:title: Components .. _components: Components ========== Zuul is a distributed system consisting of several components, each of which is described below. All Zuul processes read the **/etc/zuul/zuul.conf** file (an alternate location may be supplied on the command line) which uses an INI file syntax. Each component may have its own configuration file, though you may find it simpler to use the same file for all components. A minimal Zuul system may consist of a *scheduler* and *executor* both running on the same host. Larger installations should consider running multiple executors, each on a dedicated host, and running mergers on dedicated hosts as well. Common ------ The following applies to all Zuul components. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following sections of **zuul.conf** are used by all Zuul components: gearman """"""" Client connection information for gearman. **server** (required) Hostname or IP address of the Gearman server:: server=gearman.example.com **port** Port on which the Gearman server is listening:: port=4730 **ssl_ca** An openssl file containing a set of concatenated “certification authority” certificates in PEM formet. **ssl_cert** An openssl file containing the client public certificate in PEM format. **ssl_key** An openssl file containing the client private key in PEM format. zookeeper """"""""" .. NOTE: this is a white lie at this point, since only the scheduler uses this, however, we expect other components to use it later, so it's reasonable for admins to plan for this now. **hosts** A list of zookeeper hosts for Zuul to use when communicating with Nodepool:: hosts=zk1.example.com,zk2.example.com,zk3.example.com Scheduler --------- The scheduler is the primary component of Zuul. The scheduler is not a scalable component; one, and only one, scheduler must be running at all times for Zuul to be operational. It receives events from any connections to remote systems which have been configured, enqueues items into pipelines, distributes jobs to executors, and reports results. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following sections of **zuul.conf** are used by the scheduler: gearman_server """""""""""""" The builtin gearman server. Zuul can fork a gearman process from itself rather than connecting to an external one. **start** Whether to start the internal Gearman server (default: False):: start=true **listen_address** IP address or domain name on which to listen (default: all addresses):: listen_address=127.0.0.1 **log_config** Path to log config file for internal Gearman server:: log_config=/etc/zuul/gearman-logging.yaml **ssl_ca** An openssl file containing a set of concatenated “certification authority” certificates in PEM formet. **ssl_cert** An openssl file containing the server public certificate in PEM format. **ssl_key** An openssl file containing the server private key in PEM format. webapp """""" **listen_address** IP address or domain name on which to listen (default: 0.0.0.0):: listen_address=127.0.0.1 **port** Port on which the webapp is listening (default: 8001):: port=8008 **status_expiry** Zuul will cache the status.json file for this many seconds (default: 1):: status_expiry=1 **status_url** URL that will be posted in Zuul comments made to changes when starting jobs for a change. Used by zuul-scheduler only:: status_url=https://zuul.example.com/status scheduler """"""""" **tenant_config** Path to tenant config file:: layout_config=/etc/zuul/tenant.yaml **log_config** Path to log config file:: log_config=/etc/zuul/scheduler-logging.yaml **pidfile** Path to PID lock file:: pidfile=/var/run/zuul/scheduler.pid **state_dir** Path to directory that Zuul should save state to:: state_dir=/var/lib/zuul Operation ~~~~~~~~~ To start the scheduler, run ``zuul-scheduler``. To stop it, kill the PID which was saved in the pidfile specified in the configuration. Most of Zuul's configuration is automatically updated as changes to the repositories which contain it are merged. However, Zuul must be explicitly notified of changes to the tenant config file, since it is not read from a git repository. To do so, send the scheduler PID (saved in the pidfile specified in the configuration) a SIGHUP signal. Merger ------ Mergers are an optional Zuul service; they are not required for Zuul to operate, but some high volume sites may benefit from running them. Zuul performs quite a lot of git operations in the course of its work. Each change that is to be tested must be speculatively merged with the current state of its target branch to ensure that it can merge, and to ensure that the tests that Zuul perform accurately represent the outcome of merging the change. Because Zuul's configuration is stored in the git repos it interacts with, and is dynamically evaluated, Zuul often needs to perform a speculative merge in order to determine whether it needs to perform any further actions. All of these git operations add up, and while Zuul executors can also perform them, large numbers may impact their ability to run jobs. Therefore, administrators may wish to run standalone mergers in order to reduce the load on executors. