Orchestrate CockroachDB with Docker Swarm

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This page shows you how to orchestrate the deployment and management of a secure three-node CockroachDB cluster as a swarm of Docker Engines.

If you are only testing CockroachDB, or you are not concerned with protecting network communication with TLS encryption, you can use an insecure cluster instead. Select Insecure above for instructions.

Before You Begin

Before you begin, it's helpful to review some terminology:

Feature	Description
instance	A physical or virtual machine. In this tutorial, you'll use three, one per CockroachDB node.
Docker Engine	This is the core Docker application that creates and runs containers. In this tutorial, you'll install and start Docker Engine on each of your three instances.
swarm	A swarm is a group of Docker Engines joined into a single, virtual host.
swarm node	Each member of a swarm is considered a node. In this tutorial, each instance will be a swarm node, one as the master node and the two others as worker nodes. You'll submit service definitions to the master node, which will dispatch work to the worker nodes.
service	A service is the definition of the tasks to execute on swarm nodes. In this tutorial, you'll define three services, each starting a CockroachDB node inside a container and joining it into a single cluster. Each service also ensures a stable network identity on restart via a resolvable DNS name.
secret	A secret is Docker's mechanism for managing sensitive data that a container needs at runtime. Since CockroachDB uses TLS certificates to authenticate and encrypt inter-node and client/node communication, you'll create a secret per certificate and use the secrets in your services.
overlay network	An overlay network enables communication between the nodes of a swarm. In this tutorial, you'll create an overlay network and use it in each of your services.

Step 1. Create instances

Create three instances, one for each node of your cluster.

For GCE-specific instructions, read through step 2 of Deploy CockroachDB on GCE.
For AWS-specific instructions, read through step 2 of Deploy CockroachDB on AWS.

Be sure to configure your network to allow TCP communication on these ports:

26257 for inter-node communication (i.e., working as a cluster) and connecting with applications
8080 for exposing your Admin UI

Step 2. Install Docker Engine

On each instance:

Install and start Docker Engine.
Confirm that the Docker daemon is running in the background:
```
$ sudo docker version
```

Step 3. Start the swarm

On the instance where you want to run your manager node, initialize the swarm.

Take note of the output for docker swarm init as it includes the command you'll use in the next step. It should look like this:

$ sudo docker swarm init --advertise-addr 10.142.0.2

Swarm initialized: current node (414z67gr5cgfalm4uriu4qdtm) is now a manager
To add a worker to this swarm, run the following command
   $ docker swarm join \
   --toke    SWMTKN-1-5vwxyi6zl3cc62lqlhi1jrweyspi8wblh2i3qa7kv277fgy74n-e5eg5c7ioxypjxlt3rpqorh15 \
   10.142.0.2:237
To add a manager to this swarm, run 'docker swarm join-token manager' and follow the instructions.

On the other two instances, create a worker node joined to the swarm by running the docker swarm join command in the output from step 1, for example:

$ sudo docker swarm join \
      --to    SWMTKN-1-5vwxyi6zl3cc62lqlhi1jrweyspi8wblh2i3qa7kv277fgy74n-e5eg5c7ioxypjxlt3rpqorh15 \
      10.142.0.2:2377

This node joined a swarm as a worker.

On the instance running your manager node, verify that your swarm is running:

$ sudo docker node ls

ID                           HOSTNAME    STATUS  AVAILABILITY  MANAGER STATUS
414z67gr5cgfalm4uriu4qdtm *  instance-1  Ready   Active        Leader
ae144s35dx1p1lcegh6bblyed    instance-2  Ready   Active
aivjg2joxyvzvbksjsix27khy    instance-3  Ready   Active

Step 4. Create an overlay network

On the instance running your manager node, create an overlay network so that the containers in your swarm can talk to each other:

$ sudo docker network create --driver overlay cockroachdb

Step 5. Create security resources

A secure CockroachDB cluster uses TLS certificates for encrypted inter-node and client/node authentication and communication. In this step, you'll install CockroachDB on the instance running your manager node, use the cockroach cert command to generate certificate authority (CA), node, and client certificate and key pairs, and use the docker secret create command to assign these files to Docker secrets for use by your Docker services.

