Deploy HANA Express database on Google Kubernetes cluster

This post will guide you through the creation and configuration of a Kubernetes cluster on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). You will then learn how to connect to SAP HANA, express edition running on the pods. The configurations provided here should also work on other Kubernetes orchestrators such as Azure Kubernetes Service or Amazon EKS.

The image used in this post is the database server only. The Extended Application Services, advanced and classic models (XS Advanced or XS Classic), are not included in the image pulled here.

Step 1: Create a new Kubernetes cluster

Create an account or log into the Google Cloud Platform console. If you do not have one, follow the steps to create a new project and enable the necessary APIs as detailed in this quickstart from Google:

Once there, use the menu on the top left corner to navigate a new Kubernetes cluster from the Kubernetes Engine menu.

Click Create cluster.

Step 2: Configure your Kubernetes cluster

Fill in the basic details as per your preferences, and click Customize.

Configure the minimum requirements for your nodes. The minimum requirements for each container with the server-only Docker image for SAP HANA, express edition are:

◈ 2 vCPU

◈ 8 GB RAM

◈ Ubuntu operating system

If you are planning on running multiple containers per pod, you can adjust accordingly. This example is based on a single container per pod.

Note: You can only run only one container with SAP HANA, express edition per pod.

Step 3: Connect to your cluster

Once the cluster has finished deploying, click Connect.

Use Run in Cloud Shell to connect from the web console.

Note: Alternatively, you can download the Google Cloud SDK and execute the commands locally.

This will open a gcloud console with a command ready to connect to the cluster in your project and selected zone. Hit enter to execute the command.

Step 4: Create the deployment configuration files

Go back to the gcloud console for your cluster.

In order to authenticate with Docker and pull the image, you will need to create a secret. Use the following command, with your logon data for Docker. If you do not have an account yet, you can create one for free

kubectl create secret docker-registry docker-secret --docker-server=https://index.docker.io/v1/ --docker-username=<<DOCKER_USER>> --docker-password=<<DOCKER_PASSWORD>> --docker-email=<<DOCKER_EMAIL>>

For example:

From the console, use the following command to create a new file:

edit hxe.yaml

This will open an online editor where you will paste the contents of the file below.

Replace the path to password file with the one you have just created considering the following rules:

Note: Please check the password policy to avoid errors

SAP HANA, express edition requires a very strong password that complies with these rules:

◈ At least 8 characters

◈ At least 1 uppercase letter

◈ At least 1 lowercase letter

◈ At least 1 number

◈ Can contain special characters, but not ` (backtick), $ (dollar sign), \ (backslash), ' (single quote), or " (double quotes)

◈ Cannot contain dictionary words

◈ Cannot contain simplistic or systematic values, like strings in ascending or descending numerical or alphabetical order

Replace the password in the new file using the provided rules.

kind: ConfigMap

apiVersion: v1

metadata:

  creationTimestamp: 2018-01-18T19:14:38Z

  name: hxe-pass

data:

  password.json: |+

    {"master_password" : "HXEHana1"}

`---`

kind: PersistentVolume

apiVersion: v1

metadata:

  name: persistent-vol-hxe

  labels:

    type: local

spec:

  storageClassName: manual

  capacity:

    storage: 150Gi

  accessModes:

    - ReadWriteOnce

  hostPath:

    path: "/data/hxe_pv"

`---`

kind: PersistentVolumeClaim

apiVersion: v1

metadata:

  name: hxe-pvc

spec:

  storageClassName: manual

  accessModes:

    - ReadWriteOnce

  resources:

    requests:

      storage: 50Gi

`---`

apiVersion: apps/v1

kind: Deployment

metadata:

  name: hxe

  labels:

    name: hxe

spec:

  selector:

    matchLabels:

      run: hxe

      app: hxe

      role: master

      tier: backend

  replicas: 1

  template:

    metadata:

      labels:

        run: hxe

        app: hxe

        role: master

        tier: backend

    spec:

      initContainers:

        - name: install

          image: busybox

          command: [ 'sh', '-c', 'chown 12000:79 /hana/mounts' ]

          volumeMounts:

            - name: hxe-data

              mountPath: /hana/mounts

      volumes:

        - name: hxe-data

          persistentVolumeClaim:

             claimName: hxe-pvc

        - name: hxe-config

          configMap:

             name: hxe-pass

      imagePullSecrets:

      - name: docker-secret

      containers:

      - name: hxe-container

        image: "store/saplabs/hanaexpress:2.00.030.00.20180403.2"

        ports:

          - containerPort: 39013

            name: port1

          - containerPort: 39015

            name: port2

          - containerPort: 39017

            name: port3

          - containerPort: 8090

            name: port4

          - containerPort: 39041

            name: port5

          - containerPort: 59013

            name: port6

        args: [ "--agree-to-sap-license", "--dont-check-system", "--passwords-url", "file:///hana/hxeconfig/password.json" ]

        volumeMounts:

          - name: hxe-data

            mountPath: /hana/mounts

          - name: hxe-config

            mountPath: /hana/hxeconfig

`---`

apiVersion: v1

kind: Service

metadata:

  name: hxe-connect

  labels:

    app: hxe

spec:

  type: LoadBalancer

  ports:

  - port: 39013

    targetPort: 39013

    name: port1

  - port: 39015

    targetPort: 39015

    name: port2

  - port: 39017

    targetPort: 39017

    name: port3

  - port: 39041

    targetPort: 39041

    name: port5

  selector:

    app: hxe

The file will be automatically saved to your home directory (/home/YOUR_GOOGLE_ID).

Step 5: Deploy a HANA Express docker container on your Docker pod

Use the following command to deploy the image on your pods and check deployment:

kubectl create -f hxe.yaml

kubectl describe pods

Initially, you will probably see a message stating that the image is being pulled. repeat the command a couple of minutes later until you see the container is started:

The following command will provide the name of the pod created by the deployment configuration:

kubectl get pods

Use the name of the pod form the previous command to check additional logs or log in to the database

kubectl logs <<pod resulting from above command>>

kubectl exec -it <<name of pod resulting from above command>> bash

Once in the container, you can check SAP HANA, express edition is running using HDB info.

You can edit the name in the yaml to deploy additional containers in empty nodes.

Step 6: Check your external IP address to connect to SAP HANA, express edition

Since you are using a service to expose the ports in case you want to connect with external tools, such as DBeaver, you can see the external IP assigned to your container using

kubectl get services

Note: The default port for SYSTEMDB in the Docker container is 39017 and for the default tenant, HXE the port is 39041.