Category Archives: Meetup

All About That Loop. Lessons from the OpenStack Product Mid-Cycle

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OpenStack loves to track developer counts and committers, but velocity without A Feedback loop to set direction is unlikely to get us anywhere sustainable.

LoopLast week, I attended the first day of the OpenStack Product Working Group meeting.   My modest expectations (I just wanted them talking) were far exceeded.  The group managed to cover both strategic and tactical items including drafting a charter and discussing pending changes to the incubation process.

OpenStack needs a strong feedback loop from users and operators back to developers and vendors – statement made during the PM meeting.

The most critical wins from last week what the desire for the PM group to work more closely with the OpenStack technical leadership.  I’m excited to see the community continue to expand the scope of collaboration.

Why is this important?  Because developers and product managers need mutual respect to be effective.

The members of the Product team are leaders within their own organization responsible for talking to users and operators.  We rely on them to close the communication loop by both collecting feedback and explaining direction.  To accomplish this difficult job, the Product team must own articulating a vision for the future.

For OpenStack to succeed, we need to be listening intently to feedback about both how we are doing and if we are headed in the right direction.  Both are required to create a feedback loop.

After seeing this group in action, I’m excited to see what’s next.

Want to read more?

Get involved!  Join the discussion on the OpenStack Product mailing list!

Online Meetup Today (1/13): Build a rock-solid foundation under your OpenStack cloud

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Reminder: Online meetup w/ Crowbar + OpenStack DEMO TODAY

HFoundation Rawere’s the notice from the site (with my added Picture)

Building cloud infrastructure requires a rock-solid foundation. 

In this hour, Rob Hirschfeld will demo automated tooling, specifically OpenCrowbar, to prepare and integrate physical infrastructure to ready state and then use PackStack to install OpenStack.

 

The OpenCrowbar project started in 2011 as an OpenStack installer and had grown into a general purpose provisioning and infrastructure orchestration framework that works in parallel with multiple hardware vendors, operating systems and devops tools.  These tools create a fast, durable and repeatable environment to install OpenStack, Ceph, Kubernetes, Hadoop or other scale platforms.

 

Rob will show off the latest features and discuss key concepts from the Crowbar operational model including Ready State, Functional Operations and Late Binding. These concepts, built into Crowbar, can be applied generally to make your operations more robust and scalable.

Running with scissors > DefCore “must-pass” Road Show Starts [VIDEOS]

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The OpenStack DefCore committee has been very active during this cycle turning the core definition principles into an actual list of “must-pass” capabilities (working page).  This in turn gives the community something tangible enough to review and evaluate.

Capabilities SelectionTL;DR!  We appreciate those in the community who have been patient enough to help define and learn the process we’re using the make selections; however, we also recognize that most people want to jump to the results.

This week, we started a “DefCore roadshow” with the goal of learning how to make this huge body of capabilities, process and impact easier to digest (draft write-up for review & Troy Toman’s notes).  So far we’ve had two great sessions on this topic.  We took notes and recorded at both meetups (San Francisco & Austin).

My takeaways of these initial meetups are:

  • Jump to the Capabilities right away, the process history is not needed up front
  • You need more graphics – specifically, one for the selection criteria (what do you think of my 1st attempt?)
  • Work from some examples of scored capabilities
  • Include some specific use-cases with a user, 2 types of private cloud and a public cloud to help show the impact

Overall, people like what they are hearing.  It makes sense and decisions are justified.

We need more feedback!  Please help us figure out how to explain this for the broader community.

Thinking about how to Implement OpenStack Core Definition

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THIS POST IS #10 IN A SERIES ABOUT “WHAT IS CORE.”

Tied UpWe’ve had a number of community discussions (OSCON, SFO & SA-TX) around the process for OpenStack Core definition.  These have been animated and engaged discussions (video from SA-TX): my notes for them are below.

While the current thinking of a testing-based definition of Core adds pressure on expanding our test suite, it seems to pass the community’s fairness checks.

Overall, the discussions lead me to believe that we’re on the right track because the discussions jump from process to impacts.  It’s not too late!  We’re continuing to get community feedback.  So what’s next?

