Deprecation Notice: If you are upgrading from N|Solid 2.x, here are the need-to-know steps for migrating to N|Solid 3.x.

* N|Solid Storage has been eliminated, and its functionality is provided by the N|Solid 3.x Console server. Attempting to connect an existing N|Solid Storage instance to a N|Solid 3.x Console will not work unless the storage instance is running in relay mode.

* Many of the settings and environment variables from N|Solid Storage are available in the 3.x N|Solid Console; substitute CONSOLE for STORAGE in the variable name. View the Networking documentation for specific settings.

* Loading a N|Solid 3.x Console server with the same configuration as a N|Solid Storage instance will load some of your existing assets and metrics history, but Heap Snapshots will need to be accessed directly from your storage device. The default location has changed from ~/.nsolid-storage to ~/.nsolid-console.

* The N|Solid 2.x Runtime is compatible with the N|Solid 3.x Console, but not all functionality will be available.

* The environment variables used to configure N|Solid Runtime are the same as with N|Solid 2.x, however you must provide a valid license during any operation, either via a connection to an N|Solid Console, or by providing a License Token directly. Read the Configuration guide for more information.

* The nsolid-cli syntax and behavior have changed from 2.x, be sure to read the Command Line Interface documentation if you use this functionality.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk, is an Amazon product for quickly deploying and managing scalable web applications. It reduces management complexity without restricting control of the infrastructure. You simply upload your application, and Elastic Beanstalk automatically handles the details of provisioning, load balancing, scaling, and monitoring.

They support Node.js among other technologies, but only official Node.js versions.

In this article we will explain how–with some minor changes—you can run an autoscaling application with N|Solid runtime in order to get information in another machine running N|Solid Console.

Starting with AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Before starting, you should have an AWS account and you should create a new Elastic Beanstalk application. To do that go to Elastic Beanstalk dashboard and follow the Elastic Beanstalk wizard after clicking the button of New Application. Add the details for your new application and then you're ready to go. To get more information about this process you can check the Getting started guide.

Workflow to deploy in AWS

Basically, this service allows you to upload a zip file with your application using the Versions section of Elastic Beanstalk dashboard but it also supports git to deploy, for more information about this method you can check here.

Installing N|Solid, N|Solid Storage, and N|Solid Console

In order to monitor your autoscaling application with the N|Solid Console, you should setup a separate instance running the N|Solid Storage, and the N|Solid Console. This machine will be the centralized point of information for your application and all instances running in the Elastic Beanstalk environment will connect there. This instance will not need a lot of resources so you can set up a small or even micro AWS EC2 instance.

The information about installing and configuring N|Solid 2.x can be found here

The information about installing and configuring N|Solid 3.x can be found here

More information about launching and working AWS EC2 instances can be found here.

Configuring security groups and ports

By default Elastic Beanstalk will create a security group for all instances launched by the application. This security group acts as a firewall for all instances launched. This means that you should configure the ports needed to operate with N|Solid, N|Solid Storage, and N|Solid Console.

The Security group for your application could be found in Elastic Beanstalk environment > Configuration > Server and is easily identified because of the substring AWSEBSecurityGroup in its name. The machine running N|Solid Storage and N|Solid Console should allow connections to TCP ports 9001, 9002, and 9003 for N|Solid Storage and the 6753 for N|Solid Console, so find the security group associated for this instance and add the required rules.

More information about configuring AWS Security Groups can be found here.

Adding configuration to run N|Solid

Elastic Beanstalk supports provisioning extensions executing custom task and setting custom configurations in the environment at deploying time, they are called Beanstalk Extensions.

In order to run your application there with N|Solid Runtime you should follow these steps:

  • Add to your project at the root a directory called .ebextensions

  • Inside create a file called nsolid.config with this content:

      option_settings:
    - option_name: NODE_HOME
      value: /opt/nsolid
    - option_name: NSOLID_APPNAME
      value: my-app-name
    - option_name: NSOLID_COMMAND
      value: 10.0.0.4
    - option_name: NODE_ENV
      value: production
    - namespace: aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:nodejs
      option_name: NodeCommand
      value: /opt/nsolid/bin/nsolid index.js
  sources:
    /opt/nsolid: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nodesource-public-downloads/2.1.3/artifacts/bundles/nsolid-bundle-v2.1.3-linux-x64.tar.gz
  commands:
    01_move_nsolid:
      command: mv nsolid-bundle-v2.1.3-linux-x64/* ./
      cwd: /opt/nsolid
      test: test ! -f /opt/nsolid/bin/nsolid

    Be careful with indentation, this uses yaml formatting.

  • Customize these sections of the previous file to match your settings:

    • Replace my-app-name with the name that you want to display in N|Solid Console here:

        - option_name: NSOLID_APPNAME
    value: my-app-name

    • Replace 10.0.0.4 with the ip and port for your N|Solid Storage here:

        - option_name: NSOLID_COMMAND
    value: 10.0.0.4

    • Customize the command running your application, N|Solid Runtime is being used to launch it, you just need to configure the script to execute and also add arguments if needed at the command line

        - namespace: aws:elasticbeanstalk:container:nodejs
    option_name: NodeCommand
    value: /opt/nsolid/bin/nsolid index.js

  • Configure your application to serve in the port 8081, as this is the port where your application will be served and accessed by the load balancer

  • Finally, deploy your application in Elastic Beanstalk using your preferred method

After completing this process you should be able to see your application in N|Solid Console. In case of scaling, all new processes will be added there automatically.