B.3. Host Configuration

Each host in your cluster must be configured with the tungsten user, have the SSH key added, and then be configured to ensure the system and directories are ready for the Tungsten services to be installed and configured.

There are a number of key steps to the configuration process:

  • Creating a user environment for the Tungsten service

  • Creating the SSH authorization for the user on each host

  • Configuring the directories and install locations

  • Installing necessary software and tools

  • Configuring sudo access to enable the configured user to perform administration commands


The operations in the following sections must be performed on each host within your cluster. Failure to perform each step may prevent the installation and deployment of Tungsten cluster.

B.3.1. Creating the User Environment

The tungsten user should be created with a home directory that will be used to hold the Tungsten distribution files (not the installation files), and will be used to execute and create the different Tungsten services.

For Tungsten to work correctly, the tungsten user must be able to open a larger number of files/sockets for communication between the different components and processes as . You can check this by using ulimit:

shell> ulimit -a
core file size          (blocks, -c) 0
data seg size           (kbytes, -d) unlimited
file size               (blocks, -f) unlimited
max locked memory       (kbytes, -l) unlimited
max memory size         (kbytes, -m) unlimited
open files                      (-n) 256
pipe size            (512 bytes, -p) 1
stack size              (kbytes, -s) 8192
cpu time               (seconds, -t) unlimited
max user processes              (-u) 709
virtual memory          (kbytes, -v) unlimited

The system should be configured to allow a minimum of 65535 open files. You should configure both the tungsten user and the database user with this limit by editing the /etc/security/limits.conf file:

tungsten    -    nofile    65535
mysql       -    nofile    65535

In addition, the number of running processes supported should be increased to ensure that there are no restrictions on the running processes or threads:

tungsten    -    nproc    8096
mysql       -    nproc    8096

You must logout and log back in again for the ulimit changes to take effect.

You may also need to set the limit settings on the specific service if your operating system uses the systemctl service management framework. To configure your file limits for the specific service:

  1. Copy the MySQL service configuration file template to the configuration directory if it does not already exist:

    shell> sudo cp /lib/systemd/system/mysql.service /etc/systemd/system/


    Please note that the filename mysql.service will vary based on multiple factors. Do check to be sure you are using the correct file. For example, in some cases the filename would be mysqld.service

  2. Edit the proper file used above, and append to or edit the existing entry to ensure the value of infinity for the key LimitNOFILE:


    This configures an unlimited number of open files, you can also specify a number, for example:

  3. Reload the systemctl daemon configuration:

    shell> sudo systemctl daemon-reload
  4. Now restart the MySQL service:

    shell> service mysql restart


On Debian/Ubuntu hosts, limits are not inherited when using su/sudo. This may lead to problems when remotely starting or restarting services. To resolve this issue, uncomment the following line within /etc/pam.d/su:

session required pam_limits.so

B.3.2. Configuring Network and SSH Environment

The hostname, DNS, IP address and accessibility of this information must be consistent. For the cluster to operate successfully, each host must be identifiable and accessible to each other host, either by name or IP address.

Individual hosts within your cluster must be reachable and most conform to the following:

  • Do not use the localhost or addresses.

  • Do not use Zeroconf (.local) addresses. These may not resolve properly or fully on some systems.

  • The server hostname (as returned by the hostname) must match the names you use when configuring your service.

  • The IP address that resolves on the hostname for that host must resolve to the IP address (not The default configuration for many Linux installations is for the hostname to resolve to the same as localhost: localhost host1
  • Each host in the cluster must be able to resolve the address for all the other hosts in the cluster. To prevent errors within the DNS system causing timeouts or bad resolution, all hosts in the cluster, in addition to the witness host, should be added to /etc/hosts:     localhost  host1  host2  host3  host4

    In addition to explicitly adding hostnames to /etc/hosts, the name server switch file, /etc/nsswitch.conf should be updated to ensure that hosts are searched first before using DNS services. For example:

    hosts:          files dns


    Failure to add explicit hosts and change this resolution order can lead to transient DNS resolving errors triggering timeouts and failsafe switching of hosts within the cluster.

  • The IP address of each host within the cluster must resolve to the same IP address on each node. For example, if host1 resolves to on host1, the same IP address must be returned when looking up host1 on the host host2.

