Denodo Standard for GCP 8.0 Quick Start Guide
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This document refers to Denodo Standard for GCP Marketplace previous to February 2022 that has been replaced by Denodo Professional for GCP Marketplace starting in February 2022.
Overview
Denodo Technologies, the data virtualization leader for unifying enterprise data and delivering data services for the business, is offering Denodo Standard on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) as a pay by hour (PAYG) virtual machine (VM) image. The VM image contains the latest version of Denodo Standard, optimized for use with the Google Cloud Platform Compute Engine.
Thank you for your confidence in Denodo and for choosing the Denodo Standard for GCP as your data virtualization technology!
This quick start guide will give you an overview of the Denodo software and how to quickly start building data virtualization solutions on GCP.
Marketplace Offering Overview
This Denodo Standard for GCP offering is based on a pay as you go (PAYG) model under your Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account.
The Denodo Standard offer on Linux Server consists of:
- The Denodo Virtual DataPort (VDP), the core Denodo Data Virtualization engine, to integrate data from any data source and deliver it to any consumer in any format allowing to connect up to 5 data sources.
- The Denodo Scheduler, for scheduling data pipelines and cache loads among other tasks.
- Additional tools for administering and developing like the Denodo Design Studio and the Denodo VDP Administration Tool.
In the sections below you can find more information on how to deploy.
NOTE: this offering does not require a Denodo Solution Manager with a Denodo License Server to run the VDP services in the VM.
Deploy the Denodo Standard for GCP VM
Overview
You must have a GCP account. You are responsible for operating your own GCP account. You can create and launch your Denodo Standard for GCP PAYG VM instance using that GCP Account.
To quickly set up a Denodo Standard environment on the GCP, perform the following steps:
- Launch the Denodo Standard VM
- Login to the Design Studio
- Read the Usage Instructions
- Install the Denodo Admin Client
- Register for Denodo Support
Note: The GCP interface is subject to change and the exact options you see depend on whether or not you have existing projects.
Step 1 - Launch the Denodo Standard VM
Log on to the GCP Marketplace and access the Denodo Standard 8.0 VDP pay per hour offering page.
And then click the LAUNCH button.
Then, Select a project or Create a project page could be the next. Enter a project name and select a value from the Organization drop‑down, then click the Create button.
After that the deployment configuration appears where you can select appropriate values for zone, machine type, and so on.
For choosing the machine type please see https://community.denodo.com/docs/html/browse/8.0/platform/installation/preinstallation_tasks/hardware_requirements/hardware_requirements#
In the Firewall section, be sure the Allow HTTP traffic checkbox is checked to access later to VM included instructions.
Then Click the Deploy button.
As soon as the project deploys, and the new virtual machine (VM) instance starts running, the following services are automatically started:
- Denodo VDP Server.
- Denodo Web Container for accessing Denodo Design Studio web tool.
- HTTP web server to allow access to Usage Instructions described in the following sections.
Step 2 - Login to the Design Studio Web Tool
The Design Studio provides a web interface to the developers to create data sources, base views, derived views, publish web services, etc.
Check first the list of Supported Browsers for the Design Studio tool.
Then use a supported browser to point to the following URL of the Design Studio Web Tool following the pattern:
http://<vm_ip>:9090/denodo-design-studio/
Where <vm_ip> is the IP address or DNS name for the Denodo Standard VDP virtual machine in the deployment.
The username is admin and the password is the one you can see in the GCP Console for the deployment.
Refer to Main Areas of the Design Studio for more information.
Step 3 - Read the Usage Instructions
Once the Denodo Standard for GCP virtual machine instance is running you can find some instructions located in your running Denodo Standard for GCP virtual machine instance's web server.
To access the instructions just point your Internet browser to your GCP virtual machine instance's public Internet name or IP address (screenshot below).
Step 4 - Install the Denodo VDP Client
Certain administrative tasks like cache configuration, setting-up the authentication, user management, etc. can only be done graphically by using a Denodo client tool known as Denodo Virtual Dataport Administration Tool (desktop based).
To execute those administrative tasks, a client-server architecture is followed, with the server (VDP) running in the GCP virtual machine instance, and the client (VDP Admin Tool) running in your local computer.
The client installer is distributed from the running GCP virtual machine instance; you can find links to the installers in step-by-step installation instructions described in your running GCP virtual machine instance's web server.
Once the graphical administration tool starts, it will prompt you for the connection details for the remote Denodo Standard server in the GCP virtual machine instance. The first time you can login as admin with the password value from the Google Cloud console. As Virtual Dataport Server you can enter //<vm_ip>:9999/admin where <vm_ip> is the IP address or DNS name for the virtual machine in the deployment.
