Connecting the blueprint design server to the SoftLayer cloud

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

  • Configure the images for use with the blueprint designer. See Configuring private SoftLayer images.
  • Obtain a Heat engine and an OpenStack Keystone server. The engine version must match the version of the Keystone server. In most cases for deploying to non-OpenStack clouds, install a Heat engine and Keystone server through IBM® UrbanCode® Deploy. See Installing an engine in silent mode or Installing an engine in interactive mode.
  • Create a functional user account on the Keystone server. This user account must be a member of the administrative tenant on the Keystone server. If you use the Keystone server that was supplied with the engine, you can use the default administrative tenant credentials. The Keystone server's default administrative tenant user name is admin and the default password is openstack1. 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.
  • Configure an authentication realm for the blueprint design server. You can import users from a variety of sources, including LDAP servers, Keystone identity services, the IBM UrbanCode Deploy server, or from the internal authentication realm. See Creating authentication realms for the blueprint designer.
  • 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.
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
  1. Log in to the blueprint designer as a user with the following System permissions:
    • Configure Security
    • Manage Users & Groups
  2. Create a connection to the cloud:
    1. Click Settings > Clouds.
    2. Click Add New Connection.
    3. Specify a name for the cloud connection.
    4. In the Type list, select SoftLayer.
    5. Click Save.
  3. To create a cloud project, see Creating cloud projects for the blueprint designer.
  4. Add the cloud project to a team.
    See Configuring blueprint design server teams.
  5. 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.
  6. Make sure that the team roles include the appropriate permissions for those users, such as creating and editing blueprints.
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 private SoftLayer images.