To double check this, you should perform the following tests:

  1. Confirm the hostname:

    shell> uname -n


    The hostname cannot contain underscores.

  2. Confirm the IP address:

    shell> hostname --ip-address
  3. Confirm that the hostnames of the other hosts in the cluster resolve correctly to a valid IP address. You should confirm on each host that you can identify and connect to each other host in the planned cluster:

    shell> nslookup host1
    shell> ping host1

    If the host does not resolve, either ensure that the hosts are added to the DNS service, or explicitly add the information to the /etc/hosts file.


    If using /etc/hosts then you must ensure that the information is correct and consistent on each host, and double check using the above method that the IP address resolves correctly for every host in the cluster.

B.3.2.1. Network Ports

The following network ports should be open between specific hosts to allow communication between the different components:

Component Source Destination Port Purpose
Database Service Database Host Database Host 7 Checking availability
2112 THL replication
10000-10001 Replication connection listener port

If a system has a firewall enabled, in addition to enabling communication between hosts as in the table above, the localhost must allow port-to-port traffic on the loopback connection without restrictions. For example, using iptables this can be enabled using the following command rule:

shell> iptables -A INPUT -i lo -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPT

B.3.2.2. SSH Configuration

For password-less SSH to work between the different hosts in the cluster, you need to copy both the public and private keys between the hosts in the cluster. This will allow the staging server, and each host, to communicate directly with each other using the designated login.

To achieve this, on each host in the cluster:

  1. Copy the public (.ssh/id_rsa.pub) and private key (.ssh/id_rsa) from the staging server to the ~tungsten/.ssh directory.

  2. Add the public key to the .ssh/authorized_keys file.

    shell> cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub >> .ssh/authorized_keys
  3. Ensure that the file permissions on the .ssh directory are correct:

    shell> chmod 700 ~/.ssh
    shell> chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*

With each host configured, you should try to connecting to each host from the staging server to confirm that the SSH information has been correctly configured. You can do this by connecting to the host using ssh:

tungsten:shell> ssh tungsten@host

You should have logged into the host at the tungsten home directory, and that directory should be writable by the tungsten user.

B.3.3. Directory Locations and Configuration

On each host within the cluster you must pick, and configure, a number of directories to be used by Tungsten Clustering™, as follows:

  • /tmp Directory

    The /tmp directory must be accessible and executable, as it is the location where some software will be extracted and executed during installation and setup. The directory must be writable by the tungsten user.

    On some systems, the /tmp filesystem is mounted as a separate filesystem and explicitly configured to be non-executable (using the noexec filesystem option). Check the output from the mount command.

  • Installation Directory

    Tungsten Clustering™ needs to be installed in a specific directory. The recommended solution is to use /opt/continuent. This information will be required when you configure the cluster service.

    The directory should be created, and the owner and permissions set for the configured user:

    shell> sudo mkdir /opt/continuent
    shell> sudo chown -R tungsten: /opt/continuent
    shell> sudo chmod 700 /opt/continuent
  • Home Directory

    The home directory of the tungsten user must be writable by that user.

B.3.4. Configure Software

Tungsten Clustering™ relies on the following software. Each host must use the same version of each tool.

Software Versions Supported Notes
rsync - Check using rsync --help
Ruby 1.8.7, 1.9.3, or 2.0.0 to 2.4.0 [a] JRuby is not supported
Ruby OpenSSL Module - Checking using ruby -ropenssl -e 'p "works"'
Ruby Gems -  
Ruby io-console module - Install using gem install io-console [b]
Ruby net-ssh module - Install using gem install net-ssh [c]
Ruby net-scp module - Install using gem install net-scp [d]
GNU tar - gtar is required for Solaris due to limitations in the native tar command
Java Runtime Environment Java SE 7 (or compatible), Java SE 8 (or compatible) is supported in 5.0.1 and higher  

[a] Ruby 1.9.1 and 1.9.2 are not supported; these releases remove the execute bit during installation.

[b] io-console is only needed for SSH activities, and only needed for Ruby v2.0 and greater.

[c] For Ruby 1.8.7 the minimum version of net-ssh is 2.5.2, install using gem install net-ssh -v 2.5.2

[d] For Ruby 1.8.7 the minimum version of net-scp is 1.0.4, install using gem install net-scp -v 1.0.4

These tools must be installed, running, and available to all users on each host.

