+ +

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+ PDF +

ZooKeeper Administrator's Guide

A Guide to Deployment and Administration

+Deployment +
- +System Requirements +
  - +Supported Platforms +
  - +Required Software +
  +
- +Clustered (Multi-Server) Setup +
- +Single Server and Developer Setup +
+
+Administration +
- +Designing a ZooKeeper Deployment +
  - +Cross Machine Requirements +
  - +Single Machine Requirements +
  +
- +Provisioning +
- +Things to Consider: ZooKeeper Strengths and Limitations +
- +Administering +
- +Maintenance +
  - +Ongoing Data Directory Cleanup +
  - +Debug Log Cleanup (log4j) +
  +
- +Supervision +
- +Monitoring +
- +Logging +
- +Troubleshooting +
- +Configuration Parameters +
  - +Minimum Configuration +
  - +Advanced Configuration +
  - +Cluster Options +
  - +Authentication & Authorization Options +
  - +Experimental Options/Features +
  - +Unsafe Options +
  - +Communication using the Netty framework +
  +
- +ZooKeeper Commands: The Four Letter Words +
- +Data File Management +
  - +The Data Directory +
  - +The Log Directory +
  - +File Management +
  - +Recovery - TxnLogToolkit +
  +
- +Things to Avoid +
- +Best Practices +
+

+ + + + + + + + +

Deployment

This section contains information about deploying Zookeeper and + covers these topics:

+ +
+System Requirements +
+ +
+ +
+Clustered (Multi-Server) Setup +
+ +
+ +
+Single Server and Developer Setup +
+ +

The first two sections assume you are interested in installing + ZooKeeper in a production environment such as a datacenter. The final + section covers situations in which you are setting up ZooKeeper on a + limited basis - for evaluation, testing, or development - but not in a + production environment.

+ +

System Requirements

+ +

Supported Platforms

ZooKeeper consists of multiple components. Some components are + supported broadly, and other components are supported only on a smaller + set of platforms.

+ +
+Client is the Java client + library, used by applications to connect to a ZooKeeper ensemble. +
+ +
+ +
+Server is the Java server + that runs on the ZooKeeper ensemble nodes.
+ +
+ +
+Native Client is a client + implemented in C, similar to the Java client, used by applications + to connect to a ZooKeeper ensemble.
+ +
+ +
+Contrib refers to multiple + optional add-on components.
+ +

The following matrix describes the level of support committed for + running each component on different operating system platforms.

+ + + +Support Matrix + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Support Matrix
Operating System	Client	Server	Native Client	Contrib
GNU/Linux	Development and Production	Development and Production	Development and Production	Development and Production
Solaris	Development and Production	Development and Production	Not Supported	Not Supported
FreeBSD	Development and Production	Development and Production	Not Supported	Not Supported
Windows	Development and Production	Development and Production	Not Supported	Not Supported
Mac OS X	Development Only	Development Only	Not Supported	Not Supported

For any operating system not explicitly mentioned as supported in + the matrix, components may or may not work. The ZooKeeper community + will fix obvious bugs that are reported for other platforms, but there + is no full support.

+ +

Required Software

ZooKeeper runs in Java, release 1.6 or greater (JDK 6 or + greater). It runs as an ensemble of + ZooKeeper servers. Three ZooKeeper servers is the minimum + recommended size for an ensemble, and we also recommend that + they run on separate machines. At Yahoo!, ZooKeeper is + usually deployed on dedicated RHEL boxes, with dual-core + processors, 2GB of RAM, and 80GB IDE hard drives.

+ +

Clustered (Multi-Server) Setup

For reliable ZooKeeper service, you should deploy ZooKeeper in a + cluster known as an ensemble. As long as a majority + of the ensemble are up, the service will be available. Because Zookeeper + requires a majority, it is best to use an + odd number of machines. For example, with four machines ZooKeeper can + only handle the failure of a single machine; if two machines fail, the + remaining two machines do not constitute a majority. However, with five + machines ZooKeeper can handle the failure of two machines.

Note

+ +

+ As mentioned in the + ZooKeeper Getting Started Guide + , a minimum of three servers are required for a fault tolerant + clustered setup, and it is strongly recommended that you have an + odd number of servers. +

+ +

Usually three servers is more than enough for a production + install, but for maximum reliability during maintenance, you may + wish to install five servers. With three servers, if you perform + maintenance on one of them, you are vulnerable to a failure on one + of the other two servers during that maintenance. If you have five + of them running, you can take one down for maintenance, and know + that you're still OK if one of the other four suddenly fails. +

+ +

Your redundancy considerations should include all aspects of + your environment. If you have three ZooKeeper servers, but their + network cables are all plugged into the same network switch, then + the failure of that switch will take down your entire ensemble. +

+ +

Here are the steps to setting a server that will be part of an + ensemble. These steps should be performed on every host in the + ensemble:

