Use Instance Update on Engine Yard

Overview

The 'Individual Instance Update'  feature in Engine Yard is a good solution for you if you have multiple app servers and periodically, due to instance timeout errors, the Chef run completes on some but not all of the instances. Using this feature, you can re-apply Chef to the instance that needs it (i.e, the instance showing a red status in the dashboard).

Note: There are cases where, should that apply go green, it will trigger a quick run.

Get started with instance update on Engine Yard

• Prerequisites
• Enable the instance update feature
• Use instance update
• More information

Get help or provide feedback

If you have any issues or questions about this Early Access feature, use the Early Access Feature Feedback forum.

Prerequisites

• This document assumes you already have an Engine Yard account. If not, see Sign up for an Engine Yard Account.

Enable the instance update feature

You need to enable the Early Access feature before you can participate in the program.

Note: Early Access features may have been implemented with minimum required functionality, are likely still in development, might use open source technology that is not “production-ready,” or be stack components that use solid open-source technology but are simply new to the Engine Yard Technology Stack.

To enable 'Individual Instance Update' Early Access

1. Log in to your Engine Yard account.

2. On the dashboard, click Tools > Early Access on the toolbar.

   

3. On the 'Manage Early Access Features' screen, next to the Individual Instance Update feature, click Enable.
   

   The related functionality becomes available.

Use instance update

Important: We recommend testing in a staging environment before applying changes in a production environment.

To update an individual instance

1. Log in to your Engine Yard account.
2. Navigate to the environment by clicking on the environment name in the dashboard.

3. On the Environment page, determine which specific instance needs a Chef update. Each individual instance will now have an 'Apply' button as shown in the screenshot below.

   For example, when you apply Chef updates to your environment, sometimes not all instance updates complete successfully. The most common reason for this is a connection timeout at the infrastructure level.

   

4. Click 'Apply' at the individual instance level.

   

   Engine Yard applies the Chef configuration updates to the individual instance.

   The dashboard indicator should turn green to indicate success. If not, check your configuration logs and see More information.

   If you are still having trouble, submit a ticket with Engine Yard Support.

More information

This table provides other resources related to instance update.

If you have feedback or questions about this page, add a comment below. If you need help, submit a ticket with Engine Yard Support.