Gitlab Deployment

This page will describe how to deploy the FHS-VCC device servers in emulation mode by cloning the projct from gitlab.

Emulator Setup

First thing to do is ensure that the server you’re deploying the FHS-VCC server on has been deployed and is running. This step is performed separately from the deployment of the FHS-VCC device servers.

Please follow the emulator deployment instructions found in the emulators readthedocs here: Emulator Deployment Instructions

FHS-VCC Setup

Follow these steps to build a local image of the ska-mid-cbf-fhs-vcc project and deploy in minikube for testing

Minikube Setup

Follow the Minikube Setup instructions first to get a cluster up and running

Deployment Steps

  1. Clone the repository from gitlab and navigate inside it

https://gitlab.com/ska-telescope/ska-mid-cbf-fhs-vcc

cd ska-mid-cbf-fhs-vcc

  1. Initialize the git submodules

git submodule init
git submodule update

  1. Enter the minikube docker environment

eval $(minikube docker-env)

  1. Build and deploy the local images

./scripts/deploy_boogie_and_fhs_vcc.sh

  1. Verify deployment of the device servers using kubectl or k9s using kubectl

kubectl get pods -n ska-mid-cbf

using k9s

k9s

then navigate the the namespace ska-mid-cbf and verify pods have started up successfully

Accessing the device servers using Boogie

The ska-mid-cbf-fhs-vcc project comes with a pod that is running Boogie. Boogie is a GUI that allows you to access the running device servers / devices and access and manipulate their attributes , properties and to also run commands.

To access boogie please run the following command:

kubectl exec -it -n ska-mid-cbf <boogie pod name> -- bash -c boogie

Alternativly you can run boogie from k9s by entering the shell of the pod. From the terminal run

k9s

  • Inside k9s navigate to the container through its namespace ska-mid-cbf -> boogie container -> then press ‘s’ to enter the shell of the container

  • From inside the container run

boogie

For more information regarding boogie please see its gitlab page: Boogie

Working with a bitstream branch (testing changes to emulators and/or drivers)

To test locally with a custom bitstream (i.e. a branch in ska-mid-cbf-bitstreams), add e.g. the following under lowLevel in values.yaml:

gitlab_bitstream_url_override: "https://gitlab.com/ska-telescope/ska-mid-cbf-bitstreams/-/archive/cip-2957/ska-mid-cbf-bitstreams-cip-2957.tar.gz?path=raw/ska-mid-cbf-agilex-vcc"

You can find this URL by navigating to the bitstream repo on GitLab (https://gitlab.com/ska-telescope/ska-mid-cbf-bitstreams), navigating into your branch, and then navigating into the raw/ska-mid-cbf-<bitstream_id> folder. Then click the “Code” dropdown, and copy the “tar.gz” link under “Download this directory”. Alternatively, you can just copy the above and substitute in your branch name and bitstream ID.