+ +
Install the Java JDK. You can use the native packaging system + for your system, or download the JDK from:
+ + +
+http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp +
+ +
+ +
Set the Java heap size. This is very important to avoid + swapping, which will seriously degrade ZooKeeper performance. To + determine the correct value, use load tests, and make sure you are + well below the usage limit that would cause you to swap. Be + conservative - use a maximum heap size of 3GB for a 4GB + machine.
+ +
+ +
Install the ZooKeeper Server Package. It can be downloaded + from: +
+ +
+ + + http://zookeeper.apache.org/releases.html + + +
+ +
+ +
Create a configuration file. This file can be called anything. + Use the following settings as a starting point:
+ + +
```
+tickTime=2000
+dataDir=/var/lib/zookeeper/
+clientPort=2181
+initLimit=5
+syncLimit=2
+server.1=zoo1:2888:3888
+server.2=zoo2:2888:3888
+server.3=zoo3:2888:3888
```
+ + +
You can find the meanings of these and other configuration + settings in the section Configuration Parameters. A word + though about a few here:
+ + +
Every machine that is part of the ZooKeeper ensemble should know + about every other machine in the ensemble. You accomplish this with + the series of lines of the form server.id=host:port:port. The parameters host and port are straightforward. You attribute the + server id to each machine by creating a file named + myid, one for each server, which resides in + that server's data directory, as specified by the configuration file + parameter dataDir.
+
+
The myid file + consists of a single line containing only the text of that machine's + id. So myid of server 1 would contain the text + "1" and nothing else. The id must be unique within the + ensemble and should have a value between 1 and 255.
+ +
+ +
If your configuration file is set up, you can start a + ZooKeeper server:
+ + +
+$ java -cp zookeeper.jar:lib/slf4j-api-1.6.1.jar:lib/slf4j-log4j12-1.6.1.jar:lib/log4j-1.2.15.jar:conf \ + org.apache.zookeeper.server.quorum.QuorumPeerMain zoo.cfg + +
+ + +
QuorumPeerMain starts a ZooKeeper server, + JMX + management beans are also registered which allows + management through a JMX management console. + The ZooKeeper JMX + document contains details on managing ZooKeeper with JMX. +
+ + +
See the script bin/zkServer.sh, + which is included in the release, for an example + of starting server instances.
+ + +
+ +
Test your deployment by connecting to the hosts:
+ + +
In Java, you can run the following command to execute + simple operations:
+ + +
+$ bin/zkCli.sh -server 127.0.0.1:2181 +
+ +

+ +

Single Server and Developer Setup

If you want to setup ZooKeeper for development purposes, you will + probably want to setup a single server instance of ZooKeeper, and then + install either the Java or C client-side libraries and bindings on your + development machine.

The steps to setting up a single server instance are the similar + to the above, except the configuration file is simpler. You can find the + complete instructions in the Installing and + Running ZooKeeper in Single Server Mode section of the ZooKeeper Getting Started + Guide.

For information on installing the client side libraries, refer to + the Bindings + section of the ZooKeeper + Programmer's Guide.

+ + + +

Administration

This section contains information about running and maintaining + ZooKeeper and covers these topics:

+ +
+Designing a ZooKeeper Deployment +
+ +
+ +
+Provisioning +
+ +
+ +
+Things to Consider: ZooKeeper Strengths and Limitations +
+ +
+ +
+Administering +
+ +
+ +
+Maintenance +
+ +
+ +
+Supervision +
+ +
+ +
+Monitoring +
+ +
+ +
+Logging +
+ +
+ +
+Troubleshooting +
+ +
+ +
+Configuration Parameters +
+ +
+ +
+ZooKeeper Commands: The Four Letter Words +
+ +
+ +
+Data File Management +
+ +
+ +
+Things to Avoid +
+ +
+ +
+Best Practices +
+ +

+ +

Designing a ZooKeeper Deployment

The reliablity of ZooKeeper rests on two basic assumptions.

+
Only a minority of servers in a deployment + will fail. Failure in this context + means a machine crash, or some error in the network that + partitions a server off from the majority.
+ +
+
Deployed machines operate correctly. To + operate correctly means to execute code correctly, to have + clocks that work properly, and to have storage and network + components that perform consistently.
+ +

The sections below contain considerations for ZooKeeper + administrators to maximize the probability for these assumptions + to hold true. Some of these are cross-machines considerations, + and others are things you should consider for each and every + machine in your deployment.

+ +

Cross Machine Requirements

For the ZooKeeper service to be active, there must be a + majority of non-failing machines that can communicate with + each other. To create a deployment that can tolerate the + failure of F machines, you should count on deploying 2xF+1 + machines. Thus, a deployment that consists of three machines + can handle one failure, and a deployment of five machines can + handle two failures. Note that a deployment of six machines + can only handle two failures since three machines is not a + majority. For this reason, ZooKeeper deployments are usually + made up of an odd number of machines.

To achieve the highest probability of tolerating a failure + you should try to make machine failures independent. For + example, if most of the machines share the same switch, + failure of that switch could cause a correlated failure and + bring down the service. The same holds true of shared power + circuits, cooling systems, etc.

+ +

Single Machine Requirements

If ZooKeeper has to contend with other applications for + access to resourses like storage media, CPU, network, or + memory, its performance will suffer markedly. ZooKeeper has + strong durability guarantees, which means it uses storage + media to log changes before the operation responsible for the + change is allowed to complete. You should be aware of this + dependency then, and take great care if you want to ensure + that ZooKeeper operations aren’t held up by your media. Here + are some things you can do to minimize that sort of + degradation: +

+ +
ZooKeeper's transaction log must be on a dedicated + device. (A dedicated partition is not enough.) ZooKeeper + writes the log sequentially, without seeking Sharing your + log device with other processes can cause seeks and + contention, which in turn can cause multi-second + delays.
+ +
+ +
Do not put ZooKeeper in a situation that can cause a + swap. In order for ZooKeeper to function with any sort of + timeliness, it simply cannot be allowed to swap. + Therefore, make certain that the maximum heap size given + to ZooKeeper is not bigger than the amount of real memory + available to ZooKeeper. For more on this, see + Things to Avoid + below.
+ +

