PATH_TO_FILE.rpm

    Debian and Ubuntu:

    dpkg -i PATH_TO_FILE.deb

  3. Next, run the upgrade subcommand on each of the follower nodes:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade

  4. After finishing the upgrades on the follower nodes, then upgrade the leader node, using the --failover option:

    chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover on
chef-backend-ctl upgrade --failover
chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover off

  5. Stop the Elasticsearch services on ALL backends. ALL backends must be down simultaneously to prevent elastic search trying to recover indices.

sudo chef-backend-ctl stop elasticsearch
  1. Delete the current Elasticsearch indices from ALL backends. This step ensures that Elasticsearch creates new indexes with the upgraded Elasticsearch version. Use the command:
sudo rm -fr /var/opt/chef-backend/elasticsearch/data/*
  1. Restart the Elasticsearch services on ALL backends:
sudo chef-backend-ctl start elasticsearch

Upgrade the Index Definitions

  1. Identify a front-end Chef Infra Server that does not serve requests. You can remove it from the load balancer or put in maintenance mode. If the front-end node is still in the load balancer:

    • If a front-end Chef Infra Server is still in the load balancer and meets both these conditions:

      • Running version 14.6.32 or later
      • chef-server-ctl status runs all services

      Then you can disable the API temporarily by remote access with:

      sudo chef-server-ctl maintenance on

  2. Run the reconfigure subcommand to apply the upgraded index definitions to the Chef Infra Server:

    sudo chef-server-ctl reconfigure

  3. Restore failover:

chef-backend-ctl set-cluster-failover on

Reindex the Chef Infra Servers

Note

We estimate the reindexing operation will take 2 minutes for each 1000 nodes, but the it could take more time, depending on your server hardware and the complexity of your Chef data. See the Standalone Server Upgrade for more information.

  1. Test the process by reindexing a single organization:

    sudo chef-server-ctl reindex ORGNAME

    And then run a standard search with knife to check if the updated indices are working correctly:

sudo /opt/opscode/bin/knife search node *:* -c /etc/opscode/pivotal.rb --server-url https://127.0.0.1:443/organizations/ORGNAME

  1. If the test is successful, reindex all organizations:

    sudo chef-server-ctl reindex -a

Restore the Chef Infra Servers

  1. Restore front-end Chef Infra Servers that you placed in maintenance mode to regular status:

    sudo chef-server-ctl maintenance off

  2. Restart the services on the front-end servers:

    chef-server-ctl start

Upgrade Chef Infra Servers with Elasticsearch 5.6.16

For indexes created by Elasticsearch version 5.6.16 ("created_string" : "5.6.16") or later, follow these steps:

  1. Identify the node with the leader role using the chef-backend-ctl cluster-status command:

    Name       IP              GUID                              Role      PG        ES
backend-1  192.168.33.215  dc0c6ea77a751f94037cd950e8451fa3  leader    leader    not_master
backend-2  192.168.33.216  008782c59d3628b6bb7f43556ac0c66c  follower  follower  not_master
backend-3  192.168.33.217  1af654172b1830927a571d9a5ba7965b  follower  follower  master

    In this example, backend-1 is the leader node, as indicated by its role in the Role column.

  2. Install the new Chef Backend package on all nodes in the cluster:

    RHEL and CentOS:

    yum install PATH_TO_FILE.rpm

    Debian and Ubuntu:

    dpkg -i PATH_TO_FILE.deb

  3. Upgrade on follower nodes first:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade

  4. Upgrade the leader node with the --failover option:

    chef-backend-ctl upgrade --failover

  5. To continue the upgrades on Chef Infra Server front-end nodes using this back-end cluster, see Upgrade Front-ends Associated with a Chef Backend Cluster.

DRBD/Keepalived HA to Chef Backend 2.x

DRBD configurations are End of Life Products and no longer supported.

For a guide to migrating to Chef Backend from DRBD see the Best Practices for Migrating Your Chef Server and the associated webinar from the Chef Blog.

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