Refer to Main Areas of the Administration Tool for more information.
Step 5 - Register for Denodo Support
Denodo is committed to helping you succeed with the Denodo Standard through our comprehensive network of technical support and services.
Denodo for GCP Standard Support is available for all paying subscribers. Denodo for GCP Premium Support is available for all subscribers at an additional fee.
To access this service, you must first register on our website.
After you have signed-up, 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 available as version upgrades require migration between GCP instances procured through the GCP Marketplace.
Customers will make 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 have monthly spends using any of the Denodo for GCP PAYG products.
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. Our community is knowledgeable and tenacious and there is no question without a valid answer. Technical resources such as product documentation, Knowledge Base articles, step-by-step tutorials, and how-to videos are also available.
Optional Actions after Deploying
Assign a Static External IP Address to Your VM Instance
An ephemeral external IP address has been assigned to the VM instance. If you require a static external IP address, you may promote the address to static. Learn more.
You will need to restart the Denodo VDP service after the change.
Review the Security Configuration
There are a couple of optional steps that we recommend you to take in order to improve the security of your GCP deployment.
Changing the Default VDP Administration Password
As the first step of the configuration of your new Denodo Standard virtual machine you should change the default administrator password. It is extremely important that you change this default password to ensure that you are operating under a secure environment.
Configuring the Firewall Rules
When a new virtual image is started GCP creates by default firewall rules. Firewall rules control all TCP ports that the Denodo Standard may need to use plus the ssh (for server administration) and http (for the installation instructions and client installers).
The default configuration specifies that all those ports can be reached from any IP addresses - our strong recommendation is to modify the firewall rules to:
- Remove access to the HTTP port once you have completed the installation instructions, including the download of the Denodo client installer.
- Configure the rest of firewall rules so they can only be accessed from the range of authorized IP addresses that you control instead of being publicly accessible.
To do this, follow the steps in the GCP documentation about firewall rules.
Review the list of default ports Used by Denodo Standard.
Disabling the Public Web Server
The Denodo instance that you are currently connected to is using a public httpd server to host the step-by-step installation instructions and client installers. When you are done setting up your GCP virtual machine instance and Denodo client installation we recommend you to disable the public web server. This is accomplished in two steps:
- Connect to the Denodo instance using ssh.
- After opening a remote command line through ssh, type these commands to disable the httpd server:
sudo systemctl stop httpd
sudo systemctl disable httpd
Securing Denodo Communications
In order to provide secure communications among your clients and Denodo Platform services running on the GPC instance remember to follow the instructions in the Denodo Installation Manual.
Starting and Stopping Denodo Services
Denodo Standard for GCP includes the following services:
- VDP
- Scheduler Server
- Scheduler Web Admin
- Design Studio
Some of these services are not running by default to not overload the instance with services that may not be required. In case you decide to begin working with them, the procedure to start them is analogous:
- Connect to the Denodo instance using ssh.
- Once connected, use the terminal to run these commands in your instance to start / stop Denodo services:
sudo systemctl [start|stop] [vqlserver|schedulerserver|schedulerwebadmintool|designstudio]
Additionally you can configure these services to start automatically at instance boot time with the command:
sudo systemctl enable [vqlserver|schedulerserver|schedulerwebadmintool|designstudio]
Take into account that schedulerwebadmintool requires schedulerserver to be running and so do designstudio with regard to vqlserver.
VDP Memory Assignment
Denodo Standard for GCP automatically configures Virtual DataPort Server (VDP) memory allocation the first time the virtual machine instance boots depending on the instance memory size, so that you don't need to set an appropriate value.
In case this automatic memory assignment is not the most suitable for your scenario, you can always set a memory scheme on your own. Follow these steps:
- Stop VDP server:
sudo systemctl stop vqlserver
- Open the file VDBConfiguration.properties for editing:
sudo -u denodo vim /opt/denodo/denodo-platform-8.0-linux64/conf/vdp/VDBConfiguration.properties
- Update the property java.env.DENODO_OPTS_START with the most suitable values for your case (i.e. 2GB). Remember that Xms and Xmx parameters should have the same value:
java.env.DENODO_OPTS_START=-server -Xms4096m -Xmx4096m -XX:+DisableExplicitGC
-XX:+UseG1GC -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=256m
- Execute the script regenerateFiles to propagate these changes:
sudo -u denodo /opt/denodo/denodo-platform-8.0-linux64/bin/regenerateFiles.sh
- Relaunch VDP server:
sudo systemctl start vqlserver
Further Steps
Once you are all set to start building your data virtualization solutions on GCP, we recommend that you check out all the available Denodo 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 Standard for GCP in the quickest time, we recommend you to take advantage of Denodo Professional Services.