5.3 Configuring an Existing Database

You can configure Filr to use an existing MySQL or Microsoft SQL database. In an enterprise deployment, using your existing corporate database is recommended over using the MySQL appliance.

You configure Filr to leverage your existing database when running the Filr configuration wizard for the first time, as described in Section 5.5, Configuring a Large Deployment for the First Time.

During the Filr configuration, you need the following information for accessing your database:

  • The host name or IP address of the database

  • The user name and password of the account you use to administer the MySQL or Microsoft SQL database

The following sections describe tasks that need to be performed on the existing database before you configure Filr to use the database:

5.3.1 Configuring an Existing MySQL Database Server

When configuring Filr to use an existing MySQL database rather than the database appliance, Filr supports MySQL 5.0.96 and later.

Configuring the Existing MySQL Database

If you want to use an existing MySQL database as the Filr database, you must make some changes on the database to configure it to work with Filr.

  1. Make the following changes to the /etc/my.cnf file on the MySQL server:

    [client] 
    default-character-set = utf8
    
    [mysqld]
    character-set-server = utf8
    max_connections = 900
    transaction-isolation = READ-COMMITTED
    expire_logs_days = 7
    

    The expire_logs_days setting is optional, but is recommended. It is used to clean up mysql-bin-* files. If these files are not cleaned up on a regular basis, they can begin to consume a significant amount of disk space in the vastorage directory.

  2. Uncomment the InnoDB tables section.

  3. Increase the buffer pool size to approximately 60 percent of the amount of RAM that has been allocated to the dedicated MySQL server.

    For example, a dedicated MySQL server with 4 GB of RAM should have a buffer pool size of 2560 MB, as follows:

    innodb_buffer_pool_size = 2560M
    
  4. Continue with Configuring Ganglia to Monitor the Existing MySQL Database.

Configuring Ganglia to Monitor the Existing MySQL Database

If you want to use Ganglia to monitor the existing MySQL database, you need to change the database name on the Filr appliance that Ganglia is configured to monitor to match the name of your MySQL database:

  1. Edit the following file:

    /opt/novell/ganglia/monitor/lib64/ganglia/python_modules/mysql.py
    
  2. Modify the value of the following parameter (filr) to match the name of your MySQL database:

    param dbname {
           value = "filr"
                  }
    
  3. Save and close the file.

  4. Restart the Ganglia service by using the following command:

    rcnovell-gmond restart

    rcnovell-gmetad restart

  5. Continue with Section 5.4.1, Downloading the Filr Appliance and Configuring the Virtual Environment.

5.3.2 Configuring an Existing Microsoft SQL Database Server

For information regarding which versions of the Microsoft SQL database Filr supports, see Section 1.2.1, Filr Server Requirements.

To configure an existing Microsoft SQL database to be used with your Filr system:

  1. Enable remote access to the Microsoft SQL database server.

  2. Open port 1433 on the Windows firewall where the database is running.

  3. Ensure that you have access to a user account with sufficient rights to manage the Filr database. This user must have the necessary rights to administer the database. (You might need to create a new user to administer the Filr database.)

    Filr supports only SQL Server Authentication. Filr does not support Windows Authentication or Windows Domain User Authentication to Microsoft SQL.

  4. Continue with Section 5.4.1, Downloading the Filr Appliance and Configuring the Virtual Environment.