+ +

Provisioning

+ +

Things to Consider: ZooKeeper Strengths and Limitations

+ +

Administering

+ +

Maintenance

Little long term maintenance is required for a ZooKeeper + cluster however you must be aware of the following:

+ +

Ongoing Data Directory Cleanup

The ZooKeeper Data + Directory contains files which are a persistent copy + of the znodes stored by a particular serving ensemble. These + are the snapshot and transactional log files. As changes are + made to the znodes these changes are appended to a + transaction log. Occasionally, when a log grows large, a + snapshot of the current state of all znodes will be written + to the filesystem and a new transaction log file is created + for future transactions. During snapshotting, ZooKeeper may + continue appending incoming transactions to the old log file. + Therefore, some transactions which are newer than a snapshot + may be found in the last transaction log preceding the + snapshot. +

A ZooKeeper server will not remove + old snapshots and log files when using the default + configuration (see autopurge below), this is the + responsibility of the operator. Every serving environment is + different and therefore the requirements of managing these + files may differ from install to install (backup for example). +

The PurgeTxnLog utility implements a simple retention + policy that administrators can use. The API docs contains details on + calling conventions (arguments, etc...). +

In the following example the last count snapshots and + their corresponding logs are retained and the others are + deleted. The value of <count> should typically be + greater than 3 (although not required, this provides 3 backups + in the unlikely event a recent log has become corrupted). This + can be run as a cron job on the ZooKeeper server machines to + clean up the logs daily.

 java -cp zookeeper.jar:lib/slf4j-api-1.6.1.jar:lib/slf4j-log4j12-1.6.1.jar:lib/log4j-1.2.15.jar:conf org.apache.zookeeper.server.PurgeTxnLog <dataDir> <snapDir> -n <count>

Automatic purging of the snapshots and corresponding + transaction logs was introduced in version 3.4.0 and can be + enabled via the following configuration parameters autopurge.snapRetainCount and autopurge.purgeInterval. For more on + this, see Advanced Configuration + below.

+ +

Debug Log Cleanup (log4j)

See the section on logging in this document. It is + expected that you will setup a rolling file appender using the + in-built log4j feature. The sample configuration file in the + release tar's conf/log4j.properties provides an example of + this. +

+ +

Supervision

You will want to have a supervisory process that manages + each of your ZooKeeper server processes (JVM). The ZK server is + designed to be "fail fast" meaning that it will shutdown + (process exit) if an error occurs that it cannot recover + from. As a ZooKeeper serving cluster is highly reliable, this + means that while the server may go down the cluster as a whole + is still active and serving requests. Additionally, as the + cluster is "self healing" the failed server once restarted will + automatically rejoin the ensemble w/o any manual + interaction.

Having a supervisory process such as daemontools or + SMF + (other options for supervisory process are also available, it's + up to you which one you would like to use, these are just two + examples) managing your ZooKeeper server ensures that if the + process does exit abnormally it will automatically be restarted + and will quickly rejoin the cluster.

+ +

Monitoring

The ZooKeeper service can be monitored in one of two + primary ways; 1) the command port through the use of 4 letter words and 2) JMX. See the appropriate section for + your environment/requirements.

+ +

Logging

ZooKeeper uses log4j version 1.2 as + its logging infrastructure. The ZooKeeper default log4j.properties + file resides in the conf directory. Log4j requires that + log4j.properties either be in the working directory + (the directory from which ZooKeeper is run) or be accessible from the classpath.

For more information, see + Log4j Default Initialization Procedure + of the log4j manual.

+ +

Troubleshooting

+ Server not coming up because of file corruption +: +
A server might not be able to read its database and fail to come up because of + some file corruption in the transaction logs of the ZooKeeper server. You will + see some IOException on loading ZooKeeper database. In such a case, + make sure all the other servers in your ensemble are up and working. Use "stat" + command on the command port to see if they are in good health. After you have verified that + all the other servers of the ensemble are up, you can go ahead and clean the database + of the corrupt server. Delete all the files in datadir/version-2 and datalogdir/version-2/. + Restart the server. +
+

+ +

Configuration Parameters

ZooKeeper's behavior is governed by the ZooKeeper configuration + file. This file is designed so that the exact same file can be used by + all the servers that make up a ZooKeeper server assuming the disk + layouts are the same. If servers use different configuration files, care + must be taken to ensure that the list of servers in all of the different + configuration files match.

+ +

Minimum Configuration

Here are the minimum configuration keywords that must be defined + in the configuration file:

+clientPort +: +
the port to listen for client connections; that is, the + port that clients attempt to connect to.
+
+dataDir +: +
the location where ZooKeeper will store the in-memory + database snapshots and, unless specified otherwise, the + transaction log of updates to the database.
+
+
Note
+
+ +
Be careful where you put the transaction log. A + dedicated transaction log device is key to consistent good + performance. Putting the log on a busy device will adversely + effect performance.
+ +
+
+
+tickTime +: +
the length of a single tick, which is the basic time unit + used by ZooKeeper, as measured in milliseconds. It is used to + regulate heartbeats, and timeouts. For example, the minimum + session timeout will be two ticks.
+

+ +

Advanced Configuration

The configuration settings in the section are optional. You can + use them to further fine tune the behaviour of your ZooKeeper servers. + Some can also be set using Java system properties, generally of the + form zookeeper.keyword. The exact system + property, when available, is noted below.

+dataLogDir +

(No Java system property)

This option will direct the machine to write the + transaction log to the dataLogDir rather than the dataDir. This allows a dedicated log + device to be used, and helps avoid competition between logging + and snaphots.

