System Guide v1.0.0

Comprehensive guide for managing SLYD at scale, intended for system administrators and advanced users.

About This Guide

This system guide is designed for administrators managing the SLYD platform at scale. It covers advanced configuration, optimization, and maintenance tasks that go beyond basic usage.

System Requirements

Ensure your environment meets these minimum requirements for optimal performance:

Component Minimum Requirement Recommended
CPU 4 cores 8+ cores
RAM 8 GB 16+ GB
Storage 100 GB SSD 500+ GB NVMe SSD
Network 100 Mbps 1+ Gbps
Operating System Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Deployment Architectures

SLYD supports various deployment architectures to meet different scaling and availability requirements:

Single-Node Deployment

Suitable for development environments or small-scale deployments with limited resources.

  • All services run on a single machine
  • Simplest setup and configuration
  • Limited scalability and no high availability
  • Recommended for testing or personal use only

Clustered Deployment

Recommended for production environments requiring high availability and scalability.

  • Services distributed across multiple nodes
  • Load balancing for improved performance
  • Database replication for data resilience
  • Automatic failover capabilities

Cloud-Native Deployment

Leverages cloud services for maximum scalability and managed infrastructure.

  • AWS ECS for container orchestration
  • AWS Aurora for database services
  • Auto-scaling based on demand
  • Managed services reduce operational overhead

Multi-Region Deployment

For global scale operations requiring geographic distribution and disaster recovery.

  • Services deployed across multiple geographic regions
  • Global traffic routing for low-latency access
  • Cross-region replication for disaster recovery
  • Compliance with data sovereignty requirements

Installation

Below are the steps for a standard installation of the SLYD platform:

Prerequisites

# Update system packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install required dependencies
sudo apt install -y curl git docker.io docker-compose lxd snapd

# Enable and start Docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

# Add current user to Docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Initialize LXD
sudo lxd init --auto

Core Installation

# Clone the SLYD repository
git clone https://github.com/slyd-cloud/slyd-core.git
cd slyd-core

# Configure environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env file with your specific configuration

# Build and start services
docker-compose up -d

# Verify installation
curl http://localhost:8080/health
Security Warning

Never expose the SLYD management API directly to the internet. Always use a secure VPN or gateway for administrative access.

Advanced Configuration

Configuration Files

The main configuration files for SLYD are:

File Purpose Location
.env Environment variables /opt/slyd/
appsettings.json Application configuration /opt/slyd/config/
lxd-profiles.yaml LXD container profiles /opt/slyd/config/lxd/
nginx.conf Reverse proxy configuration /opt/slyd/config/nginx/

Custom LXD Profiles

You can create custom LXD profiles for specific workload types:

# Example high-performance compute profile
name: high-compute
config:
  limits.cpu: "8"
  limits.memory: 16GB
  limits.processes: "1000"
description: High performance compute profile
devices:
  eth0:
    name: eth0
    nictype: bridged
    parent: lxdbr0
    type: nic
  root:
    path: /
    pool: default
    size: 100GB
    type: disk

Scaling the Platform

As your user base grows, you'll need to scale the platform to handle increased load:

Horizontal Scaling

Add more nodes to your cluster to handle increased workloads:

# On the new node
sudo slyd-node join --token $JOIN_TOKEN --master $MASTER_IP

Vertical Scaling

Upgrade existing nodes with more resources:

  1. Shut down the SLYD services: sudo systemctl stop slyd
  2. Upgrade hardware (CPU, RAM, storage)
  3. Update resource allocations in configuration
  4. Restart services: sudo systemctl start slyd

System Monitoring

Implement comprehensive monitoring to ensure system health and performance:

Health Monitoring

Monitor system health metrics including CPU, memory, disk, and network usage.

Prometheus Grafana Node Exporter

Error Tracking

Collect and analyze application errors and exceptions to identify issues.

Sentry ELK Stack Logstash

Performance Analysis

Track application performance metrics and identify bottlenecks.

New Relic Datadog Jaeger
Monitoring Best Practices

Set meaningful alerts: Configure alerts for critical thresholds but avoid alert fatigue.

Retain historical data: Keep performance data for at least 30 days to identify trends.

Automate responses: Set up automated responses for common issues, such as restarting services or scaling resources.

