Introduction
We are excited to announce that Projective will release a dockerized installation for Strawberry 6 with Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS as the host operating system. This release is expected to be available by the end of June 2024. The shift to Ubuntu is due to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)/CentOS 7.9 reaching its End of Life (EOL), and we want to ensure that you continue to have a stable and secure environment for Strawberry moving forward. Please check our FAQ for further information on why we are going with Docker and why Ubuntu LTS has been chosen as the host OS.
The below steps are laid out to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Prerequisites
- You must be under a valid support contract.
- The Strawberry version running at your facility must be at least 6.4.29. Older versions are not supported for the Docker conversion and must be updated first. You can schedule the update here if you are on a Strawberry version older than 6.4.29. If you don’t know which Strawberry version you are currently running, please follow these steps to get the information.
Phase 1: Storage & Archive Compatibility Test
In this initial phase, we will run some lightweight test scripts to ensure your current shared storage will function as expected after Strawberry has been dockerized. The tests include various aspects such as storage permissions, archiving of a test project, and proxy encoding and will require roughly 1 hour of downtime. If the test goes well, we can proceed with the conversion process. If the test fails, no harm has been done, and we can quickly roll back to the last working state. This test does not require any change of your current strawberry configuration or database, meaning a backup is unnecessary.
We have successfully tested this process with shared storage systems from Dell (OneFS), Pixit Media (pixstor), and Rohde & Schwarz (Spectrum Scale). If you are operating any of these shared storage systems with Strawberry, the conversion test can be skipped in your environment, and we can jump to phase 2 right away.
Please contact our support team to schedule the conversion test and plan the next steps.
Phase 2: In-Place Docker Conversion
In this phase, we will dockerize your Strawberry installation on your current Strawberry server, meaning the current OS can remain in place. The goal of this step is to run the dockerized Strawberry on the existing server for a few days in production before moving to phase 3. Setting up phase 2 can require a few hours of downtime, depending on the setup of your current system, and includes the following steps:
1. Convert the current Strawberry installation to Docker.
2. Consolidate all Strawberry configuration files, scripts, library/archive mounts into the `/opt/sb` directory structure.
3. Run the Docker environment in production for a few days and verify everything is working as expected.
Phase 3: Move to the new Host OS
In this phase, we will move your dockerized Strawberry to the new host operating system Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Depending on your current Strawberry deployment, this phase can require more downtime as it involves installing a new host OS.
If you run Strawberry in a VM environment, you have the option to prepare a fresh VM immediately after phase 1 and install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Please allocate at least the minimum recommended system resources to the new VM.
If you are running Strawberry on a bare metal server, appropriate planning is advised, and the conversion should be coordinated with our support team.
Regardless of how Strawberry is currently deployed, the following steps apply to this phase.
- All Strawberry services must be stopped.
- All Strawberry configuration files, the Docker image, and the database will be moved to a backup medium. Please make sure that such a medium is in place. We strongly recommend deploying the backup on multiple mediums to avoid data loss.
- Once the backup is completed, you must install Ubuntu LTS 24.04 on the Strawberry server. This will replace the previous operating system (CentOS or RHEL). If you have prepared a new VM running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, this step can be skipped.
- Once the new host OS is installed and network access is configured, we will copy the previously backed-up configuration files and database backup to the host. We will then reinstall the Docker images and restart the services on the new host.
Questions?
If you have any questions or need additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.
Need more help with this?
Visit the Projective Support Websites