Starting a Node or Cluster

Start a cluster by starting its nodes. This step is optional for post-installation.

Prerequisites

Add nodes to your cluster and configure them.

Task

If you are performing a basic installation for evaluation, or if you have not yet configured your clusters, you can skip this post installation task. This information pertains to users ready to start clusters in their production environment. This may consist solely of the single-node cluster provided out of the box, but will most likely involve multiple clusters on different machines. For information on configuring clusters, see the Configuration and Administration Guide.

A cluster must be running before you can deploy projects to it. To start a cluster, start manager nodes first, then controller-only nodes. Follow these steps for each node in the cluster, where <node-name> represents the name of a node in the cluster.

Note: The directory from which a node is started becomes the working directory for the node. The node looks for the cluster.log.properties file in the working directory.

To start a node:
- Execute this to start the node in the foreground:
```
cd $ESP_HOME/cluster/nodes/<node-name>
$ESP_HOME/bin/esp_server --cluster-node <node-name>.xml
```
- Execute this to start the node in the background:
```
cd $ESP_HOME/cluster/nodes/<node-name>
nohup $ESP_HOME/bin/esp_server --cluster-node <node-name>.xml 2>&1 > esp-node-console.out &
```
  where esp-node-console.out is a file that collects console output. Specifying a console output file is optional because most console output, which is minimal for Event Stream Processor, is also recorded in cluster.log. (You can configure logging in cluster.log.properties.) Some users prefer to direct console output to /dev/null when running a node in the background.
(Optional) Use the cluster administration tool to start and manage projects. Execute a command of this form to enter the tool’s interactive mode:
esp_cluster_admin --uri=esp[s]://<host>:<port> --username=<user> [--password=<pass>]
Provide the cluster URI and your credentials to complete the command and begin working with cluster administration commands. Use the URI protocol esps when the cluster is SSL-enabled. For clusters that are not SSL-enabled, use the protocol esp.

Note: If you omit the password parameter when you call the esp_cluster_admin tool, Event Stream Processor prompts you for the password and hides it as you type, which improves security.