Note

+ +

Having a dedicated log device has a large impact on + throughput and stable latencies. It is highly recommened to + dedicate a log device and set dataLogDir to point to a directory on + that device, and then make sure to point dataDir to a directory + not residing on that device.

+ +

+globalOutstandingLimit +

(Java system property: zookeeper.globalOutstandingLimit.)

Clients can submit requests faster than ZooKeeper can + process them, especially if there are a lot of clients. To + prevent ZooKeeper from running out of memory due to queued + requests, ZooKeeper will throttle clients so that there is no + more than globalOutstandingLimit outstanding requests in the + system. The default limit is 1,000.

+preAllocSize +

(Java system property: zookeeper.preAllocSize)

To avoid seeks ZooKeeper allocates space in the + transaction log file in blocks of preAllocSize kilobytes. The + default block size is 64M. One reason for changing the size of + the blocks is to reduce the block size if snapshots are taken + more often. (Also, see snapCount).

+snapCount +

(Java system property: zookeeper.snapCount)

ZooKeeper records its transactions using snapshots and + a transaction log (think write-ahead log).The number of + transactions recorded in the transaction log before a snapshot + can be taken (and the transaction log rolled) is determined + by snapCount. In order to prevent all of the machines in the quorum + from taking a snapshot at the same time, each ZooKeeper server + will take a snapshot when the number of transactions in the transaction log + reaches a runtime generated random value in the [snapCount/2+1, snapCount] + range.The default snapCount is 100,000.

+maxClientCnxns +

(No Java system property)

Limits the number of concurrent connections (at the socket + level) that a single client, identified by IP address, may make + to a single member of the ZooKeeper ensemble. This is used to + prevent certain classes of DoS attacks, including file + descriptor exhaustion. The default is 60. Setting this to 0 + entirely removes the limit on concurrent connections.

+clientPortAddress +

+New in 3.3.0: the + address (ipv4, ipv6 or hostname) to listen for client + connections; that is, the address that clients attempt + to connect to. This is optional, by default we bind in + such a way that any connection to the clientPort for any + address/interface/nic on the server will be + accepted.

+minSessionTimeout +

(No Java system property)

+New in 3.3.0: the + minimum session timeout in milliseconds that the server + will allow the client to negotiate. Defaults to 2 times + the tickTime.

+maxSessionTimeout +

(No Java system property)

+New in 3.3.0: the + maximum session timeout in milliseconds that the server + will allow the client to negotiate. Defaults to 20 times + the tickTime.

+fsync.warningthresholdms +

(Java system property: zookeeper.fsync.warningthresholdms)

+New in 3.3.4: A + warning message will be output to the log whenever an + fsync in the Transactional Log (WAL) takes longer than + this value. The values is specified in milliseconds and + defaults to 1000. This value can only be set as a + system property.

+autopurge.snapRetainCount +

(No Java system property)

+New in 3.4.0: + When enabled, ZooKeeper auto purge feature retains + the autopurge.snapRetainCount most + recent snapshots and the corresponding transaction logs in the + dataDir and dataLogDir respectively and deletes the rest. + Defaults to 3. Minimum value is 3.

+autopurge.purgeInterval +

(No Java system property)

+New in 3.4.0: The + time interval in hours for which the purge task has to + be triggered. Set to a positive integer (1 and above) + to enable the auto purging. Defaults to 0.

+syncEnabled +

(Java system property: zookeeper.observer.syncEnabled)

+New in 3.4.6, 3.5.0: + The observers now log transaction and write snapshot to disk + by default like the participants. This reduces the recovery time + of the observers on restart. Set to "false" to disable this + feature. Default is "true"

+ +

Cluster Options

The options in this section are designed for use with an ensemble + of servers -- that is, when deploying clusters of servers.

+electionAlg +

(No Java system property)

Election implementation to use. A value of "0" corresponds + to the original UDP-based version, "1" corresponds to the + non-authenticated UDP-based version of fast leader election, "2" + corresponds to the authenticated UDP-based version of fast + leader election, and "3" corresponds to TCP-based version of + fast leader election. Currently, algorithm 3 is the default

Note

+ +

The implementations of leader election 0, 1, and 2 are now + deprecated . We have the intention + of removing them in the next release, at which point only the + FastLeaderElection will be available. +

+ +

+initLimit +

(No Java system property)

Amount of time, in ticks (see tickTime), to allow followers to + connect and sync to a leader. Increased this value as needed, if + the amount of data managed by ZooKeeper is large.

+leaderServes +

(Java system property: zookeeper.leaderServes)

Leader accepts client connections. Default value is "yes". + The leader machine coordinates updates. For higher update + throughput at thes slight expense of read throughput the leader + can be configured to not accept clients and focus on + coordination. The default to this option is yes, which means + that a leader will accept client connections.

Note

+ +

Turning on leader selection is highly recommended when + you have more than three ZooKeeper servers in an ensemble.

+ +

+server.x=[hostname]:nnnnn[:nnnnn], etc +

(No Java system property)

servers making up the ZooKeeper ensemble. When the server + starts up, it determines which server it is by looking for the + file myid in the data directory. That file + contains the server number, in ASCII, and it should match + x in server.x in the left hand side of this + setting.

The list of servers that make up ZooKeeper servers that is + used by the clients must match the list of ZooKeeper servers + that each ZooKeeper server has.