On the instance running your manager node, install CockroachDB from our latest binary:

# Get the latest CockroachDB tarball:
$ curl https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/cockroach-v1.0.7.linux-amd64.tgz

# Extract the binary:
$ tar -xzf cockroach-v1.0.7.linux-amd64.tgz  \
--strip=1 cockroach-v1.0.7.linux-amd64/cockroach

# Move the binary:
$ sudo mv cockroach /usr/local/bin/

Create a certs directory and a safe directory to keep your CA key:
```
$ mkdir certs
```
```
$ mkdir my-safe-directory
```
Create the CA certificate and key:
```
$ cockroach cert create-ca \
--certs-dir=certs \
--ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
```
```
$ ls certs
```
```
ca.crt
```
Create a Docker secret for the ca.crt file using the docker secret create command:

Warning:
Store the ca.key file somewhere safe and keep a backup; if you lose it, you will not be able to add new nodes or clients to your cluster.
```
$ sudo docker secret create ca-crt certs/ca.crt
```
This command assigns a name to the secret (ca-crt) and identifies the location of the cockroach-generated CA certificate file. You can use a different secret name, if you like, but be sure to reference the correct name when starting the CockroachDB nodes in the next step.
Create the certificate and key for the first node:
```
$ cockroach cert create-node \
cockroachdb-1 \
localhost \
127.0.0.1 \
--certs-dir=certs \
--ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
```
```
$ ls certs
```
```
ca.crt
node.crt
node.key
```
This command issues the certificate/key pair to the service name you will use for the node later (cockroachdb-1) as well as to local addresses that will make it easier to run the built-in SQL shell and other CockroachDB client commands in the same container as the node.
Create Docker secrets for the first node's certificate and key:
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-1-crt certs/node.crt
```
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-1-key certs/node.key
```
Again, these commands assign names to the secrets (cockroachdb-1-crt and cockroachdb-1-key) and identify the location of the cockroach-generated certificate and key files.
Create the certificate and key for the second node, using the --overwrite flag to replace the files created for the first node:
```
$ cockroach cert create-node --overwrite \
cockroachdb-2 \
localhost \
127.0.0.1 \
--certs-dir=certs \
--ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
```
```
$ ls certs
```
```
ca.crt
node.crt
node.key
```
Create Docker secrets for the second node's certificate and key:
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-2-crt certs/node.crt
```
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-2-key certs/node.key
```
Create the certificate and key for the third node, again using the --overwrite flag to replace the files created for the second node:
```
$ cockroach cert create-node --overwrite \
cockroachdb-3 \
localhost \
127.0.0.1 \
--certs-dir=certs \
--ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
```
```
$ ls certs
```
```
ca.crt
node.crt
node.key
```
Create Docker secrets for the third node's certificate and key:
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-3-crt certs/node.crt
```
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-3-key certs/node.key
```
Create a client certificate and key for the root user:
```
$ cockroach cert create-client \
root \
--certs-dir=certs \
--ca-key=my-safe-directory/ca.key
```
Create Docker secrets for the root user's certificate and key:
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-root-crt certs/client.root.crt
```
```
$ sudo docker secret create cockroachdb-root-key certs/client.root.key
```

Step 6. Start the CockroachDB cluster

On the instance running your manager node, create the first service that the others will join to:
```
$ sudo docker service create \
--replicas 1 \
--name cockroachdb-1 \
--hostname cockroachdb-1 \
--network cockroachdb \
--mount type=volume,source=cockroachdb-1,target=/cockroach/cockroach-data,volume-driver=local \
--stop-grace-period 60s \
--publish 8080:8080 \
--secret source=ca-crt,target=ca.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-1-crt,target=node.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-1-key,target=node.key,mode=0600 \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-crt,target=client.root.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-key,target=client.root.key,mode=0600 \
cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7 start \
--logtostderr \
--certs-dir=/run/secrets
```
This command creates a service that starts a container securely, joins it to the overlay network, and starts the first CockroachDB node inside the container mounted to a local volume for persistent storage. Let's look at each part:
- sudo docker service create: The Docker command to create a new service.