First…. Get involved: Upcoming Community Core Discussions

These discussions are expected to have online access via Google Hangout.  Watch Twitter when the event starts for a link.

Want to to discuss this in your meetup? Reach out to me or someone on the Board and we’ll be happy to find a way to connect with your local community!

What’s Next?  Implementation!

So far, the Core discussion has been about defining the process that we’ll use to determine what is core.  Assuming we move forward, the next step is to implement that process by selecting which tests are “must pass.”  That means we have to both figure out how to pick the tests and do the actual work of picking them.  I suspect we’ll also find testing gaps that will have developers scrambling in Ice House.

Here’s the possible (aggressive) timeline for implementation:

  • November: Approval of approach & timeline at next Board Meeting
  • January: Publish Timeline for Roll out (ideally, have usable definition for Havana)
  • March: Identify Havana must pass Tests (process to be determined)
  • April: Integration w/ OpenStack Foundation infrastructure

Obviously, there are a lot of details to work out!  I expect that we’ll have an interim process to select must-pass tests before we can have a full community driven methodology.

Notes from Previous Discussions (earlier notes):

  • There is still confusion around the idea that OpenStack Core requires using some of the project code.  This requirement helps ensure that people claiming to be OpenStack core have a reason to contribute, not just replicate the APIs.
  • It’s easy to overlook that we’re trying to define a process for defining core, not core itself.  We have spent a lot of time testing how individual projects may be effected based on possible outcomes.  In the end, we’ll need actual data.
  • There are some clear anti-goals in the process that we are not ready to discuss but will clearly going to become issues quickly.  They are:
    • Using the OpenStack name for projects that pass the API tests but don’t implement any OpenStack code.  (e.g.: an OpenStack Compatible mark)
    • Having speciality testing sets for flavors of OpenStack that are different than core.  (e.g.: OpenStack for Hosters, OpenStack Private Cloud, etc)
  • We need to be prepared that the list of “must pass” tests identifies a smaller core than is currently defined.  It’s possible that some projects will no longer be “core”
  • The idea that we’re going to use real data to recommend tests as must-pass is positive; however, the time it takes to collect the data may be frustrating.
  • People love to lobby for their favorite projects.  Gaps in testing may create problems.
  • We are about to put a lot of pressure on the testing efforts and that will require more investment and leadership from the Foundation.
  • Some people are not comfortable with self-reporting test compliance.   Overall, market pressure was considered enough to punish cheaters.
  • There is a perceived risk of confusion as we migrate between versions.  OpenStack Core for Havana seems to specific but there is concern that vendors may pass in one release and then skip re-certification.  Once again, market pressure seems to be an adequate answer.
  • It’s not clear if a project with only 1 must-pass test is a core project.  Likely, it would be considered core.  Ultimately, people seem to expect that the tests will define core instead of the project boundary.

What do you think?  I’d like to hear your opinions on this!

Stop the Presses! Austin OpenStack Meetup 7/12 features docs, bugs & cinder

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Don’t miss the 7/12 OpenStack Austin meetup!  We’ve got a great agenda lined up.

This meetup is sponsored by HP (Mark Padovani will give the intro).

Topics will include

  1. 6:30 pre-meeting OpenStack intro & overview for N00bs.
  2. Anne Gentle, OpenStack Technical Writer at Rackspace Hosting, talking about How to contribute to docs & the areas needed. *
  3. Report on the Folsom.3 bug squash day (http://wiki.openstack.org/BugDays/20120712BugSquashing)
  4. (tentative) Greg Althaus, Dell, talking about the “Cinder” Block Storage project
  5. White Board – Next Meeting Topics

* if you contribute to docs then you’ll get an invite to the next design summit!   It’s a great way to support OpenStack even if you don’t write code.

A SuPEr New Linux for Crowbar! SuSE shows off port and OpenStack deploy

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During last week’s OpenStack Essex Deploy Day, we featured several OpenStack ecosystem presentations including SuSE, Morphlabs, enStratus, Opscode, and Inktank (Ceph).