To check the current version for any installed tool, login as the configured user (e.g. tungsten), and execute the command to get the latest version. For example:

  • Java

    Run java -version:

    shell> java -version
    openjdk version "1.8.0_102"
    OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_102-b14)

    Tungsten Clustering is known to work with Java using the following JVMs:

    • Oracle JVM/JDK 8

    • OpenJDK 7

    On certain environments, a separate tool such as alternatives (RedHat/CentOS) or update-alternatives (Debian/Ubuntu) may need to be used to switch Java versions globally or for individual users. For example, within CentOS:

    shell> alternatives --display


It is recommended to switch off all automated software and operating system update procedures. These can automatically install and restart different services which may be identified as failures by Tungsten Replicator. Software and Operating System updates should be handled by following the appropriate Section 7.14, “Performing Database or OS Maintenance” procedures.

It also recommended to install ntp or a similar time synchronization tool so that each host in the cluster has the same physical time.

B.3.5. sudo Configuration

Tungsten requires that the user you have configured to run the server has sudo credentials so that it can run and install services as root.

Within Ubuntu you can do this by editing the /etc/sudoers file using visudo and adding the following lines:

Defaults:tungsten       !authenticate
## Allow tungsten to run any command
tungsten ALL=(ALL) ALL

For a secure environment where sudo access is not permitted for all operations, a minimum configuration can be used:

tungsten ALL=(ALL)

sudo can also be configured to handle only specific directories or files. For example, when using xtrabackup, or additional tools in the Tungsten toolkit, such as tungsten_provision_slave, additional commands must be added to the permitted list:

tungsten ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/service, /usr/bin/innobackupex, /bin/rm, »
    /bin/mv, /bin/chown, /bin/chmod, /usr/bin/scp, /bin/tar, /usr/bin/which, »
    /etc/init.d/mysql, /usr/bin/test, »
    /apps/tungsten/continuent/tungsten/tungsten-replicator/scripts/xtrabackup.sh, »
    /apps/tungsten/continuent/tungsten/tools/tpm, /usr/bin/innobackupex-1.5.1, »
    /bin/cat, /bin/find

Within Red Hat Linux add the following line:

tungsten ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: ALL


tungsten ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/which, /etc/init.d/mysql


tungsten ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /sbin/service, /usr/bin/innobackupex, /bin/rm, »
    /bin/cat, /bin/find


On some versions of sudo, use of sudo is deliberately disabled for ssh sessions. To enable support via ssh, comment out the requirement for requiretty:

#Defaults    requiretty

B.3.6. SELinux Configuration


Tungsten best practice is to DISABLE SELinux.

If you are having problems, disable SELinux entirely and test fully. Once the system is fully operational and stable, then re-enable SELinux and see if the problem comes back. If so, then detailed configuration will be required. Such configuration is outside the scope of the Continuent Support Agreement.

To determine the surrent state of SELinux enforcement, use the getenforce command. For example:

shell> getenforce

To disable SELinux, use the setenforce command. For example:

shell> setenforce 0


Disclaimer: Continuent support staff will do our best to help but can't guarantee results. SELinux context errors are extremely difficult to debug, and difficult to determine the appropriate command to give the correct context. A simple "cp" command could carry an incorrect context to the destination. Since every system is different, the possible variations in configuration are endless.

Any suggestions below are just that - suggestions, and your mileage may vary. You have been warned.

When SELinux is enabled, systemctl may refuse to start mysqld if the listener port or location on disk have been changed. The solution is to inform SELinux about any changed or additional resources.

Tungsten best practice is to change the default MySQL port from 3306 to 13306 so that requesting clients do not accidentally connect directly to the database without being routed by the Connector.

If using a non-standard port for MySQL and SELinux is enabled, you must also change the port context, for example:

shell > semanage port -a -t mysqld_port_t -p tcp 13306

Ensure the file contexts are set correctly for SELinux. For example, to allow MySQL data to be stored in a non-standard location (i.e. /data):

shell > semanage fcontext -a -t etc_runtime_t /data
shell > restorecon -Rv /data/
shell > semanage fcontext -a -t mysqld_db_t "/data(/.*)?"
shell > restorecon -Rv /data/*