Important links for Consul and Nomad

important_links_for_consul_and_nomad.txt

Important Links for Consul and Nomad


Introductory Videos
Quick watch; explains basics; grab a cup of coffee/tea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRtz_tdJes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Fm9UtL4YU

Consul
Basics and Agent Configuration
Basic knowledge which will have to be known during the daily usage of the tools.
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/basics.html
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/options.html
https://www.consul.io/docs/install/ports.html
https://www.consul.io/downloads.html

Services and Checks
Very Important piece of the service-discovery mechanism. This is a very important pillar of the ecosystem.
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/services.html
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/checks.html

Architecture
General overview and high-level diagram of the Consul system.
https://www.consul.io/docs/internals/architecture.html
https://www.consul.io/docs/internals/architecture.html#10-000-foot-view

Cloud Auto-Join
Very useful knowledge to simplify configuration of the Agent, when on various Cloud Platforms.
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/cloud-auto-join.html

Key-Value Usage
How to use the key-value store. Hint: alternative for configuration parameters needed for services.
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/kv.html

Telemetry
Service telemetry to be reported to various systems; supports statsd, so can be used by TICK stack.
https://www.consul.io/docs/agent/telemetry.html

Machine Requirements
Not important immediately, but will be relevant for capacity planning.
https://www.consul.io/docs/install/performance.html

Miscellaneous Topics
https://learn.hashicorp.com/consul/
https://www.consul.io/docs/commands/index.html
https://www.consul.io/downloads_tools.html

Advanced Topics
● These are not needed to run/operate Consul, but good to know.
https://www.consul.io/docs/internals/index.html

Nomad
Basics and Agent Configuration
Basics of the Agent configuration, high-level view of the architecture, before jumping into the other specifics.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/index.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/internals/architecture.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/configuration/index.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/commands/index.html

Types of Drivers and Jobs

Nomad supports various "types" of tasks; docker, exec, java, rkt, lxc, etc.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/drivers/index.html

The relevant ones for now:
● https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/drivers/raw_exec.html
● https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/drivers/docker.html

Nomad supports the following types of jobs, which can help to solve many use cases within builds, etc.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/schedulers.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/parameterized.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/periodic.html

Cloud Auto-Join
Very useful knowledge to simplify configuration of the Agent, when on various Cloud Platforms.
https://www.nomadproject.io/guides/operations/cluster/cloud_auto_join.html

Runtime Variables
These sections are useful when running jobs and checking what sort of variables are set so that the services can take appropriate decisions.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/runtime/environment.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/runtime/interpolation.html

Important Sections in a Job Definition
artifact: download payload before starting a task
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/artifact.html

template: section to create configuration file/env from Consul/Vault KV stores
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/template.html

constraint: conditions which can govern where the job launches, based on machine type, etc.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/constraint.html

spread: spread the multiple instances of a service based on specified conditions.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/spread.html

Strategies for Update, Restart, Reschedule, Migrate
The following stanzas govern the various actions to be taken during the lifecycle of tasks/jobs.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/update.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/restart.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/reschedule.html
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/migrate.html

Telemetry
Service telemetry to be reported to various systems; supports statsd, so can be used by TICK stack.
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/telemetry/index.html

Security
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/internals/security

Connect
https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/job-specification/connect


Easy to follow, DIY learning resources published by HashiCorp.
https://learn.hashicorp.com/nomad/