There are two port numbers nnnnn. + The first followers use to connect to the leader, and the second is for + leader election. The leader election port is only necessary if electionAlg + is 1, 2, or 3 (default). If electionAlg is 0, then the second port is not + necessary. If you want to test multiple servers on a single machine, then + different ports can be used for each server.

+syncLimit +

(No Java system property)

Amount of time, in ticks (see tickTime), to allow followers to sync + with ZooKeeper. If followers fall too far behind a leader, they + will be dropped.

+group.x=nnnnn[:nnnnn] +

(No Java system property)

Enables a hierarchical quorum construction."x" is a group identifier + and the numbers following the "=" sign correspond to server identifiers. + The left-hand side of the assignment is a colon-separated list of server + identifiers. Note that groups must be disjoint and the union of all groups + must be the ZooKeeper ensemble.

You will find an example here + +

+weight.x=nnnnn +

(No Java system property)

Used along with "group", it assigns a weight to a server when + forming quorums. Such a value corresponds to the weight of a server + when voting. There are a few parts of ZooKeeper that require voting + such as leader election and the atomic broadcast protocol. By default + the weight of server is 1. If the configuration defines groups, but not + weights, then a value of 1 will be assigned to all servers. +

You will find an example here + +

+cnxTimeout +

(Java system property: zookeeper.cnxTimeout)

Sets the timeout value for opening connections for leader election notifications. + Only applicable if you are using electionAlg 3. +

Note

+ +

Default value is 5 seconds.

+ +

+4lw.commands.whitelist +

(Java system property: zookeeper.4lw.commands.whitelist)

+New in 3.4.10: + This property contains a list of comma separated + Four Letter Words commands. It is introduced + to provide fine grained control over the set of commands ZooKeeper can execute, + so users can turn off certain commands if necessary. + By default it contains all supported four letter word commands except "wchp" and "wchc", + if the property is not specified. If the property is specified, then only commands listed + in the whitelist are enabled. +

Here's an example of the configuration that enables stat, ruok, conf, and isro + command while disabling the rest of Four Letter Words command:

+                4lw.commands.whitelist=stat, ruok, conf, isro
+

Users can also use asterisk option so they don't have to include every command one by one in the list. + As an example, this will enable all four letter word commands: +

+                4lw.commands.whitelist=*
+

+ipReachableTimeout +

(Java system property: zookeeper.ipReachableTimeout)

+New in 3.4.11: + Set this timeout value for IP addresses reachable checking when hostname is resolved, as mesured in + milliseconds. + By default, ZooKeeper will use the first IP address of the hostname(without any reachable checking). + When zookeeper.ipReachableTimeout is set(larger than 0), ZooKeeper will will try to pick up the first + IP address which is reachable. This is done by calling Java API InetAddress.isReachable(long timeout) + function, in which this timeout value is used. If none of such reachable IP address can be found, the + first IP address of the hostname will be used anyway. +

+tcpKeepAlive +

(Java system property: zookeeper.tcpKeepAlive)

+New in 3.4.11: + Setting this to true sets the TCP keepAlive flag on the + sockets used by quorum members to perform elections. + This will allow for connections between quorum members to + remain up when there is network infrastructure that may + otherwise break them. Some NATs and firewalls may terminate + or lose state for long running or idle connections.

Enabling this option relies on OS level settings to work + properly, check your operating system's options regarding TCP + keepalive for more information. Defaults to + false. +

+ +

Authentication & Authorization Options

The options in this section allow control over + authentication/authorization performed by the service.

+zookeeper.DigestAuthenticationProvider.superDigest +

(Java system property only: zookeeper.DigestAuthenticationProvider.superDigest)

By default this feature is disabled +

+New in 3.2: + Enables a ZooKeeper ensemble administrator to access the + znode hierarchy as a "super" user. In particular no ACL + checking occurs for a user authenticated as + super.

org.apache.zookeeper.server.auth.DigestAuthenticationProvider + can be used to generate the superDigest, call it with + one parameter of "super:<password>". Provide the + generated "super:<data>" as the system property value + when starting each server of the ensemble.

When authenticating to a ZooKeeper server (from a + ZooKeeper client) pass a scheme of "digest" and authdata + of "super:<password>". Note that digest auth passes + the authdata in plaintext to the server, it would be + prudent to use this authentication method only on + localhost (not over the network) or over an encrypted + connection.

+isro +

+New in 3.4.0: Tests if + server is running in read-only mode. The server will respond with + "ro" if in read-only mode or "rw" if not in read-only mode.

+gtmk +

Gets the current trace mask as a 64-bit signed long value in + decimal format. See stmk for an explanation of + the possible values.

+stmk +

Sets the current trace mask. The trace mask is 64 bits, + where each bit enables or disables a specific category of trace + logging on the server. Log4J must be configured to enable + TRACE level first in order to see trace logging + messages. The bits of the trace mask correspond to the following + trace logging categories.

+ + + +Trace Mask Bit Values + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Trace Mask Bit Values
0b0000000000	Unused, reserved for future use.
0b0000000010	Logs client requests, excluding ping + requests.
0b0000000100	Unused, reserved for future use.
0b0000001000	Logs client ping requests.
0b0000010000	Logs packets received from the quorum peer that is + the current leader, excluding ping requests.
0b0000100000	Logs addition, removal and validation of client + sessions.
0b0001000000	Logs delivery of watch events to client + sessions.
0b0010000000	Logs ping packets received from the quorum peer + that is the current leader.
0b0100000000	Unused, reserved for future use.
0b1000000000	Unused, reserved for future use.