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following section of **zuul.conf** is used by the merger: merger """""" **git_dir** Directory that Zuul should clone local git repositories to:: git_dir=/var/lib/zuul/git **git_user_email** Value to pass to `git config user.email`:: git_user_email=zuul@example.com **git_user_name** Value to pass to `git config user.name`:: git_user_name=zuul **log_config** Path to log config file for the merger process:: log_config=/etc/zuul/logging.yaml **pidfile** Path to PID lock file for the merger process:: pidfile=/var/run/zuul-merger/merger.pid Operation ~~~~~~~~~ To start the merger, run ``zuul-merger``. To stop it, kill the PID which was saved in the pidfile specified in the configuration. Executor -------- Executors are responsible for running jobs. At the start of each job, an executor prepares an environment in which to run Ansible which contains all of the git repositories specified by the job with all dependent changes merged into their appropriate branches. The branch corresponding to the proposed change will be checked out (in all projects, if it exists). Any roles specified by the job will also be present (also with dependent changes merged, if appropriate) and added to the Ansible role path. The executor also prepares an Ansible inventory file with all of the nodes requested by the job. The executor also contains a merger. This is used by the executor to prepare the git repositories used by jobs, but is also available to perform any tasks normally performed by standalone mergers. Because the executor performs both roles, small Zuul installations may not need to run standalone mergers. Trusted and Untrusted Playbooks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The executor runs playbooks in one of two execution contexts depending on whether the project containing the playbook is a *config project* or an *untrusted project*. If the playbook is in a *config project*, the executor runs the playbook in the *trusted* execution context, otherwise, it is run in the *untrusted* execution context. Both execution contexts use `bubblewrap`_ to create a namespace to ensure that playbook executions are isolated and are unable to access files outside of a restricted environment. The administrator may configure additional local directories on the executor to be made available to the restricted environment. The *trusted* execution context has access to all Ansible features, including the ability to load custom Ansible modules. Needless to say, extra scrutiny should be given to code that runs in a trusted context as it could be used to compromise other jobs running on the executor, or the executor itself, especially if the administrator has granted additional access through bubblewrap, or a method of escaping the restricted environment created by bubblewrap is found. Playbooks run in the *untrusted* execution context are not permitted to load additional Ansible modules or access files outside of the restricted environment prepared for them by the executor. In addition to the bubblewrap environment applied to both execution contexts, in the *untrusted* context some standard Ansible modules are replaced with versions which prohibit some actions, including attempts to access files outside of the restricted execution context. These redundant protections are made as part of a defense-in-depth strategy. .. _bubblewrap: https://github.com/projectatomic/bubblewrap Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following sections of **zuul.conf** are used by the executor: executor """""""" **finger_port** Port to use for finger log streamer:: finger_port=79 **git_dir** Directory that Zuul should clone local git repositories to:: git_dir=/var/lib/zuul/git **log_config** Path to log config file for the executor process:: log_config=/etc/zuul/logging.yaml **private_key_file** SSH private key file to be used when logging into worker nodes:: private_key_file=~/.ssh/id_rsa **user** User ID for the zuul-executor process. In normal operation as a daemon, the executor should be started as the ``root`` user, but it will drop privileges to this user during startup:: user=zuul merger """""" **git_user_email** Value to pass to `git config user.email`:: git_user_email=zuul@example.com **git_user_name** Value to pass to `git config user.name`:: git_user_name=zuul Operation ~~~~~~~~~ To start the executor, run ``zuul-executor``. There are several commands which can be run to control the executor's behavior once it is running. To stop the executor immediately, aborting all jobs (they may be relaunched according to their retry policy), run ``zuul-executor stop``. To request that the executor stop executing new jobs and exit when all currently running jobs have completed, run ``zuul-executor graceful``. To enable or disable running Ansible in verbose mode (with the '-vvv' argument to ansible-playbook) run ``zuul-executor verbose`` and ``zuul-executor unverbose``. Web Server ---------- The Zuul web server currently acts as a websocket interface to live log streaming. Eventually, it will serve as the single process handling all HTTP interactions with Zuul. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In addition to the ``gearman`` common configuration section, the following sections of **zuul.conf** are used by the web server: web """ **listen_address** IP address or domain name on which to listen (default: 127.0.0.1):: listen_address=127.0.0.1 **log_config** Path to log config file for the web server process:: log_config=/etc/zuul/logging.yaml **pidfile** Path to PID lock file for the web server process:: pidfile=/var/run/zuul-web/zuul-web.pid **port** Port to use for web server process:: port=9000 Operation ~~~~~~~~~ To start the web server, run ``zuul-web``. To stop it, kill the PID which was saved in the pidfile specified in the configuration.