SuSE’s presentation (video) was deploying OpenStack using a SuSE port of Crowbar (including a reskinned UI)!

This is a significant for SuSE and Crowbar:

  1. SuSE, a platinum member of the OpenStack foundation, now has an OpenStack Essex distribution. They are offering this deployment as an on-request beta.
  2. Crowbar is now demonstrable operating on the three top Linux distributions.

SuSE is advancing some key architectural proposals for Crowbar because their implementation downloads Crowbar as a package rather than bundling everything into an ISO.

With the Hadoop 4 & OpenStack Essex releases nearly put to bed, it’s time to bring some of this great innovation into the Crowbar trunk.

OpenStack Deploy Day generates lots of interest, less coding

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Last week, my team at Dell led a world-wide OpenStack Essex Deploy event. Kamesh Pemmaraju, our OpenStack-powered solution product manager, did a great summary of the event results (200+ attendees!). What started as a hack-a-thon for deploy scripts morphed into a stunning 14+ hour event with rotating intro content and an ecosystem showcase (videos).  Special kudos to Kamesh, Andi Abes, Judd Maltin, Randy Perryman & Mike Pittaro for leadership at our regional sites.

Clearly, OpenStack is attracting a lot of interest. We’ve been investing time in content to help people who are curious about OpenStack to get started.

While I’m happy to be fueling the OpenStack fervor with an easy on-ramp, our primary objective for the Deploy Day was to collaborate on OpenStack deployments.

On that measure, we have room for improvement. We had some great discussions about how to handle upgrades and market drivers for OpenStack; however, we did not spend the time improving Essex deployments that I was hoping to achieve. I know it’s possible – I’ve talked with developers in the Crowbar community who want this.

If you wanted more expert interaction, here are some of my thoughts for future events.

  • Expert track did not get to deploy coding. I think that we need to simply focus more even tightly on to Crowbar deployments. That means having a Crowbar Hack with an OpenStack focus instead of vice versa.
  • Efforts to serve OpenStack n00bs did not protect time for experts. If we offer expert sessions then we won’t try to have parallel intro sessions. We’ll simply have to direct novices to the homework pages and videos.
  • Combining on-site and on-line is too confusing. As much as I enjoy meeting people face-to-face, I think we’d have a more skilled audience if we kept it online only.
  • Connectivity! Dropped connections, sigh.
  • Better planning for videos (not by the presenters) to make sure that we have good results on the expert track.
  • This event was too long. It’s just not practical to serve Europe, US and Asia in a single event. I think that 2-3 hours is a much more practical maximum. 10-12am Eastern or 6-8pm Pacific would be much more manageable.

Do you have other comments and suggestions? Please let me know!

OSED OMG: OpenStack Essex Deploy Day!! A day-long four-session two-track International Online Conference

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Curious about OpenStack? Know it, but want to tune your Ops chops? JOIN US on Thursday 5/31 (or Friday 6/1 if you are in Asia)!

Already know the event logistics? Skip back to my OSED observations post.

Some important general notes:

  1. We are RECORDING everything and will link posts from the event page.
  2. There is HOMEWORK if you want to get ahead by installing OpenStack yourself.
  3. For last minute updates about the event, I recommend that you join the Crowbar Listserver.

Content Logistics work like this.

  1. Everything will be available ONLINE. We are also coordinating many physical sites as rally points.
  2. Introductory: FOUR 3-hour sessions for people who do not have OpenStack or Crowbar experience. These sessions will show how to install OpenStack using Crowbar, discuss DevOps and showcase companies that are in the OpenStack ecosystem. They are planned to have 2 European slots (afternoon & evening), 3 US slots (morning, afternoon & evening), and 1 Asian slot (morning).
  3. Expert: ON-GOING deep technical sessions for engineers who have OpenStack and/or Crowbar experience. There will be one main screen and voice channel in which we are planning to highlight and discuss these topics in blocks throughout the day. We have a long list of topics to discuss and will maintain an ongoing Google Hangout for each topic. Depending on interest, we will jump back and forth to different hangouts.

