system automation, integration and recovery

1 ©2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

WebMD Health Corp.: agile system automation, integration and recovery using HP Server Automation and HP Operations Orchestration

– Derek Chang Manager, WebMD

– Roger HsuManager, WebMD

2Introduction & Agenda

TopicsTopics

Who are we and where we standInfrastructure LayoutMiddleware IntegrationHP OO preparationApplication Administration AutomationBuild Deployment AutomationUnattended WebMD Content BackupMaintenance Free SystemResults from HP SA/OO Implementation Q/A

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cmsopscmsopsResponsibility– Provide Maintenance and 24x7 support of CMS applications and their

subsystems in production environment– Perform production system patches, bug fixes or software releases and other

build deployments.– Support ongoing releases and developments in non-production environments– Define/document production support requirements, escalation procedures,

issue tracking and guidelines for troubleshooting and build deployments.Resource: 4.5 headcounts*Universe– 300+ internal users– SDLC environments: dev/devint/qa00/qa01/qa02/perf/production– 130 servers– 4.4 TB of NAS storage for raw contents and site contents– Infrastructure: Zenoss, HPSA, HPOO, Serena teamtrack, MOSS, MSSQL/Oracle

Core technology– EMC Documentum– Proprietary applications

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DocumentumDocumentum

An enterprise content management platform, now delivered by EMC Corporation, as well as the name of the software company that originally developed the technology.Flexible, versatile, powerful yet complex platformImplementation in WebMD– 2 major portal sites– 6 Documentum products– Proprietary content editor for advanced features– Proprietary page transformer– Proprietary utilities: 15 applications

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ChallengesChallenges

Documentum is a new technologyDocumentum is a rare expertiseComplexity of the CMSCmsops support users within the companyWebMD is a fast growing company

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Life in cmsopsLife in cmsops

Sampling duration: Oct 11,2007 – Jul 24, 2009653 days/426 working daysSource: customized teamtrack reports and emailsSummary1772 teamtrack requests479 email requests*5.3 tickets/working day

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Our ApproachOur ApproachDevelop and utilize process templatesStandardize and adopt the development modelIdentify what processes to be automated– Routine/mundane activities– Human interactions cause

error/failure– Much longer

Lifecycle/Service time than development time

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Infrastructure Layout

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Infrastructure LayoutInfrastructure Layout

Opsware OO

Central and RAS

SAS OCLI client

Scheduler engine

NRAS

Web interface

Workflow engine

Repository

JRAS

SAS web services client

Build server

RHEL4u4_32BIT VM

Opsware agent

NAS/Build repository

OCLI 1.0

Web interface

Rpm/msi package tools

Opsware SAS

Central and RAS

Twister

OCLI engine

Web services engine

Web interface

Software repository

Server repository

JAVA API

Opsware agent engine

Middleware integration

Jboss 5.0

XML module

Email adapter

Email sender

Web interface

OO client

Teamtrack client

LDAP module

Data modeling

Corporate infrastructure

Active Directory

Teamtrack

Win2K3

Web interface

Business mashup engine

Web services

PAS LAB

RHEL4u6_64BIT VM

Opsware agent

App server(s)

Code base

QA/DEV Clients

Exchange server

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Middleware Integration

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Middleware IntegrationMiddleware Integration

Description– The core of the automation system– Connections among ticketing, monitoring, and system

administration tools within WebMD operations.– Providing operation tools without users accessing

underlying systems/tools

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Ticketing system integration– Use web services to connect Serena Business Mashup

(TeamTrack)– Pull information from tickets and pass data to other

systems such as HP OO– Update tickets after automation operation

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System Administration (HP SA/OO) integration– Java bean uses OO library to trigger OO workflow

– Parse the workflow result (XML format) to get:• OO flow id and report URL• Start time and end time• OO flow response and result

RSFlowInvoke rsf = new RSFlowInvoke();rsf.setUrl(url+flowName+paraString);rsf.setUsername(user);rsf.setPassword(pw);result = rsf.invoke();

