Denodo Standard for AWS 8.0 Quick Start Guide

Last modified on: 07 Jan 2021

Denodo Platform, the leading data virtualization product for unifying enterprise data and delivering data services for the business, is available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace as a PayAsYouGo offering. Thank you for choosing Denodo for AWS as your data virtualization technology!

Denodo for AWS comes in two flavors: Denodo Standard for AWS and Denodo Platform for AWS. This quick start guide will give you an overview of Denodo Standard and show you how to quickly start building data virtualization solutions on AWS.

Denodo Standard consists of the same engine as the Denodo Platform and supports a broad range of functionality for users to get started at an affordable price. Some of the key features include:

The Solution Manager, to automatically configure, create and manage your Denodo deployment in AWS. With a single click, you can create your development, QA, and production environments. It also includes support for automatically upgrading the platform and for promoting artifacts between environments.
Denodo Virtual DataPort, the core Denodo Data Virtualization engine, to integrate data from any data source and deliver it to any consumer in any format.
Denodo Scheduler, for scheduling data pipelines and cache loads among other tasks.

NOTE: A Development instance is included with your paid subscription along with the Solution Manager. You only pay for the Virtual DataPort servers running in the Production and Staging environments, as well as for the infrastructure cost applied by AWS for the solution manager and the development instances.

See the Restrictions of Denodo Standard.

How to launch Denodo Standard

Prerequisites

You must have an AWS account.

You are responsible for operating your own AWS account.

You can launch the Denodo Standard in that AWS Account.

You will need a valid key pair in order to launch the Denodo Solution Manager Standard instance. If you do not have one, or you want to create a new one, you can check how to do it here: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-key-pairs.html.

During the setup process, you will also need to choose the VPC (virtual private cloud) and subnet where you want the Denodo Solution Manager to be installed. If you have access to more than one VPC and subnet in the AWS account and you are unsure about which one you should choose, you may need to contact the system administrator of your AWS account.

First steps

Log on to the AWS Marketplace, go to the Denodo Standard for AWS listing, and follow the AWS marketplace subscription steps:

Click on ‘Continue to Subscribe’
In the next screen, after reviewing the terms and conditions, click on ‘Continue to Configuration’
In the next screen, select the desired AWS region and click on ‘ Continue to Launch’
Finally, in the next screen, click on ‘Launch’ to start the process of configuring and starting Denodo Solution Manager

Configuring and Starting Denodo Solution Manager Instance

In order to launch the Denodo Solution Manager Standard instance, it is necessary to create a ‘stack’ by launching a Cloud Formation template provided with the offering. A stack is a collection of all the required AWS resources that you can manage as a single unit. Once this stack is created, you will be able to use the Solution Manager to configure, start and manage your Denodo environments.

In this case, after clicking ‘Launch’ in the previous step, you will be asked to choose the stack template. The template is provided with the offering so you only need to click ‘Next’.

Now, follow these steps:

In the “Create stack” screen:

Enter the stack name.
Select the VPC and the subnet. The subnet must belong to the selected VPC.
Select the instance type.
Select the desired key pair.
Select the allowed IPs. You can provide the IP range (in CIDR block format) that is allowed to access the Solution Manager instance. Please set CIDR to x.x.x.x/32 to allow one specific IP address access, 0.0.0.0/0 to allow all IP addresses access, or another CIDR range.
Specify security group for the instance, this defines who is allowed to access to the launched instance:

You can define a range of IPs addresses that are allowed to access the instance. Note that by default, it allows access from all IPs.
In Advanced Configuration you can specify the identifier of a custom security group. If you specify a value for this field, this security group will be used and the value for allowed IPs is ignored and will use the configuration it has without changing it. You can see here the recommended default ports to which allow access.
If you don’t specify a security group, the template will automatically create a default one with the specified allowed ips.

Click “Next” to continue.

In the "Configure stack options" screen, a number of advanced options are offered. You do not need to modify any of the default values so you can simply click "Next" to continue.
In the "Review" screen you can review the options you selected during the configuration process. If you do not want to change anything, click "Create stack" at the bottom.
The creation of the stack takes a few minutes to complete. You can see the progress of the operation in the ‘Events’ Tab

Once the stack creation process finishes correctly, you can check in the “Output” tab the following values:

The private URL to access Denodo Solution Manager. The URL has the following pattern:

http://<private_ip>:19090/solution-manager-web-tool/Login

Note that the application takes some time to start so you may need to wait for a couple of minutes before the link works correctly. You may get a connection error or a ‘404 Not Found’ error if you try to access it before the service has completely started.

The URL to access additional documentation. The url has the following pattern:

http://<private_ip>

In this URL you can find links to additional resources and you can also download the VDP Administration Tool, which is needed for some administrative tasks of Denodo.

The instance id of the launched instance. This value is the default password that allows access to the Solution Manager Administration Tool for the admin user. We highly recommend that you change the default user and auto generated password as soon as possible. Here's how to do it.

Keep in mind the following information:

The instance is launched with or without public IP depending on the setting of the selected subnet for “Auto-assign ip settings”.
You can access the instance using the private IP displayed in the output tab if there is connectivity between your network and the VPC in AWS due to the use of a VPN or another networking solution.
If you launched the instance in a public subnet and want to access the instance using the public ip, you can do so checking the public ip for the instance in the EC2 console, and replacing the value of <private_ip> with the public ip.

