Backend Lifecycle Management

Adding a backend

A backend is either autoregistered (by passing -a to b3scaleagent), ending up in init state. If autoregistration is disabled, a node can be added manually (see "Adding a backend").

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org add backend https://node23.bbb.example.org/bigbluebutton/api/

Assigning tags

You can assign tags to a node to ensure that only certain frontents can access certain backends. This way, you can assign pilot customers to nodes running newer BBB versions or grant certain frontends access to nodes with more resources:

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org set backend -j '{"tags":["bbb_26"]}' https://node23.bbb.example.org

Listing backends

You can get a list of all backends including health parameters:

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org show backends

65959a9d-0d1d-476b-ad7a-f665feb63d01
  Host:  https://node22.bbb.example.org/bigbluebutton/api/
  Settings:  {"tags":["bbb_25"]}
  NodeState:     ready    AdminState:    ready
  MC/AC/R:   0/0/0.00
  LoadFactor:    1
  Latency:   92.5466361ms


6a2f1953-6db3-4efd-bd35-b7d74c1ddd68
  Host:  https://node23.bbb.example.org/bigbluebutton/api/
  Settings:  {"tags":["bbb_26"]}
  NodeState:     ready    AdminState:    ready
  MC/AC/R:   0/0/0.00
  LoadFactor:    1
  Latency:   93.076423ms

8bf64dca-18bf-4bb4-9159-2a3e52e7e05b
  Host:  https://node24.bbb.example.org/bigbluebutton/api/
  Settings:  {"tags":["bbb_27"]}
  NodeState:     ready    AdminState:    ready
  MC/AC/R:   0/0/0.00
  LoadFactor:    1
  Latency:   91.648361ms

Setting tags

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org set frontend -j ' {"tags":["bbb_28"]}' https://node22.bbb.example.org/bigbluebutton/api/

Abbreviations

MC: Meeting Count
AC: Attendee Count
R: Ratio

Backend states

Backend nodes in b3scale can be in either of the following state:

init: The node was freshly initialized
ready: The node and is ready for use
stopped: The node has been disabled and is stopped
error: An error has occured
decommissioned: The node has been decomissioned

The current state is expressed in the NodeState, which is the acutal state a node. The AdminState however is the desired state, usually mandated by an administrative change. The two might not be identical all the time, e.g. when a node loses connection to b3scale, the NodeState will be error, but the AdminState will still be ready. Since error is not a desirable state, AdminState cannot be error.

Enabling a backend

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org enable backend https://node23.bbb.example.org

Cordoning a backend

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org disable backend https://node23.bbb.example.org

Note

Disabling a backend will keep existing meeting in place and active until the meeting has been finished.

Reintegrating a backend

See section "Enabling a backend".

Removing a backend

b3scalectl --api https://api.bbb.example.org delete backend https://node23.bbb.example.org

If the node has been removed prior to deregistering it with b3scale, you may need to specify the --force parameter to forcefully remove the backend. It is recommended to always decomission backends through a cordoning phase in order to not disrupt running meetings.