Customizing with WebSphere Cloudburst, part 1th: Creating a highly customizable private cloud

Brief introduction

Because each execution server is unique, a concept quickly emerges: Install and configure the image once, and then replicate and reuse it again and again. This uniqueness may be reflected in small areas such as different passwords and IP addresses, or in large areas such as different software and application requirements. To achieve the efficiency of the image commitment, you must carefully consider what to put into the image and how many images to build.

This article outlines the image customization features in the IBM WebSphere Cloudburst appliance, including image creation, image extension, script package, schema definition, and image maintenance. Subsequent articles in this series will provide an in-depth example of each technique.

Create a custom private cloud

IBM's new WebSphere Cloudburst appliance helps you create, deploy, and manage WebSphere virtual systems in a private cloud. This device is equipped with IBM WebSphere application Server Hypervisor Edition, which is based on the Open virtualization Format (OVF) Standard WebSphere Applicat Virtual image package for Ion Server. This package includes the operating system, WebSphere Application Server portfolio and binaries, IBM HTTP server, all content is preinstalled, and can be deployed directly into the management program (hypervisor).

Figure 1. WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition

By building on top of the WebSphere application Server Hypervisor Edition, WebSphere Cloudburst delivers a higher level of value through usage patterns. These patterns represent meaningful WebSphere configurations and can also be delivered to a set of management programs in a private cloud via WebSphere Cloudburst. Figure 2 depicts the WebSphere Cluster mode that is included with the WebSphere Cloudburst.

Figure 2. WebSphere cloudburst Cluster Mode

Enterprises can implement the out-of-the-box value of WebSphere Cloudburst through preconfigured virtual images and patterns that are included in the WebSphere Cloudburst. However, many users (if not all) will need to use custom environments in their own private cloud. With WebSphere Cloudburst, you can provide customization for all levels of private WebSphere cloud, including operating systems, middleware, and application tiers. These layers of customization are similar to common segregation of duties in an enterprise, where different teams are responsible for operating system environments, middleware environments, and applications. In these customization features, WebSphere Cloudburst provides a user access model that maps to these different custom paths and maps to roles in the organization.

WebSphere Cloudburst provides these customization capabilities by supporting the virtual images and patterns that you customize. The type and frequency of customization can have an impact on the location of the custom execution.

Figure 3 explains the different customization requirements and how to implement these customizations in the WebSphere Cloudburst-while preserving the traditional organizational functions. Although WebSphere Cloudburst provides a mechanism for storing and reusing customizations, it is also aware that certain customizations (such as virtual machine passwords) are unique for each deployment and therefore need to be performed at each deployment.

Figure 3. Custom Overview

Custom image

As mentioned earlier, the WebSphere application Server Hypervisor Edition is a virtual image preinstalled to the operating system, and it is also installed with WebSphere Application Server Binary files and configuration files, and IBM HTTP Server. When you assign a WebSphere mode to a private cloud through WebSphere Cloudburst, the operating system and selected components in the virtual image are activated to create virtual machine instances. Although the virtual image package provides a very fast middleware environment to create, it does not necessarily provide you with the required operating system capabilities.

To be able to customize your operating system environment by installing custom software, WebSphere Cloudburst introduces the concept of extending virtual machines. You can extend one of the WebSphere application Server Hypervisor Edition virtual images, make changes to the image, and then recapture the modified image.

Figure 4. Extending a virtual image

The recapture image reflects the modifications you made and is stored in the WebSphere cloudburst directory. Once stored in this directory, you can use this image as a basis for all patterns built using the WebSphere cloudburst appliance. This virtual image can be used as a basis for many different types of websphere configurations, which means that the underlying operating system and the software installed in it are for each WebSphere application Server running in a private cloud, regardless of the middleware topology or application used. Virtual systems are exactly the same. In addition, you only need to perform one customization, and then you can use the virtual image to any number of patterns as needed.