6 [blip]: http://mcollective.blip.tv/
7 [slideshare]: http://www.slideshare.net/mcollective
8 [ec2demo]: /mcollective/ec2demo.html
9 [Terminology]: /mcollective/terminology.html
10 [SimpleRPCIntroduction]: /mcollective/simplerpc/
11 [DDL]: /mcollective/reference/plugins/ddl.html
13 We believe screen casts give the best introduction to new concepts, so we've recorded
14 several to complement the documentation.
16 There's a [blip] channel that has all the videos, you can subscribe and follow there.
17 There is also a [slideshare] site where presentations will go that we do at conferences and events.
19 ## Introductions and Guides
21 <li><a href="#introduction">Introducing MCollective</a></li>
22 <li><a href="#ec2_demo">EC2 Hosted Demo</a></li>
23 <li><a href="#message_flow">Message Flow, Terminology and Components</a></li>
24 <li><a href="#writing_agents">Writing Agents</a></li>
25 <li><a href="#simplerpc_ddl">Detailed information about the DDL</a></li>
28 ## Tools built using MCollective
30 <li><a href="#simplerpc_ddl_irb">SimpleRPC DDL IRB</a></li>
31 <li><a href="#mcollective_deployer">Software Deployer used by developers</a></li>
32 <li><a href="#exim">Managing clusters of Exim Servers</a></li>
33 <li><a href="#server_provisioner">Bootstrapping Puppet on EC2</a></li>
36 <a name="introduction"> </a>
39 [This video](http://youtu.be/0i7VpvC2vMM) introduces the basic concepts behind MCollective. It predates the
40 SimpleRPC framework but is still valid today.
42 <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/0i7VpvC2vMM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
44 <a name="ec2_demo"> </a>
47 Sometimes you just want to know if a tool is right for you by getting hands on experience
48 we've made a EC2 hosted demo where you can fire up as many nodes in a cluster as you want and
51 View the [ec2demo] page for more about this.
53 <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Hw0Z1xfg050" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
55 <a name="message_flow"> </a>
57 ### Message Flow, Terminology and Components
58 This video introduces the messaging concepts you need to know about when using MCollective.
59 It shows how the components talk with each other and what software needs to be installed where
60 on your network. Viewing this prior to starting your deployment is recommended.
62 We also have a page detailing the [Terminology]
64 <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fIHW41W8jas" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
66 View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">webinars</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/mcollective">Marionette Collective</a>.
67 <a name="writing_agents"> </a>
69 ### How to write an Agent, DDL and Client
70 Writing agents are easy, we have good documentation that can be used as a reference, [this
71 video](http://youtu.be/2Xhq_UqnqRE) should show you how to tie it all together though.
72 See the [SimpleRPC Introduction][SimpleRPCIntroduction] for reference wiki pages after viewing this video.
74 <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2Xhq_UqnqRE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
76 <a name="simplerpc_ddl"> </a>
79 The Data Definition Language helps your clients produce more user friendly output, it ensures
80 input gets validated while showing online help, and it enables dynamic generation of user interfaces.
81 After you have watched the video, you can refer to the [DDL] wiki page for more information.
83 <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xikjjXvN6nA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
85 <a name="simplerpc_ddl_irb"> </a>
87 ### SimpleRPC DDL enhanced IRB
88 Based on the SimpleRPC DDL, this custom IRB shell supports command completion.
90 <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xikjjXvN6nA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
92 <a name="mcollective_deployer"> </a>
94 ### Software Deployer using MCollective
95 If you ever do commissioned work based on MCollective, this deployer written using SimpleRPC may be of use.
96 It can be used by developers to deploy applications live into production using a defined
99 <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fqt2SgnQn3k&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fqt2SgnQn3k&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
101 <a name="exim"> </a>
103 ### Managing Exim Clusters
104 A command line and dialog-based UI written to manage clusters of Exim Servers.
106 The code for this is [open source](http://github.com/puppetlabs/mcollective-plugins/tree/master/agent/exim/).
107 Unfortunately it predates SimpleRPC; we hope to port it soon.
109 <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kNvoQCpJ1V4&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kNvoQCpJ1V4&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
111 <a name="server_provisioner"> </a>
113 ### Bootstrapping Puppet on EC2 with MCollective
114 Modern cloud environments present a lot of challenges to automation. However, with MCollective and
115 some existing open source agents and plugins you can completely automate the entire process
116 of provisioning EC2 nodes using Puppet.
118 More detail is available [on this blog post](http://www.devco.net/archives/2010/07/14/bootstrapping_puppet_on_ec2_with_mcollective.php)
120 <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-iEgz9MD3qA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>