[ec2-beta] ec2 & upgrade testing

[Michael Vogt]

On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 11:13:13PM -0800, Eric Hammond wrote:
> Michael:
Hi Eric,
 
> There are a few ways to get more than 10 GB effectively or actually on a
> root file system on a running EC2 instance.
> 
> Depending on your needs and the level of complexity you're willing to
> deal with, the data can even be persistent and/or can be used as an
> image to start multiple instances (though not exactly an AMI).
> 
> Can you share more about what goals you are trying to accomplish and the
> processes you use?

Currently I use the vmbuilder to create the AMI and have python code
that runs a instance based on this, installs additional packages into
it (ubuntu-desktop for example). Then it copies the current release
upgrader code into the instance and upgrades to the next version of
ubuntu to see if there are any issues with the package upgrades or the
upgrader code.

What I would like do be able to do is have images/AMIs for the various
ubuntu flavours (ubuntu,kubuntu,..) available so that the upgrade test
does not have to construct them again. I would also like to run
upgrade tests with a lot of packages (e.g. most of main or even most of
universe). That can easily go much beyond the 10G limit. Having a
snapshoting ability would also be nice but its not that important
right now. 

I hope the above gives a bit of background, any hints/links to more
information how to get around the limit are much appreciated (I'm
still pretty new to ec2).

Thanks,
 Michael

 
> Robbie Williamson wrote:
> > Great work, Michael!  I'm copying the ec2-beta list, as people on it will be
> > interested and can also help you, if needed. ;)
> > 
> > -Robbie
> > 
> > On 01/16/2009 08:56 AM, Michael Vogt wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> I worked on the ec2 upgrade testing stuff today and yesterday and I
> >> have a working prototype now in the lp:~mvo/update-manager/ec2
> >> branch. It can test upgrades in a ec2 instance in a similar fashion as
> >> the current kvm backend. I created the base images with vmbuilder
> >> (from my lp:~mvo/vmbuilder/mvo branch that contains some fixes against
> >> trunk/).
> >>
> >> I did a successful automatic/unattended-upgrade for the server and the
> >> ubuntu-desktop profile. But my code is still prototypish and needs
> >> some cleanup love.
> >>
> >> One pretty anoying limiation currently seems to be that the size of a
> >> image (a AMI) seems to be limited to 10Gb [1]. That is not enough for a
> >> full blown upgrade test that includes most packages in main (it is
> >> sufficient for our various default installs).
> >>
> >> Its a good addition to the kvm based backend but its still useful to
> >> keep the kvm one around. Its nice to be able to boot a kvm upgraded
> >> image and login to test stuff manually (or verify upgrade bugs).
> >>
> >> There is still a lot of room for improvements in the ec2 backend. I
> >> just use a single base AMI right now for everything, this should be
> >> changed so that each base image becomes its own ami. I also don't make
> >> any use of the ec2-volumes yet (but I'm not quite sure yet if they are
> >> useful for my use-case). I'm still learning how everything fits
> >> together :) 
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >>  Michael
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> [1] http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=1145 
> >> (question: "When I try to bundle my AMI, it fails. Why?")
> > 
> >