All remaining bits in the 64-bit value are unused and + reserved for future use. Multiple trace logging categories are + specified by calculating the bitwise OR of the documented values. + The default trace mask is 0b0100110010. Thus, by default, trace + logging includes client requests, packets received from the + leader and sessions.

To set a different trace mask, send a request containing the + stmk four-letter word followed by the trace + mask represented as a 64-bit signed long value. This example uses + the Perl pack function to construct a trace + mask that enables all trace logging categories described above and + convert it to a 64-bit signed long value with big-endian byte + order. The result is appended to stmk and sent + to the server using netcat. The server responds with the new + trace mask in decimal format.

$ perl -e "print 'stmk', pack('q>', 0b0011111010)" | nc localhost 2181
+250
+

+ +

Experimental Options/Features

New features that are currently considered experimental.

+Read Only Mode Server +

(Java system property: readonlymode.enabled)

+New in 3.4.0: + Setting this value to true enables Read Only Mode server + support (disabled by default). ROM allows clients + sessions which requested ROM support to connect to the + server even when the server might be partitioned from + the quorum. In this mode ROM clients can still read + values from the ZK service, but will be unable to write + values and see changes from other clients. See + ZOOKEEPER-784 for more details. +

+ +

Unsafe Options

The following options can be useful, but be careful when you use + them. The risk of each is explained along with the explanation of what + the variable does.

+forceSync +

(Java system property: zookeeper.forceSync)

Requires updates to be synced to media of the transaction + log before finishing processing the update. If this option is + set to no, ZooKeeper will not require updates to be synced to + the media.

+jute.maxbuffer: +

(Java system property: + jute.maxbuffer)

This option can only be set as a Java system property. + There is no zookeeper prefix on it. It specifies the maximum + size of the data that can be stored in a znode. The default is + 0xfffff, or just under 1M. If this option is changed, the system + property must be set on all servers and clients otherwise + problems will arise. This is really a sanity check. ZooKeeper is + designed to store data on the order of kilobytes in size.

+skipACL +

(Java system property: zookeeper.skipACL)

Skips ACL checks. This results in a boost in throughput, + but opens up full access to the data tree to everyone.

+quorumListenOnAllIPs +

When set to true the ZooKeeper server will listen + for connections from its peers on all available IP addresses, + and not only the address configured in the server list of the + configuration file. It affects the connections handling the + ZAB protocol and the Fast Leader Election protocol. Default + value is false.

+ +

Communication using the Netty framework

+New in + 3.4: Netty + is an NIO based client/server communication framework, it + simplifies (over NIO being used directly) many of the + complexities of network level communication for java + applications. Additionally the Netty framework has built + in support for encryption (SSL) and authentication + (certificates). These are optional features and can be + turned on or off individually. +

Prior to version 3.4 ZooKeeper has always used NIO + directly, however in versions 3.4 and later Netty is + supported as an option to NIO (replaces). NIO continues to + be the default, however Netty based communication can be + used in place of NIO by setting the environment variable + "zookeeper.serverCnxnFactory" to + "org.apache.zookeeper.server.NettyServerCnxnFactory". You + have the option of setting this on either the client(s) or + server(s), typically you would want to set this on both, + however that is at your discretion. +

+ TBD - tuning options for netty - currently there are none that are netty specific but we should add some. Esp around max bound on the number of reader worker threads netty creates. +

+ TBD - how to manage encryption +

+ TBD - how to manage certificates +

+ +

ZooKeeper Commands: The Four Letter Words

ZooKeeper responds to a small set of commands. Each command is + composed of four letters. You issue the commands to ZooKeeper via telnet + or nc, at the client port.

Three of the more interesting commands: "stat" gives some + general information about the server and connected clients, + while "srvr" and "cons" give extended details on server and + connections respectively.

+conf +

+New in 3.3.0: Print + details about serving configuration.

+cons +

+New in 3.3.0: List + full connection/session details for all clients connected + to this server. Includes information on numbers of packets + received/sent, session id, operation latencies, last + operation performed, etc...

+crst +

+New in 3.3.0: Reset + connection/session statistics for all connections.

+dump +

Lists the outstanding sessions and ephemeral nodes. This + only works on the leader.

+envi +

Print details about serving environment

+ruok +

Tests if server is running in a non-error state. The server + will respond with imok if it is running. Otherwise it will not + respond at all.

A response of "imok" does not necessarily indicate that the + server has joined the quorum, just that the server process is active + and bound to the specified client port. Use "stat" for details on + state wrt quorum and client connection information.

+srst +

Reset server statistics.

+srvr +

+New in 3.3.0: Lists + full details for the server.

+stat +

Lists brief details for the server and connected + clients.

+wchs +

+New in 3.3.0: Lists + brief information on watches for the server.

+wchc +

+New in 3.3.0: Lists + detailed information on watches for the server, by + session. This outputs a list of sessions(connections) + with associated watches (paths). Note, depending on the + number of watches this operation may be expensive (ie + impact server performance), use it carefully.

+wchp +

+New in 3.3.0: Lists + detailed information on watches for the server, by path. + This outputs a list of paths (znodes) with associated + sessions. Note, depending on the number of watches this + operation may be expensive (ie impact server performance), + use it carefully.

+mntr +

+New in 3.4.0: Outputs a list + of variables that could be used for monitoring the health of the cluster.