Configure AWS credentials

The first time you log in the Solution Manager Administration Tool, you will be asked to introduce the AWS credentials of your account:

You can find in the Automated Cloud Mode Quick Start guide how you can create the credentials and the permissions needed. You can also provide these credentials later in the “Configuration” - “Automated Mode” - “AWS” screen. For more information, check the AWS configuration documentation

Start clusters

The Denodo Solution Manager 8.0 Standard has 3 preloaded environments and clusters (Development, Staging and Environment):

Each environment has a default configuration:

It has the corresponding license scenario assigned.
It is by default in the same region and VPC as the Solution Manager instance.

Each cluster also has a default configuration:

Same key pair and subnet as the Solution Manager instance.
One instance of Virtual Data Port and another instance of Denodo Scheduler with default instance type, EBS storage, security groups creation and default prefix for instance name, among others.

In order to access the clusters overview screen, select the options “Environments” - “Overview” in the main menu. This opens the “Overview” screen and you can also see the Solution Manager catalog tree on the left side of the screen, with the three environments and clusters. All the predefined clusters are initially in the “The cluster needs to be recreated” status.

In order to get more details regarding AWS clusters management and operations, you can read the corresponding documentation here.

You can find the complete Denodo Platform 8.0 documentation here.

Launch default clusters for the first time

We recommend you open and check the values configured for the default environments and clusters and adjust them to fit your needs. You can then create and launch a cluster, by simply selecting the “Recreate” option in the “Actions” column for the corresponding cluster and the cluster will be started.

You can check the cluster creation progress clicking in the corresponding “Last Action” column.

Edit default clusters

You can also optionally change the configuration settings of the clusters.

For instance, if a cluster has the status “The cluster needs to be recreated” or “Pending configuration” you can change the VPC in the environment (if you change the VPC, the cluster status will be “Pending configuration”). A cluster in a “Pending configuration” status is highlighted in red color in the Solution Manager catalog tree.

When a cluster is in “Pending configuration” status, review the cluster configuration and change what you need (for instance, if you changed the VPC of the environment, you need to select a subnet in the cluster). You can also edit the rest of the cluster metadata (key pair, instance type, EBS storage, autoscaling, etc)

Once you have filled the cluster screen with the desired values, save the changes and select the “Recreate now” option in the dialog.

After starting the clusters for the first time, it’s recommended that you use the VDP Administration Tool to change the default password of the VDP servers. Here's how to do it.

Connecting to the Cluster for the First Time

When the cluster is completely created, click on the Denodo logo on the top left to go back to My Applications. This area provides a single point of entry to all the web applications of the Denodo Platform, of all the environments of your organization. Now you should see the links to access the Design Studio and Scheduler modules.

Note that the Elastic Load Balancers of AWS take some time to validate the instances before routing traffic to them. Therefore you may need to wait a few minutes before accessing the new cluster.

In this screen you can also find links to the documentation of Denodo Platform, along with links to videos, tutorials and the Denodo Knowledge Base.

Optional: define custom security group to access Denodo Solution Manager instance

If you have advanced access security configuration, you can use a custom security group with the rules that fit your needs. There are some ports that need to be opened in order to allow access to the Solution Manager instance, and access from the Solution Manager instance to the servers in the clusters.

In order to allow access to the Solution Manager instance, here are the ports ranges that should be allowed in the inbound rules:

19090: Solution Manager Administration Tool port.
10090-10091: Solution Manager server (required to register servers in Solution Manager catalog among other operations) and License Manager server (required for the servers in order to request and refresh license).
19443: Solution Manager Administration Tool SSL port.
22: SSH.
80: HTTP port to access the quick start guide of the instance and the client installers to access Denodo Platform from the clients.

And here are the recommended ports to be allowed in the outbound rules:

9995-9999: Denodo Virtual Data Port ports
7998-8000: Denodo Scheduler ports.
9090: Web container port
9443: Web container SSL port
80: HTTP
443: HTTPS (required for updates)

Subscribe to Denodo Support

Denodo is committed in helping you to succeed with the Denodo Platform through our comprehensive network of technical support and services.

Denodo Standard support is included with your marketplace subscription. To access this service, you must first register here.

Denodo Platform for AWS Premium Support is available for all subscribers with an additional fee.

You will have access to the Denodo Support Site where you can get web-based support, software updates and DenodoConnects which will improve your data virtualization experience. Denodo version upgrades are not included as upgrades require migration between Amazon instances.

In addition to the traditional support channel, you can always post your question directly on the Q&A section, a moderated forum on our Community Site, where data virtualization professionals and enthusiasts will assist you. Technical resources such as product documentation, Knowledge Base articles, step-by-step tutorials, and how-to videos are also available.

Customers will use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve issues before escalating them to Denodo. Denodo will make a commercially reasonable effort to provide support to customers and reserves the right to refuse providing Maintenance and Support Services for customers who do not reach a minimum commercially reasonable level of monthly usage of any of the Denodo Platform for AWS products.

Further Steps

Once you are all set to start building your data virtualization solutions on AWS using Denodo Standard, we recommend that you check out all the available information:

If you want to move on to professionally guided training you can always check our course offerings on our training site.

To get up and running on the Denodo 8.0 Standard for AWS in the quickest time, we recommend that you take advantage of Denodo Professional Services.