Support TOSCA-Cloudify definitions for applications

URL of launchpad blueprint:

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/murano/+spec/support-tosca-cloudify-format

TOSCA is a standard developed under OASIS foundation. It is aimed to cover definition of complex enterprise applications which might consist of different loosely coupled components. Components can be tied by using requirements and capabilities which are part of TOSCA standard. As TOSCA covers most of the Applications aspects (excluding application compilation and build) it should be straightforward to support TOSCA format in Murano. TOSCA is adopted by enterprises so it will allow the OpenStack ecosystem to integrate with enterprise IT applications.

Cloudify is an open source TOSCA-based cloud orchestration software platform written in Python, and YAML created by GigaSpaces Technologies. It is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0

With Murano-Cloudify TOSCA-based integration it will be possible to package Cloudify-compatible TOSCA applications as Murano packages and deploy them via Cloudify not necessary on OpenStack but on all cloud platforms currently supported by Cloudify.

Problem description

Murano currently does not support TOSCA and TOSCA-based applications. With the growing popularity of TOSCA for describing application orchestrations it would be nice if murano supports TOSCA-based orchestration templates.

Murano has accepted HOT-translator based TOSCA support but that is not the only possible TOSCA implementation possible. Cloudify brings alternate TOSCA solution that is not limited to Heat and OpenStack in general.

One standard for defining TOSCA-based application packages is CSAR (http://tinyurl.com/tosca-yaml-csar). It is a compressed file that includes the main application definition template called “blueprint” in Cloudify along with the supporting templates and files that are referenced in the main template.

This specification addresses adding support for Cloudify blueprints application packages in Murano application catalog with ability to deploy them via Cloudify.

Proposed change

Make it possible for Murano packages to ship Cloudify blueprints. Cloudify blueprints will be stored in the Resource folder of the package. The manifest will be in the package root folder. The Cloudify code will be converted to Murano PL code on the fly.

Alternatives

None

Data model impact

None

REST API impact

None

Versioning impact

None

Other end user impact

There should be no user impact. Users who are creating HOT-based packages would do it the same way as before. Users who are creating TOSCA-based packages would do it in a similar way. Application packages can be added to environments for deployment the same way as before too.

There should be also a utility to help users package CSARs into Murano package but it is out of the scope of this spec.

Deployer impact

None

Developer impact

None

Murano-dashboard / Horizon impact

Murano would need to represent TOSCA-based components using a specific logo, to distinguish them from HOT-based components. This applies to other specification formats that may come on board in the future.

Implementation

Assignee(s)

Work Items

  1. Define new package format Cloudify.TOSCA/1.0 and create a package-type class that will process packages with such format string.

  2. Cloudify Blueprint directory that contains a blueprint in the format filename.yaml. The name of the file needs to be declared in the manifest.yaml file.

  3. From main blueprint yaml file extract information about application inputs and outputs.

  4. Generate UI form definition by generating 1 input field per each TOSCA input and also generate Application section of UI form that will map those fields to MuranoPL application class properties.

  5. From TOSCA inputs/outputs and manifest data generate MuranoPL class that will represent TOSCA application. There should be a MuranoPL property for each TOSCA input and output and usual application methods as in other Murano applications.

  6. In order to avoid generation of complex MuranoPL code create base class for Cloudify applications that will implement deploy, destroy and other common methods. Generated application will inherit from this base class and implement only application-specific method that will be used by the base class to get required information (like input values, entry point name, etc.). Bacause base class is going to be regular MuranoPL class it will form a separate MuranoPL package that need to be present in catalog as well. Cloudify package processing code will need to tell Murano Engine that there is a dependency to that package without explicitly specifying that in manifest file as normaly done in MuranoPL packages.

  7. For Cloudify application to be able to talk to Cloudify manager and do the actual provisioning/deployment MuranoPL bindings to Cloudify rest-client need to be developed. It should provide all required methods to upload the blueprint, create deployment and execute TOSCA workflows.

  8. In base CloudifyApplication class implement common application workflows: for installation:

    1. Provide name of the blueprint file in the Cloudify Blueprint directory. Cloudify Rest Client will tar that directory and upload the payload to the Cloudify Manager.

    2. Create blueprint deployment (Cloudify term similar to Stack in Heat or Environment in Murano). Generated application object ID can be used as a deployment ID

    3. Invoke “install” workflow on created deployment. Watch its progress.

    for uninstallation (.destroy method):

    1. Invoke “uninstall” workflow on previously created deployment.

    2. Delete deployment.

Dependencies

Applications should be compatible with Cloudify 3.1 (latest GA version - 1)

Testing

  1. Follow these instructions to create a Cloudify Manager in a vagrant box on the same machine as your development environment. From there

  2. Add the manager IP to your etc/murano.conf file and install the plugin.

  3. Upload the Cloudify Application Package (contrib/plugins/cloudify_application).

  4. Upload the Nodecellar Example Deployment. (contrib/plugins/cloudify-nodecellar-example-murano).

Documentation Impact

How TOSCA packages can be added to catalog and deployed should be documented, perhaps with some examples.

References