$ echo mntr | nc localhost 2185
+
+zk_version  3.4.0
+zk_avg_latency  0
+zk_max_latency  0
+zk_min_latency  0
+zk_packets_received 70
+zk_packets_sent 69
+zk_outstanding_requests 0
+zk_server_state leader
+zk_znode_count   4
+zk_watch_count  0
+zk_ephemerals_count 0
+zk_approximate_data_size    27
+zk_followers    4                   - only exposed by the Leader
+zk_synced_followers 4               - only exposed by the Leader
+zk_pending_syncs    0               - only exposed by the Leader
+zk_open_file_descriptor_count 23    - only available on Unix platforms
+zk_max_file_descriptor_count 1024   - only available on Unix platforms
+zk_fsync_threshold_exceed_count	0
+

The output is compatible with java properties format and the content + may change over time (new keys added). Your scripts should expect changes.

ATTENTION: Some of the keys are platform specific and some of the keys are only exported by the Leader.

The output contains multiple lines with the following format:

key \t value

Here's an example of the ruok + command:

$ echo ruok | nc 127.0.0.1 5111
+imok
+

+ +

Data File Management

ZooKeeper stores its data in a data directory and its transaction + log in a transaction log directory. By default these two directories are + the same. The server can (and should) be configured to store the + transaction log files in a separate directory than the data files. + Throughput increases and latency decreases when transaction logs reside + on a dedicated log devices.

+ +

The Data Directory

This directory has two files in it:

+ +
+myid - contains a single integer in + human readable ASCII text that represents the server id.
+ +
+ +
+snapshot.<zxid> - holds the fuzzy + snapshot of a data tree.
+ +

Each ZooKeeper server has a unique id. This id is used in two + places: the myid file and the configuration file. + The myid file identifies the server that + corresponds to the given data directory. The configuration file lists + the contact information for each server identified by its server id. + When a ZooKeeper server instance starts, it reads its id from the + myid file and then, using that id, reads from the + configuration file, looking up the port on which it should + listen.

The snapshot files stored in the data + directory are fuzzy snapshots in the sense that during the time the + ZooKeeper server is taking the snapshot, updates are occurring to the + data tree. The suffix of the snapshot file names + is the zxid, the ZooKeeper transaction id, of the + last committed transaction at the start of the snapshot. Thus, the + snapshot includes a subset of the updates to the data tree that + occurred while the snapshot was in process. The snapshot, then, may + not correspond to any data tree that actually existed, and for this + reason we refer to it as a fuzzy snapshot. Still, ZooKeeper can + recover using this snapshot because it takes advantage of the + idempotent nature of its updates. By replaying the transaction log + against fuzzy snapshots ZooKeeper gets the state of the system at the + end of the log.

+ +

The Log Directory

The Log Directory contains the ZooKeeper transaction logs. + Before any update takes place, ZooKeeper ensures that the transaction + that represents the update is written to non-volatile storage. A new + log file is started when the number of transactions written to the + current log file reaches a (variable) threshold. The threshold is + computed using the same parameter which influences the frequency of + snapshotting (see snapCount above). The log file's suffix is the first + zxid written to that log.

+ +

File Management

The format of snapshot and log files does not change between + standalone ZooKeeper servers and different configurations of + replicated ZooKeeper servers. Therefore, you can pull these files from + a running replicated ZooKeeper server to a development machine with a + stand-alone ZooKeeper server for trouble shooting.

Using older log and snapshot files, you can look at the previous + state of ZooKeeper servers and even restore that state. The + LogFormatter class allows an administrator to look at the transactions + in a log.

The ZooKeeper server creates snapshot and log files, but + never deletes them. The retention policy of the data and log + files is implemented outside of the ZooKeeper server. The + server itself only needs the latest complete fuzzy snapshot, all log + files following it, and the last log file preceding it. The latter + requirement is necessary to include updates which happened after this + snapshot was started but went into the existing log file at that time. + This is possible because snapshotting and rolling over of logs + proceed somewhat independently in ZooKeeper. See the + maintenance section in + this document for more details on setting a retention policy + and maintenance of ZooKeeper storage. +

Note

+ +

The data stored in these files is not encrypted. In the case of + storing sensitive data in ZooKeeper, necessary measures need to be + taken to prevent unauthorized access. Such measures are external to + ZooKeeper (e.g., control access to the files) and depend on the + individual settings in which it is being deployed.

+ +

Recovery - TxnLogToolkit

TxnLogToolkit is a command line tool shipped with ZooKeeper which + is capable of recovering transaction log entries with broken CRC.

Running it without any command line parameters or with the "-h,--help" + argument, it outputs the following help page:

+          $ bin/zkTxnLogToolkit.sh
+
+          usage: TxnLogToolkit [-dhrv] txn_log_file_name
+          -d,--dump      Dump mode. Dump all entries of the log file. (this is the default)
+          -h,--help      Print help message
+          -r,--recover   Recovery mode. Re-calculate CRC for broken entries.
+          -v,--verbose   Be verbose in recovery mode: print all entries, not just fixed ones.
+          -y,--yes       Non-interactive mode: repair all CRC errors without asking
+

The default behaviour is safe: it dumps the entries of the given + transaction log file to the screen: (same as using '-d,--dump' parameter)