Backup and Recovery

Implement a robust backup strategy to protect data and ensure service continuity:

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

# Automated database backup script
#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/slyd/db"

# Create backup directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Backup PostgreSQL database
pg_dump -U slyd -F c slyd_db > $BACKUP_DIR/slyd_db_$DATE.dump

# Compress backup
gzip $BACKUP_DIR/slyd_db_$DATE.dump

# Remove backups older than 30 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "*.gz" -mtime +30 -delete
                

LXD Container Snapshots

# Create snapshots of all LXD containers
#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Get list of all containers
CONTAINERS=$(lxc list --format csv -c n)

# Create snapshot for each container
for CONTAINER in $CONTAINERS; do
    lxc snapshot $CONTAINER $CONTAINER-$DATE
done

# Remove snapshots older than 7 days
for CONTAINER in $CONTAINERS; do
    SNAPSHOTS=$(lxc info $CONTAINER | grep Snapshots -A1000 | grep -v Snapshots | grep -v "^ *$" | awk '{print $2}')
    for SNAPSHOT in $SNAPSHOTS; do
        SNAPSHOT_DATE=$(echo $SNAPSHOT | cut -d'-' -f2)
        if [ $(date -d "$SNAPSHOT_DATE" +%s) -lt $(date -d "7 days ago" +%s) ]; then
            lxc delete $CONTAINER/$SNAPSHOT
        fi
    done
done
                

Disaster Recovery Plan

  1. Identify critical systems and prioritize recovery order
  2. Document recovery procedures for each component (database, containers, etc.)
  3. Test recovery procedures regularly in a staging environment
  4. Define RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) for each component
  5. Establish communication protocols for outage situations

Security Hardening

Implement these security measures to protect your SLYD deployment:

Network Security

  • Implement network segmentation using VLANs or subnets
  • Configure firewall rules to restrict access to essential services only
  • Enable TLS/SSL encryption for all public endpoints
  • Implement DDoS protection through Cloudflare or similar services
  • Set up VPN access for administrative functions

Access Control

  • Enforce strong password policies with minimum complexity requirements
  • Implement multi-factor authentication for all administrative access
  • Use role-based access control with principle of least privilege
  • Regularly audit user accounts and remove unused ones
  • Implement session timeouts for inactivity

Container Security

  • Apply security profiles to limit container capabilities
  • Implement resource constraints to prevent DoS attacks
  • Regularly update base images with security patches
  • Scan containers for vulnerabilities before deployment
  • Use unprivileged containers whenever possible

Monitoring & Auditing

  • Set up centralized logging for all system components
  • Implement anomaly detection to identify suspicious activities
  • Perform regular security audits of configurations and access
  • Enable audit logging for administrative actions
  • Establish incident response procedures for security events

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Solutions for frequently encountered issues:

LXD Container Fails to Start

Symptoms:

Container remains in "Error" state, fails to start with resource allocation errors.

Possible Causes:

  • Insufficient resources on the host machine
  • Misconfigured LXD profiles
  • Storage pool issues

Resolution:

# Check LXD daemon logs
journalctl -u lxd

# Verify resource availability
free -h
df -h

# Check storage pool status
lxc storage list
lxc storage info default

# Restart LXD service
systemctl restart lxd
                    

Cloudflare Tunnel Connection Issues

Symptoms:

Unable to connect to instances through Cloudflare tunnels, "connection refused" errors.

Possible Causes:

  • Cloudflare daemon not running
  • Invalid tunnel configuration
  • Network connectivity issues
  • Expired Cloudflare credentials

Resolution:

# Check Cloudflare daemon status
systemctl status cloudflared

# Verify tunnel configuration
cat /etc/cloudflared/config.yml

# Test connectivity to Cloudflare
curl -s https://www.cloudflare.com > /dev/null && echo "Connected" || echo "Failed"

# Restart Cloudflare daemon
systemctl restart cloudflared

# Check logs for errors
journalctl -u cloudflared -n 100
                    

Database Connection Failures

Symptoms:

Application logs show database connection errors, services unable to start.

Possible Causes:

  • Database service not running
  • Connection credentials incorrect
  • Network connectivity issues
  • Database corruption

Resolution:

# Check database service status
systemctl status postgresql

# Verify connection parameters
grep "ConnectionString" /opt/slyd/config/appsettings.json

# Test database connection
psql -U slyd -h localhost -p 5432 -d slyd_db -c "SELECT 1"

# Check database logs
tail -n 100 /var/log/postgresql/postgresql-13-main.log

# Restart database service
systemctl restart postgresql
                    

System Upgrades

Follow these procedures for safe system upgrades:

Important

Always back up your system before performing upgrades. Test upgrades in a staging environment first.

Minor Version Upgrades

# Stop SLYD services
systemctl stop slyd-api
systemctl stop slyd-worker

# Backup configuration
cp -r /opt/slyd/config /opt/slyd/config.bak

# Pull new container images
docker pull slyd/api:latest
docker pull slyd/worker:latest

# Start services with new images
systemctl start slyd-api
systemctl start slyd-worker

# Verify successful upgrade
curl http://localhost:8080/health

Major Version Upgrades

Major upgrades may require database schema migrations and additional steps:

  1. Review release notes for breaking changes and migration requirements
  2. Perform full backup of all data and configurations
  3. Schedule maintenance window and notify users
  4. Follow upgrade script provided with the major release
  5. Test all functionality after upgrade
  6. Have rollback plan ready in case of issues
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