With the servers provisioned, and the shared storage and database now available, you can set up each of the Octopus Server nodes. An Octopus High Availability configuration requires at least two nodes, and has been tested with up to eight nodes.
This document covers the configuration of Octopus without Active Directory and assumes the following:
- You’ve planned and implemented your Infrastructure for Octopus, and it’s ready to be configured for High Availability without Active Directory.
- No Service accounts will be used for authentication to Storage or SQL.
- SQL Authentication will be used over Windows Authentication.
- You are configuring Octopus on a cloud provider or in a DMZ.
Not a Windows cluster While multiple Octopus Server nodes form a logical “cluster” of servers, Octopus nodes do not require Windows Server Failover Clustering. They should be standalone servers and they can be on-premises, in Azure, or AWS.
Configure the first node
On the first Octopus Server node, download the Octopus Server MSI, or you can install Octopus using Chocolatey, and follow the setup wizard. Use the Getting Started wizard to configure the first Octopus node:
The Octopus home directory is local to each specific node and should not be shared between nodes. This is usually located at C:\Octopus.
Since we’re not using custom Service Accounts, please select the Local System Account for the Octopus service as this is a highly privileged account that’s able to run Octopus:
Configure the shared SQL database using SQL Authentication:
Follow the rest of the setup guide and install the first node.
After the Octopus Server has been configured, from Octopus Manager copy the Master Key; you will need this to set up the additional nodes.
Finally, you need to tell Octopus to store artifacts, packages, task logs, imports, and event exports in the shared storage that you provisioned, that way each Octopus node can see the same files. To do this, you need to use the command-line:
Configure shared storage
There are two options for configuring shared storage:
- Setting the root shared storage directory.
- Setting each directory individually.
The first option was added in 2020.2.15. If you are using an earlier version, then you need to use the second option and set each folder path individually.
Set the root shared storage directory when all of the shared directories will reside under the same root. Each shared directory will reside in a sub-directory under the directory that you specify:
Octopus.Server.exe path --clusterShared \\OctoShared\OctopusDataSetting the root shared storage directory is the recommend approach because any future shared paths will automatically appear in this directory without being explicitly configured. The other option is to set each directory individually:
Octopus.Server.exe path --artifacts \\Octoshared\OctopusData\Artifacts
Octopus.Server.exe path --taskLogs \\Octoshared\OctopusData\TaskLogs
Octopus.Server.exe path --nugetRepository \\Octoshared\OctopusData\Packages
Octopus.Server.exe path --imports \\Octoshared\OctopusData\Imports
Octopus.Server.exe path --eventExports \\Octoshared\OctopusData\EventExports
Octopus.Server.exe path --telemetry \\Octoshared\OctopusData\TelemetryNote that all paths are not required to be in the same file share(s).
No matter which option you choose, the configuration is stored in the database, so you only have to perform this once - other nodes will read it from the database.
Configure the second and additional nodes
After the first node has been created and started, you can add the additional nodes. Again, install the Octopus Server MSI or Chocolatey, but instead of using the Getting Started wizard, use the link to add this server as a node for the cluster:
Connect to the same shared SQL database:
On the Cluster details page, enter the Master Key from the original node:
Complete the setup wizard. You now have a second node in the cluster!
Automate configuration of second and additional nodes
After installing the Octopus Server MSI, you can use the Octopus.Server.exe command line executable to automate the configuration of any additional Octopus Server nodes. Here is an example of what the script might look like:
"C:\Program Files\Octopus Deploy\Octopus\Octopus.Server.exe" create-instance --instance "Default" --config "C:\Octopus\OctopusServer.config"
"C:\Program Files\Octopus Deploy\Octopus\Octopus.Server.exe" database --instance "Default" --masterKey "MASTER_KEY" --connectionString "Data Source=octopus-server-ha-db;Initial Catalog=OctopusDeploy-OctopusServer;Integrated Security=False;User ID=admin;Password=MY_PASSWORD"
"C:\Program Files\Octopus Deploy\Octopus\Octopus.Server.exe" configure --instance "Default" --webForceSSL "False" --webListenPrefixes "http://localhost:80/" --commsListenPort "10943"
"C:\Program Files\Octopus Deploy\Octopus\Octopus.Server.exe" service --instance "Default" --stop
"C:\Program Files\Octopus Deploy\Octopus\Octopus.Server.exe" service --instance "Default" --install --reconfigure --startHelp us continuously improve
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Page updated on Sunday, January 1, 2023