Connecting the blueprint design server to the SoftLayer cloud

To connect to the SoftLayer® cloud system, map the SoftLayer account information to a functional ID. Then, assign that functional ID to a team.

Before you begin

Configure the images for use with the blueprint designer. See Configuring SoftLayer images.
Obtain an OpenStack Keystone server. The blueprint design server requires a Keystone server to connect to any cloud. You can reuse a Keystone server that is connected to a different cloud, or you can install a Keystone server for use with the SoftLayer cloud. See the OpenStack documentation.
Obtain an engine. The engine version must match the version of the OpenStack Keystone server. You can use any of the following options for the engine:
- Install an engine. See Installing engines in silent mode or Installing engines in interactive mode.
- If you already have an engine, connect it to the Keystone server as described in Connecting engines to Keystone servers.
- Extend an existing Heat orchestration engine and connect it to the Keystone server. See Extending Heat orchestration engines.
Create a functional user account on the Keystone server. This user account must be a member of the administrative tenant on the Keystone server. Later, you associate the SoftLayer account information with this functional ID. With this account, users authenticate to the SoftLayer cloud.
Install the blueprint design server. See Installing the blueprint design server.
Connect the blueprint design server to the server. See Connecting the blueprint design server to the server.
Set up a SoftLayer account. This account must have permission to provision and access virtual environments and to access other necessary resources such as SSH keys. In general, give this account the following permissions:
Support
- View Tickets
- Search Tickets
- View Tickets by Hardware Access
- View Tickets by Virtual Server Access
- Add Tickets
- Edit Tickets
- View All Tickets
Devices

View Hardware Details

View Virtual Server Details

Manage Device Monitoring

Reboot server and view IPMI system information

Upgrade Server

Edit Hostname/Domain

Issue OS Reloads and Initiate Rescue Kernel

Manage Port Control

Network

View Bandwidth Statistics

Add IP Addresses

Services

Manage SSH Keys

Manage Provisioning Scripts

Manage Public Images

Account

View Account Summary

Add/Upgrade Cloud Instances

Cancel Server

Cancel Services

Reset Password

Add Storage

Add/Upgrade Services

Add Server
Also, in the SoftLayer account settings, specify that this account has access to new images. In the setting When new devices are added, specify Always add them to this account automatically.
Install the blueprint design server. See Installing the blueprint design server.
Ensure that the blueprint design server can connect to the SoftLayer cloud. For example, make sure that no firewall, proxy, or security settings prevent communication between the blueprint design server and the cloud. You can verify the connection path with the curl command, as in the following example:
```
curl --user user_name:API_key https://api.softlayer.com/rest/v3/SoftLayer_Account/SshKeys
```
Use your SoftLayer user name for user_name and your API key for API_key.

About this task

The following diagram shows a typical topology for this scenario. The blueprint design server and engine connect to the SoftLayer cloud. For authentication information, the blueprint design server connects to the Keystone identity service and optionally to an LDAP server.

A topology that includes the blueprint design server, the engine, SoftLayer, a Keystone server, and an optional LDAP server

Procedure

Log in to the blueprint designer as a user with the following permissions:
- Configure Security
- Manage Users & Groups
Create a connection to the cloud:
1. Click Settings > Clouds.
2. Click Add New Cloud.
3. Specify a name for the cloud connection.
4. In the Type list, select SoftLayer.
5. In the Endpoint Type list, select the type of URL that you use to connect to this cloud.
  - If you connect through a private URL, select Internal.
  - If you connect through a public URL, select Public.
6. In the Identity URL field, specify the location of the identity service, such as http://example.com:5000/v2.0 or http://example.com:5000/v3. Do not include a trailing slash. If you installed a Keystone server along with the engine that is included with IBM UrbanCode Deploy, you can use that server. If you installed version 6.2.1.1 and later, specify the value http://engineHostname:5000/v3. If you installed a version before 6.2.1.1, specify the value http://engineHostname:5000/v2.0. In both examples, the value for engineHostname is the host name or IP address of the engine.
7. In the Timeout in Mins field, specify the amount of time in minutes to wait for a provision request to be completed. If you deploy IBM UrbanCode Deploy components, allow sufficient time for the cloud to provision your instance, the agent to come online, and all processes to run. See Creating a IBM UrbanCode Deploy timeout configuration file. If you apply Chef roles to environments, allow sufficient time for the Chef roles to be completed.
8. Specify the Heat orchestration engine to use:
  - If your Keystone server was not installed with an engine that was included with IBM UrbanCode Deploy, to use the default Heat engine for the Keystone server, select the Use default orchestration engine check box.
    Note: This engine must have the custom types for the blueprint design server as described in Extending Heat orchestration engines.
  - If your Keystone server was installed with an engine that was included with IBM UrbanCode Deploy, or to use a different Heat engine, clear the Use default orchestration engine check box and specify the location of your engine, such as http://engine.example.com:8004.
    Note: Do not use the localhost variable in this field, even if the engine is on the same system as the blueprint design server.
9. Optional: Select the cost center to use to estimate the cost of environments on this cloud.
10. Click Save.
Create one or more cloud projects that tie the functional ID on the Keystone server to the SoftLayer account information. See Creating cloud projects for the blueprint designer.
Add the cloud project to a team. See Configuring blueprint design server teams.
Add users to the team and to one or more roles on the team. These users can come from any authentication realm, including LDAP servers, Keystone identity services, or from the internal authentication realm.
Make sure that the team roles include the appropriate permissions for those users, such as creating and editing blueprints.

Results

Users can log in to the blueprint designer and use the cloud connection. At the top of the page, users can select the SoftLayer cloud connection, cloud project, and region. When they edit blueprints, the palette shows resources that are available to the SoftLayer account, and they can provision blueprints to the selected SoftLayer region. The palette shows all custom images that you upload to the SoftLayer cloud. To use a public image or a default image on the SoftLayer cloud, provision a VM from the image, and configure it for use with the blueprint designer. See Configuring SoftLayer images.

What to do next

To accommodate variations in the responsiveness of the SoftLayer cloud, configure the timeout value. See Configuring the timeout value for SoftLayer clouds.
Configure flavors for the cloud. See Configuring SoftLayer image flavors.

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