Run a BigchainDB network with Ansible

NOT for Production Use

You can use the following instructions to deploy a single or multi node BigchainDB network for dev/test using Ansible. Ansible will configure the BigchainDB node(s).

Currently, this workflow is only supported for the following distributions:

• Ubuntu >= 16.04
• CentOS >= 7
• Fedora >= 24
• MacOSX

Minimum Requirements

Minimum resource requirements for a single node BigchainDB dev setup. The more the better:

• Memory >= 512MB
• VCPUs >= 1

Clone the BigchainDB repository

$ git clone https://github.com/bigchaindb/bigchaindb.git

Install dependencies

• Ansible

You can also install ansible and other dependencies, if any, using the boostrap.sh script inside the BigchainDB repository. Navigate to bigchaindb/pkg/scripts and run the bootstrap.sh script to install the dependencies for your OS. The script also checks if the OS you are running is compatible with the supported versions.

Note: bootstrap.sh only supports Ubuntu >= 16.04, CentOS >= 7 and Fedora >=24 and MacOSX.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/scripts/
$ bash bootstrap.sh --operation install

BigchainDB Setup Configuration(s)

Local Setup

You can run the Ansible playbook bigchaindb-start.yml on your local dev machine and set up the BigchainDB node where BigchainDB can be run as a process or inside a Docker container(s) depending on your configuration.

Before, running the playbook locally, you need to update the hosts and stack-config.yml configuration, which will notify Ansible that we need to run the play locally.

Update Hosts

Navigate to bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/hosts inside the BigchainDB repository.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/hosts

Edit all configuration file:

# Delete any existing configuration in this file and insert
# Hostname of dev machine
<HOSTNAME> ansible_connection=local

Update Configuration

Navigate to bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/vars inside the BigchainDB repository.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/vars/stack-config.yml

Edit bdb-config.yml configuration file as per your requirements, sample configuration file(s):

---
stack_type: "docker" 
stack_size: "4"


OR

---
stack_type: "local"
stack_type: "1"

BigchainDB Setup

Now, You can safely run the bigchaindb-start.yml playbook and everything will be taken care of by Ansible. To run the playbook please navigate to the bigchaindb/pkg/configuration directory inside the BigchainDB repository and run the bigchaindb-start.yml playbook.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/

$ ansible-playbook bigchaindb-start.yml -i hosts/all --extra-vars "operation=start home_path=$(pwd)"

After successful execution of the playbook, you can verify that BigchainDB docker(s)/process(es) is(are) running.

Verify BigchainDB process(es):

$ ps -ef | grep bigchaindb

OR

Verify BigchainDB Docker(s):

$ docker ps | grep bigchaindb

You can now send transactions and verify the functionality of your BigchainDB node. See the BigchainDB Python Driver documentation for details on how to use it.

Note: The bdb_root_url can be be one of the following:

# BigchainDB is running as a process
bdb_root_url = http://<HOST-IP>:9984

OR

# BigchainDB is running inside a docker container
bdb_root_url = http://<HOST-IP>:<DOCKER-PUBLISHED-PORT>

Note: BigchainDB has other drivers as well.

Experimental: Running Ansible a Remote Dev/Host

Remote Setup

You can also run the Ansible playbook bigchaindb-start.yml on remote machine(s) and set up the BigchainDB node where BigchainDB can run as a process or inside a Docker container(s) depending on your configuration.

Before, running the playbook on a remote host, you need to update the hosts and stack-config.yml configuration, which will notify Ansible that we need to run the play on a remote host.

Update Remote Hosts

Navigate to bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/hosts inside the BigchainDB repository.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/hosts

Edit all configuration file:

# Delete any existing configuration in this file and insert
<Remote_Host_IP/Hostname> ansible_ssh_user=<USERNAME> ansible_sudo_pass=<PASSWORD>

Note: You can add multiple hosts to the all configuration file. Non-root user with sudo enabled password is needed because ansible will run some tasks that require those permissions.

Note: You can also use other methods to get inside the remote machines instead of password based SSH. For other methods please consult Ansible Documentation.

Update Remote Configuration

Navigate to bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/vars inside the BigchainDB repository.

$ cd bigchaindb/pkg/configuration/vars/stack-config.yml

Edit stack-config.yml configuration file as per your requirements, sample configuration file(s):

---
stack_type: "docker" 
stack_size: "4"


OR

---
stack_type: "local"
stack_type: "1"

After, the configuration of remote hosts, run the Ansible playbook and verify your deployment.