- --replicas: The number of containers controlled by the service. Since each service will control one container running one CockroachDB node, this will always be 1.
- --name: The name for the service.
- --hostname: The hostname of the container. It will listen for connections on this address.
- --network: The overlay network for the container to join. See Step 4. Create an overlay network for more details.
- --mount: This flag mounts a local volume called cockroachdb-1. This means that data and logs for the node running in this container will be stored in /cockroach/cockroach-data on the instance and will be reused on restart as long as restart happens on the same instance, which is not guaranteed.
  Note:
  If you plan on replacing or adding instances, it's recommended to use remote storage instead of local disk. To do so, create a remote volume for each CockroachDB instance using the volume driver of your choice, and then specify that volume driver instead of the volume-driver=local part of the command above, e.g., volume-driver=gce if using the GCE volume driver.
- --stop-grace-period: This flag sets a grace period to give CockroachDB enough time to shut down gracefully, when possible.
- --publish: This flag makes the Admin UI accessible at the IP of any instance running a swarm node on port 8080. Note that, even though this flag is defined only in the first node's service, the swarm exposes this port on every swarm node using a routing mesh. See Publishing ports for more details.
- --secret: These flags identify the secrets to use in securing the node. They must reference the secret names defined in step 5. For the node and client certificate and key secrets, the source field identifies the relevant secret, and the target field defines the name to be used in cockroach start and cockroach sql flags. For the node and client key secrets, the mode field also sets the file permissions to 0600; if this isn't set, Docker will assign a default file permission of 0444, which will not work with CockroachDB's built-in SQL client.
- cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7 start ...: The CockroachDB command to start a node in the container, instruct other cluster members to talk to it using its persistent network address, cockroachdb-1, and to use the relevant Docker secrets to authenticate and encrypt communication.

On the same instance, create the services to start two other CockroachDB nodes and join them to the cluster:

# Create the second service:
$ sudo docker service create \
--replicas 1 \
--name cockroachdb-2 \
--hostname cockroachdb-2 \
--network cockroachdb \
--stop-grace-period 60s \
--mount type=volume,source=cockroachdb-2,target=/cockroach/cockroach-data,volume-driver=local \
--secret source=ca-crt,target=ca.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-2-crt,target=node.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-2-key,target=node.key,mode=0600 \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-crt,target=client.root.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-key,target=client.root.key,mode=0600 \
cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7 start \
--logtostderr \
--certs-dir=/run/secrets \
--join=cockroachdb-1:26257

# Create the third service:
$ sudo docker service create \
--replicas 1 \
--name cockroachdb-3 \
--hostname cockroachdb-3 \
--network cockroachdb \
--mount type=volume,source=cockroachdb-3,target=/cockroach/cockroach-data,volume-driver=local \
--stop-grace-period 60s \
--secret source=ca-crt,target=ca.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-3-crt,target=node.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-3-key,target=node.key,mode=0600 \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-crt,target=client.root.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-key,target=client.root.key,mode=0600 \
cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7 start \
--logtostderr \
--certs-dir=/run/secrets \
--join=cockroachdb-1:26257

There are only a few differences when creating the second two services:

The --name and --secret flags are unique for each service.
The CockroachDB command to start each node uses the --join flag to connect it to the cluster via the name of the first service and its default port, cockroachdb-1:26257.

Verify that all three services were created successfully:
```
$ sudo docker service ls
```
```
ID            NAME           MODE        REPLICAS  IMAGE
a6g0ur6857j6  cockroachdb-1  replicated  1/1       cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7
dr81a756gaa6  cockroachdb-2  replicated  1/1       cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7
il4m7op1afg9  cockroachdb-3  replicated  1/1       cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7
```
Tip:
The service definitions tell the CockroachDB nodes to log to stderr, so if you ever need access to a node's logs for troubleshooting, use sudo docker logs <container id> from the instance on which the container is running.