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Web Application– Allows users to use the automation tools via a web

browser over network to prevent access to underlying systems/tools such as HP OO directly

– Uses Ajax and Richfaces technologies to provide dynamic and intuitive user experiences

– Developed under JBoss Seam framework– Adopts Hibernate as Database layer framework

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Security and User Authorization– Integrates with WebMD LDAP servers that allows users to

access the system with their WebMD id/password– JBoss Rules engine provides access control based on

WebMD LDAP groups of each user

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HP OO Preparation

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HP OO PreparationHP OO Preparation

Identify basic/out of the box OO operations– SSH– Windows Remote Command Execution– Change IIS status– Change Windows service status– OCLI to access HP SA– Iterator, Email CDO, …etc– Database operations (oracle/mssql)

Modulization and utility workflows– Use OO operations to build up utility workflows that will

be re-used frequently

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HostsSSH: run Linux commands in a list of hostsGiven a list of hosts to Iterator (PAS out-of-box operation)

SSH Command (PAS out-of-box operation)

Call Error Notice flow

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HostsWinCommand: run Windows commands in a list of hosts

Given a list of hosts to Iterator (PAS out-of-box operation)

SSH Command (PAS out-of-box operation)

Call Error Notice flow

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IIS Flows:– HostIISSites: control multiple IIS Sites on single host– HostsIISSites: control multiple IIS Sites on multiple hosts

Multiple hosts, multiple sites Single host, multiple sites

Given a list of hosts Given a list of sites

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Window Services flows:– HostWinSvcsCtrl: control multiple services on single host– HostsWinSvcsCtrl: control multiple services on multiple hosts

Multiple hosts, multiple services Single host, multiple services

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Application Administration Automation

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Application Administration AutomationApplication Administration Automation

Goal: Develop OO workflows to stop/start WebMD applications and sites

Workflow key features– Identify target servers– Windows: stop/start windows svc and IIS sites– Linux: stop/start applications and run any script if needed– Send error/success email notices

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Users pick available host type and environment based on the permission given to their LDAP groups

Login as consumer QA user

Consumer users are NOT allowed to pick professional hosts

QA users controls QA environments only

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Users hit one of the action buttons

User hits “Query Servers”

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Web application then triggers corresponding HP OO workflowOO workflows connect HP SA with OCLIHP SA takes actions on target hosts

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The OO workflows sends the result back to middleware in XML formatMiddleware parses the XML and display the result in GUI

dmas qa00 server

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Users receive email notices

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Application Administration workflows:– Documentum Content Servers– Documentum Application Servers– ATS: WebMD proprietary content transformer– PATS: WebMD proprietary content transformer– Page Builder: WebMD proprietary content editor

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WebMD Content Servers

Decision: start or shutdown

Stop when query servers only

OCLI Query Servers based on portal, product, host type, and environment

Initiate variables based on portal

Start/stop SCS (HostsSSH)

Start/stop JMS (HostsSSH)

Start/stop doc base (HostsSSH)

Clean up doc base (HostsSSH)

Send email notice when finishes

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WebMD Application ServersOCLI: query server list against SAS

HostsSSH: run commands in each host in the list

for i in `/opsw/api/com/opsware/server/ServerService/method/.findServerRefs:i filter='${filterString}'`;

do /opsw/api/com/opsware/server/ServerService/method/getServerVO self:i="$i";

done

{device_servergroup_name equal_to "${portal}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${product}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${hostType}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${environment}"}

Filter String

OCLI command

HostsSSH: run commands in each host in the list

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Build Deployment Automation

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Build Deployment AutomationBuild Deployment Automation

Goal: Develop an OO workflow to build RPM and deploy it to target servers

Workflow key features:– Identify target servers, software policy and RPM in HP SA– Build RPM and upload it to HP SA– Stop/start applications in target servers– Detach/attach software policies and remediate target

servers– Update RPM in software policies

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Workflow inputs:– Portal– Product– Host Type– Application– Environment– Build Version

