[Planetlab-users] PlanetLab upgrade

[Larry Peterson]

This is to announce the imminent rollout of PlanetLab
Version 4.0 (based on MyPLC Version 1.0). For those
paying attention, we have been making early versions
of MyPLC available to others that want to deploy their
own "private" PlanetLabs, but this has meant maintaining
two code bases -- one for the "public" PlanetLab and one
for MyPLC. We are now about to upgrade the public PlanetLab
to use the same code base others use for their private
PlanetLabs. For some of you, the fact that we'll be eating
our own dog food is justification enough for this upgrade,
but for most users, the result should be a more stable
system, (we have re-implemented the most problematic
subsystems), plus new support for federation will allow
PlanetLab to grow considerably in the not-to-distant-future.
Also, those trying to use MyPLC to build their own private
PlanetLabs should find that task easier.

The plan is to test drive an alpha version starting next week
on several Princeton nodes (planetlab-[8-13].cs.princeton.edu),
and once that stablizes, to begin a general rollout. During the
rollout, there will be **two** PlanetLab Websites (or PLC, for
PlanetLab Central):

     www.planet-lab.org     the old (current) version
     www2.planet-lab.org    the new version

Those nodes that have been updated will be controlled via
the new PLC; those that have not will be controlled via
the old PLC. At the point we begin the rollout (not during
the alpha testing), we will freeze the PLC database, so
all slices that exist at that point will be instantiated
on both sets of nodes. (Note: at this moment, before the
rollout begins, the new  PLC uses a "test" database.)

Once the rollout is complete, you will have to deal with
only the new PLC. During the rollout, if you need to create
a slice, change a user assigned to a slice, or upload new
keys, you'll need to contact both PLCs to affect your slice
across all nodes. (Ideally, you won't need to talk to PLC
during the rollout; we'll make sure no slices expire during
that time.)

Assuming you have no reason to talk to PLC, you shouldn't
notice much disruption: nodes that run your slice will
continue to do so independent of which PLC controls them.
The only node-specific change will be an upgrade from
Fedora Core 2 (FC2) to FC4. However, the nodes will
re-install as the are upgraded, so any code/data you have
on the node will be lost. Try the alpha nodes (next week)
to see if your code runs on FC4, and as always, do not
leave valuable data in your slice.

For those that have programs that talk to the PLC's
programmatic API, we encourage you to test your programs
on the alpha nodes.

Finally, there are sure to be hiccups in the move to this new
version. Please post problems/bugs to the support mailing
list. Of course, your patience will be much appreciated.

Larry