+          $ bin/zkTxnLogToolkit.sh log.100000001
+          ZooKeeper Transactional Log File with dbid 0 txnlog format version 2
+          4/5/18 2:15:58 PM CEST session 0x16295bafcc40000 cxid 0x0 zxid 0x100000001 createSession 30000
+          CRC ERROR - 4/5/18 2:16:05 PM CEST session 0x16295bafcc40000 cxid 0x1 zxid 0x100000002 closeSession null
+          4/5/18 2:16:05 PM CEST session 0x16295bafcc40000 cxid 0x1 zxid 0x100000002 closeSession null
+          4/5/18 2:16:12 PM CEST session 0x26295bafcc90000 cxid 0x0 zxid 0x100000003 createSession 30000
+          4/5/18 2:17:34 PM CEST session 0x26295bafcc90000 cxid 0x0 zxid 0x200000001 closeSession null
+          4/5/18 2:17:34 PM CEST session 0x16295bd23720000 cxid 0x0 zxid 0x200000002 createSession 30000
+          4/5/18 2:18:02 PM CEST session 0x16295bd23720000 cxid 0x2 zxid 0x200000003 create '/andor,#626262,v{s{31,s{'world,'anyone}}},F,1
+          EOF reached after 6 txns.
+

There's a CRC error in the 2nd entry of the above transaction log file. In dump + mode, the toolkit only prints this information to the screen without touching the original file. In + recovery mode (-r,--recover flag) the original file still remains + untouched and all transactions will be copied over to a new txn log file with ".fixed" suffix. It recalculates + CRC values and copies the calculated value, if it doesn't match the original txn entry. + By default, the tool works interactively: it asks for confirmation whenever CRC error encountered.

+          $ bin/zkTxnLogToolkit.sh -r log.100000001
+          ZooKeeper Transactional Log File with dbid 0 txnlog format version 2
+          CRC ERROR - 4/5/18 2:16:05 PM CEST session 0x16295bafcc40000 cxid 0x1 zxid 0x100000002 closeSession null
+          Would you like to fix it (Yes/No/Abort) ?
+

Answering Yes means the newly calculated CRC value will be outputted + to the new file. No means that the original CRC value will be copied over. + Abort will abort the entire operation and exits. + (In this case the ".fixed" will not be deleted and left in a half-complete state: contains only entries which + have already been processed or only the header if the operation was aborted at the first entry.)

+          $ bin/zkTxnLogToolkit.sh -r log.100000001
+          ZooKeeper Transactional Log File with dbid 0 txnlog format version 2
+          CRC ERROR - 4/5/18 2:16:05 PM CEST session 0x16295bafcc40000 cxid 0x1 zxid 0x100000002 closeSession null
+          Would you like to fix it (Yes/No/Abort) ? y
+          EOF reached after 6 txns.
+          Recovery file log.100000001.fixed has been written with 1 fixed CRC error(s)
+

The default behaviour of recovery is to be silent: only entries with CRC error get printed to the screen. + One can turn on verbose mode with the -v,--verbose parameter to see all records. + Interactive mode can be turned off with the -y,--yes parameter. In this case all CRC errors will be fixed + in the new transaction file.

+ +

Things to Avoid

Here are some common problems you can avoid by configuring + ZooKeeper correctly:

+inconsistent lists of servers +

The list of ZooKeeper servers used by the clients must match + the list of ZooKeeper servers that each ZooKeeper server has. + Things work okay if the client list is a subset of the real list, + but things will really act strange if clients have a list of + ZooKeeper servers that are in different ZooKeeper clusters. Also, + the server lists in each Zookeeper server configuration file + should be consistent with one another.

+incorrect placement of transaction log +

The most performance critical part of ZooKeeper is the + transaction log. ZooKeeper syncs transactions to media before it + returns a response. A dedicated transaction log device is key to + consistent good performance. Putting the log on a busy device will + adversely effect performance. If you only have one storage device, + put trace files on NFS and increase the snapshotCount; it doesn't + eliminate the problem, but it should mitigate it.

+incorrect Java heap size +

You should take special care to set your Java max heap size + correctly. In particular, you should not create a situation in + which ZooKeeper swaps to disk. The disk is death to ZooKeeper. + Everything is ordered, so if processing one request swaps the + disk, all other queued requests will probably do the same. the + disk. DON'T SWAP.

Be conservative in your estimates: if you have 4G of RAM, do + not set the Java max heap size to 6G or even 4G. For example, it + is more likely you would use a 3G heap for a 4G machine, as the + operating system and the cache also need memory. The best and only + recommend practice for estimating the heap size your system needs + is to run load tests, and then make sure you are well below the + usage limit that would cause the system to swap.

+Publicly accessible deployment +

+ A ZooKeeper ensemble is expected to operate in a trusted computing environment. + It is thus recommended to deploy ZooKeeper behind a firewall. +

+ +

Best Practices

For best results, take note of the following list of good + Zookeeper practices:

For multi-tennant installations see the section + detailing ZooKeeper "chroot" support, this can be very useful + when deploying many applications/services interfacing to a + single ZooKeeper cluster.

+ +

ZooKeeper Administrator's Guide

A Guide to Deployment and Administration

Deployment

System Requirements

Supported Platforms

Required Software

Clustered (Multi-Server) Setup

Single Server and Developer Setup

Administration

Designing a ZooKeeper Deployment

Cross Machine Requirements

Single Machine Requirements

Provisioning

Things to Consider: ZooKeeper Strengths and Limitations

Administering

Maintenance

Ongoing Data Directory Cleanup

Debug Log Cleanup (log4j)

Supervision

Monitoring

Logging

Troubleshooting

Configuration Parameters

Minimum Configuration

Advanced Configuration

Cluster Options

Authentication & Authorization Options

Experimental Options/Features

Unsafe Options

Communication using the Netty framework

ZooKeeper Commands: The Four Letter Words

Data File Management

The Data Directory

The Log Directory

File Management

Recovery - TxnLogToolkit

Things to Avoid

Best Practices

Introduction to hierarchical quorums