CSS/HSE Graceful Server Shutdown

[andrew.thomson]

Does HSE support the ability to close a backend server gracefully by setting the weight to zero in the content rule.

I have tried using the configuration menu to select a rule and modify the binding.

This presents a screen which gives a drop down field with weights from 1-10 but not Zero.

Zero should be a valid weight in 7.3 and 6.1 (which is what we are running our CSS devices.

Are there any other methods from HSE to do this?

[Gilles Dufour]

you should be able to do that with versin 1.8 of HSE.

You will need 1.8.1 due to bug CSCsa26902.

Regards,

Gilles.

[andrew.thomson]

We are at 1.8.2.

We started at 1.8 delivered on the 1140 system.

We got to 1.8.2 by upgrading 1.8FCS through 1.8.1u and 1.8.2u.

When I use the configure tab and select the configuration sub-menu, and then select a css device and select an owner and select a content rule in the left hand frame, the right hand frame shows the current configuration of the rule (but does not show the services).

To view the service bindings, I select the "Service Binding" button at the bottom of this right hand frame.

This presents the two windows with services available and services already bound into the rule.

The arrow buttons give the ability to move a service in or out of the rule.

When I select the "Continue button", I am presented with list of all the services bound into the rule.

This list has a drop down field which we can use to set the service weight for the rule.

This drop down list contains only the values 1 to 10.

There is no 0 (zero) option!

Is there a diferent way of doing this.

We do not want to change the weight on the service as this service is in more than one rule!

We had the same problem at 1.8.1

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P.S. This feature of HSE is very nice. Before HSE we created our own bunch of scripts and Web pages that did the following:

- read the configuration from the CSS

- Parsed that configuration to build a list of rules and the services bound into those rules.

- presented a similar page with the two windows and the arrow buttons to move services in and out of a particular selected rule.

A subtle difference with our approach is that, by using a specific naming convention, the scripts were able to determine which services were valid for which rules. The window of available services then displayed only those services which were valid for the specific rule chosen.

The only way I have found of doing something similar with HSE was to use the domains/roles feature to make a specific user responsible for a specific rule. And to have the domain for that user restricted to the services valid for the rule.

This is a bit heavy handed and our scripts are becoming a bit unmanageable, particularly as HSE does most of what we need anyway. We have considered adding the service weightings option but HSE nearly does it!

Any help restricting the drop down menu to a particular set of services would be really useful.

[Gilles Dufour]

When suspending a CSS service in HSE UI, an option "Graceful shutdown" is given for the user.

So this is not accomplished by setting a weight of zero.

Gilles.

[andrew.thomson]

Brilliant.

P.S. In your view, is it worth raising an enhancement request to follow up our wish to constrain the dropdown list of available resources, that I mentioned in previous reply?

[Gilles Dufour]

If you think this is useful, than you should not hesitate and request this feature.

It don't see a reason not to implement it.

Gilles.

[andrew.thomson]

Looks like I was a bit hasty in my "brilliant" response.

Using the "Graceful Shutdown" feature in the suspend service menu sets that service weight to zero.

We do not want this!

We want the equivalent of the "change service xxxxx weight 0" CLI in owner/content mode!

There are two methods to apply weights to services on CSS devices.

1) In the service itself which impacts all rules using that service.

Or

2) In the content rule when adding or changing the service applied to that rule and that rule only!

How can we do the second option with HSE?

In my opinion using the "graceful shutdown" feature of HSE while selecting a service under a content rule under an owner from the left hand frame, should do the "change service xxxxx weight 0" command on the rule.

Then to suspend a service from all rules you can either use configuration tab to change the weight in the service configuration, or if you have not got the configure tab, suspend service when selecting a service from the services list in the left hand frame should set the service weight in the service itself.

Thoughts?