Remove the first service and recreate it again with the --join flag to ensure that, if the first node restarts, it will rejoin the original cluster via the second service, cockroachdb-2, instead of initiating a new cluster:

$ sudo docker service rm cockroachdb-1

$ sudo docker service create \
--replicas 1 \
--name cockroachdb-1 \
--hostname cockroachdb-1 \
--network cockroachdb \
--mount type=volume,source=cockroachdb-1,target=/cockroach/cockroach-data,volume-driver=local \
--stop-grace-period 60s \
--publish 8080:8080 \
--secret source=ca-crt,target=ca.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-1-crt,target=node.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-1-key,target=node.key,mode=0600 \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-crt,target=client.root.crt \
--secret source=cockroachdb-root-key,target=client.root.key,mode=0600 \
cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7 start \
--logtostderr \
--certs-dir=/run/secrets \
--join=cockroachdb-2:26257

Step 7. Use the built-in SQL client

On any instance, use the docker ps command to get the ID of the container running the CockroachDB node:

$ sudo docker ps | grep cockroachdb

9539871cc769        cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7   "/cockroach/cockroach"   2 minutes ago        Up 2 minutes         8080/tcp, 26257/tcp   cockroachdb-1.1.0wigdh8lx0ylhuzm4on9bbldq

Use the docker exec command to open the built-in SQL shell in interactive mode inside the container:
```
$ sudo docker exec -it <container ID> \
./cockroach sql \
--certs-dir=/run/secrets
```
Because we included the root user's client certificate and key in the nodes' service definitions, we can use the client cert and key to start the built-in SQL client securely in the same container as a node.
Create a securenodetest database:
```
> CREATE DATABASE securenodetest;
```
Use CTRL-D, CTRL-C, or \q to exit the SQL shell.

Step 8. Monitor the cluster

To view your cluster's Admin UI, open a browser and go to https://<any node's external IP address>:8080.

Note:

It's possible to access the Admin UI from outside of the swarm because you published port 8080 externally in the first node's service definition. However, your browser will consider the CockroachDB-created certificate invalid, so you’ll need to click through a warning message to get to the UI.

On this page, verify that the cluster is running as expected:

Click View nodes list on the right to ensure that all of your nodes successfully joined the cluster.
Click the Databases tab on the left to verify that securenodetest is listed.

Step 9. Simulate node failure

Since we have three service definitions, one for each node, Docker Swarm will ensure that there are three nodes running at all times. If a node fails, Docker Swarm will automatically create another node with the same network identity and storage.

To see this in action:

On any instance, use the sudo docker ps command to get the ID of the container running the CockroachDB node:

$ sudo docker ps | grep cockroachdb

32769a6dd664        cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7   "/cockroach/cockroach"   10 minutes ago        Up 10 minutes         8080/tcp, 26257/tcp   cockroachdb-2.1.0wigdh8lx0ylhuzm4on9bbldq

Use sudo docker kill to remove the container, which implicitly stops the node:
```
$ sudo docker kill <container ID>
```

Verify that the node was restarted in a new container:

$ sudo docker ps | grep cockroachdb

4a58f86e3ced        cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.0.7   "/cockroach/cockroach"   7 seconds ago       Up 1 seconds        8080/tcp, 26257/tcp   cockroachdb-2.1.cph86kmhhcp8xzq6a1nxtk9ng

Back in the Admin UI, click View nodes list on the right and verify that all 3 nodes are live.

Step 10. Scale the cluster

To increase the number of nodes in your CockroachDB cluster:

Create an additional instance (see Step 1).
Install Docker Engine on the instance (see Step 2).
Join the instance to the swarm as a worker node (see Step 3.2).
Create security resources for the node (see Step 5.7 and 5.8).
Create a new service to start another node and join it to the CockroachDB cluster (see Step 6.2).

Step 11. Stop the cluster

To stop the CockroachDB cluster, on the instance running your manager node, remove the services:

$ sudo docker service rm cockroachdb-1 cockroachdb-2 cockroachdb-3

cockroachdb-1
cockroachdb-2
cockroachdb-3

You may want to remove the persistent volumes and secrets used by the services as well. To do this, on each instance:

# Identify the name of the local volume:
$ sudo docker volume ls

cockroachdb-1

# Remove the local volume:
$ sudo docker volume rm cockroachdb-1

# Identify the name of secrets:
$ sudo docker secrets ls

ca-crt
cockroachdb-1-crt
cockroachdb-1-key

# Remove the secrets:
$ sudo docker secret rm ca-crt cockroachdb-1-crt cockroachdb-1-key

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