Intro/Overview Session Logistics work like this

We’re planning FOUR introductory sessions throughout the day (read ahead?). Each session should be approximately 3 hours. The first hour of the sessions will be about OpenStack Essex and installing it using Crowbar. After some Q&A, we’re going to highlight the OpenStack ecosystem. The schedule for the ecosystem is in flux and will likely shift even during the event.

The Session start times for Overview & Ecosystem content

Region EDT Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4
Europe (-5) -5 3pm 6pm * *
Americas Eastern 0 10am 1pm 4pm *
Americas Central +1 9am Noon 3pm *
Americas Mtn +2 * 11am 2pm 7pm
Americas West +3 * 10am 1pm 6pm
Asia (Toyko) +10 * * * 6/1 10 am

* There are no planned live venues at this time/region. You are always welcome to join online!

Experts Track Logistics

Note: we expect experts to have already installed OpenStack (see homework page). Ideally, an expert has already setup a build environment.

We have a list of topics (Essex, Quantum, Networking, Pull from Source, Documentation, etc) that we plan to cover on a 30-60 minute rotation.

We will cover the OpenStack Essex deploy at the start of each planned session (9am, Noon, 3pm & 8pm EDT). Before we cover the OpenStack deploy, we’ll spend 10 minutes setting (and posting) the agenda for the next three hours based on attendee input.

Even if we are not talking about a topic on the main channel, we will keep a dialog going on topic specific Google hangouts. The links to the hangouts will be posted with the Expert track agenda.

Asia-Pac Session for OpenStack Essex Global Deploy day

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I did not want us to neglect Asia-Pac for the upcoming OpenStack Deploy day, so I was delighted when Mike Pittaro offered to help host the online content for the last session. Mike is an OpenStack contributor who recently joined my team at Dell.

This addresses the concern that our first Essex hack day was America’s daytime only so it was difficult for time zones east of GMT to participate.

We are working with Dell teams in Asia-Pac to setup more information to support Japan, China, Korea and Australia.

This picture, taken by Dan Choquette (my team too!), is from Toyko DevOpsDays.

Join us 5/31 for a OpenStack Deploy Hack-a-thon (all-day, world-wide online & multi-city)

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An OpenStack Deploy Hack-a-thon is like 3-liter bottle of distilled open source community love.  Do you want direct access to my Dell team of OpenStack/Crowbar/Hadoop engineers?  Are you just getting started and want training about OpenStack and DevOps?  This is the event for you!

Here’s the official overview:

The OpenStack Deploy hack-a-thon focuses on automation for deploying OpenStack Essex with Dell Crowbar and Opscode Chef. This is a day-long, world-wide event bringing together developers, operators, users, ecosystem vendors and the open source cloud curious. (read below: We are looking for global sites and leaders to extend the event hours!)

OpenStack is the fastest growing open source cloud infrastructure project with broad market adoption from major hardware and software vendors. Crowbar is an Apache 2 licensed, open infrastructure deployment tool and is one of the leading multi-node deployers for OpenStack and Hadoop.

Learn first-hand how OpenStack and Crowbar can make it easy to deploy and operate your own cloud environments.

The Deploy day will offer two individual parallel tracks with something for both experts and beginners:

  • Newbies n00bs will learn the basics of OpenStack, Crowbar and DevOps and how they can benefit your organization. We’ll also have time for ecosystem vendors to discuss how they are leveraging OpenStack.
  • Experts l33ts will take a deep dive into new features of OpenStack Essex and Crowbar, and learn how Crowbar works under the hood, which will enable them to extend the product using Crowbar Barclamps.
Note: If you’re a n00b but want l33t content, we’ll be offering online training materials and videos to help get you up to speed.

Why now? We’ve validated our OpenStack Essex deployment against the latest release bits from Ubuntu. Now it’s time to reach out to the OpenStack and Crowbar communities for training, testing and collaborative development.

Join the event!  We’re organizing information on the Crowbar wiki.  (I highly recommend you join the Crowbar list to get access to support for prep materials).  You can also reach out to me via the @DellCrowbar handle.

We’d love to get you up to speed on the basics and dive deep into the core.