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Identify target servers– Setup server groups in HP SA: portal groups, product

groups, host type groups, and environment groups; then assign servers to appropriate groups

Host type group

Product group

Portal group

Environment group

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Identify target servers (Cont.)– Use OO SSH operation to execute OCLI command to get

SAS server list• OCLI: findServerRefs and getServerVO in server service• Filter: Use aforementioned server groups as filter

{device_servergroup_name equal_to "${portal}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${product}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${hostType}"} & {device_servergroup_name equal_to "${environment}"}

Filter String

for i in `/opsw/api/com/opsware/server/ServerService/method/.findServerRefs:i filter='${filterString}'`;

do /opsw/api/com/opsware/server/ServerService/method/getServerVO self:i="$i";

done

OCLI command

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Identify software policy & RPM– Software Policy naming in HP SA:

{Application} – {Environment}– Use findSoftwarePolicyRefs OCLI command to identify

software policy– Use findRPMRefs OCLI command to identify RPM

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Build RPM and upload it to HP SA– Required parameters: application and build version– A Perl application on Apache to build RPM– Client sends HTTP request with parameters to trigger the

Perl application– Upload the RPM to HP SA with OCLI 1.0– Get the result back to the client

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Stop/start applications in target servers– Use “HostsSSH: run Linux commands in a list of hosts”

utility workflow to run stop/start command on target hosts

Detach/attach software policies and remediate target servers– Use OO out-of-box operations

Update RPM in software policies– Use OCLI update command in software policy service to

replace RPM in target software policy

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Put it all together!

Build and upload RPM

Identify SP, RPM, and target servers

Start/stop application in target servers

Detach/attach SP, replace RPM in SP, and Remediate

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Unattended WebMD Content Backup

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Unattended WebMD Content BackupUnattended WebMD Content Backup

Goal: Develop two OO workflows: 1. shutdown all components and backup WebMD contents. 2. bring all components up

Workflow key features:– Identify target servers– Windows: stop/start windows svc and IIS sites– Linux: stop/start applications and run any script if needed– Send error/success email notices– Utilize OO scheduler to trigger cold backup– The workflow needs to setup another schedule to trigger

another flow to bring up all components

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Unattended WebMD Content BackupUnattended WebMD Content Backup

Workflows OverviewFlow 1:

1. Shut down all components2. Run file back up3. Run DB backup4. Schedule another flow (flow 2) to start all components

Flow 2:1. Check backup status2. Start all components

60 min

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Maintenance Free System

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Maintenance Free SystemMaintenance Free System

Goal: Proactively maintain the health of our applications without shutting them down

Workflow key features:– Automatically clear cache and stale data without

shutting down or restarting applications– Purge outdated publishing data and logs– Ensures that the most relevant information is retained.– Improves both system-level and publishing performance.– Minimize the need for frivolous restarts. – Keep our applications online longer

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Maintenance Free SystemMaintenance Free System

Workflow details– Single SSH Node– Runs a script to purge data/log files older than 3 days– Runs on OO scheduler once a day

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Results from HP SA/OO Implementation

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Better Life in cmsops - 1Better Life in cmsops - 1

Sampling duration: Oct 11,2007 – Jul 24, 2009653 days/426 working daysSource: customized teamtrack reports and emailsSummary1772 teamtrack requests479 email requests*5.3 tickets/working day

Sampling duration: Jul 25,2009 – Dec 10, 2009135 days/93 working daysSource: customized teamtrack reports and emailsSummary:248 teamtrack requests35 email requests (reduced by 35%)3.1 tickets/working day285 cmsai request (self-service)

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Better Life in cmsops - 2Better Life in cmsops - 2

Non-prod environments are self-serviceable 15% of build deployment is automatedAutomatic/Scheduled data/log purging Scheduled/unattended cold backup*

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Q/A

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system automation, integration and recovery

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