Quick Start

Stackato is made up of client and server components. Depending on your needs, you may need to set up one or both. You have a choice between three basic approaches to using Stackato. From least to most complex, these are:

• Stackato Sandbox: a hosted trial environment.
• Stackato Micro Cloud: a single node, fully functional Stackato VM.
• Stackato Cluster: a multi-node system where Stackato components are distributed on multiple VMs.

Micro Cloud VM Install

To run a single node micro cloud with the full set of Stackato roles already configured, follow the steps below.

Note

You can try Stackato without setting up your own Stackato VM by using the Stackato Sandbox, a hosted trial environment.

Download the VM

Download a Stackato VM in the hypervisor format of your choice or get access to an image hosted on Amazon EC2 or HP Cloud Services.

Host system requirements:

• x86_64 processor with VT-x enabled (x86 virtualization).
• 3GB+ memory
• 3GB+ disk space

Note

The Stackato VM uses 2GB of memory by default. Ensure that there is sufficient memory remaining on the host system to run the host operating system and any other applications you require.

Import the VM

The steps for importing and starting the Stackato VM will vary depending on which hypervisor or platform you choose. Follow the steps in the relevant guide below, then continue with Initial Configuration:

• EC2 AMI
• HP Cloud Services
• OpenStack
• Virtual Box
• VMware Fusion/Player
• VMware vSphere

Start the VM

On first boot, the Stackato VM generates a hostname in the form stackato-xxxx.local which is displayed on the hypervisor tty console. It receives its IP address via DHCP and broadcasts its hostname on the local subnet via multicast DNS.

Note down the hostname as that will be used to connect to the VM with the Management Console or via the Stackato Client.

Note

The default password for the stackato system user is stackato. This password is changed to match the one set for the first administrative user created in the Management Console. Once you've set up the primary Stackato admin account, use that account's password when logging in at the command line.

DNS, IP Address & Hostname

To run Stackato on a remote hypervisor (e.g. on a different subnet), a cloud hosting provider, or on networks without DHCP, you may need to configure one or more of the following:

• a fixed IP address,
• the hostname of the Stackato server,
• a DNS record

Note

Windows does not properly support mDNS hostname resolution. See DNS alternatives and Updating the Windows Hosts File for options.

Management Console

The Stackato Management Console is a web interface that allows the administration and management of a Stackato server or cluster.

When the Stackato server finishes the start-up process, the hypervisor's tty console will display the URL of the Management Console:

Enter the URL into your web browser. The Management Console will load, and you will be prompted to create the first administrative user for the system. See the Management Console page for more details on using it.

Note

The SSL certificate for the Stackato Management Console is self-signed. You will need to manually accept this certificate in your browser. See the HTTPS section for information on using your own certificate.

Stackato Client

The stackato client is used for pushing applications to Stackato and interacting with the system from the command line.

1. Download the client for your platform (Windows, OS X, Linux x86, Linux x64)
2. Unzip the archive in a convenient directory.
3. Add the the executable to your system/shell $PATH by:

• moving it to a directory in your $PATH,
• creating a symlink from a directory in your $PATH, or
• creating a shell alias for the executable.

4. Confirm that the client is installed correctly by running stackato -v or stackato help.

Target and Login

To connect the stackato client to the newly launched VM, use the target command. You will need to specify the API Endpoint for the VM, which is the hostname prepended with "api.":

$ stackato target api.stackato-xxxx.local

Once you have successfully targeted the VM, you must login. Use the credentials you created through the console:

$ stackato login admin@example.com

Basic User Management

The easiest way to add additional users is in the Users section of the Management Console, but you can also use the stackato client:

$ stackato add-user email@example.com [--passwd password]

Deploying Apps

The steps for deploying applications will vary slightly depending on the language or framework used, but the basic command is:

$ stackato push [appname]

The client will take application code from the current working directory and push it to the Stackato VM for further staging and configuration, prompting for confirmation and additional configuration information.

Sample Applications

Numerous sample applications are available on Github, each with a README.md file showing how to deploy it on Stackato.

Stackato-Apps

Many of these have a stackato.yml or manifest.yml configuration files, so you can skip the client prompts with the -n option:

$ stackato push -n [appname]

Test the Application

The output of the stackato push command will show the URL of the running application. Paste this URL into a web browser to try the application, or run:

$ stackato open [appname]

Documentation on configuring applications in specific languages and frameworks is available in the Deploying Apps section.