Chapter 2. Using OpenShift

In Chapter 1, Understanding the Essentials, we discussed a number of technologies, including coverage of the Cloud and its service model paradigms, SSH, and Git, and a very high-level overview of the OpenShift Architecture in order to gain perspective on how all the components combine to deliver a platform as a service. Now, we are about to begin utilizing this platform for our development or web application hosting needs.

The following are the three common ways in which we can utilize OpenShift as a user:

• Command-line utilities

• Web Console

• IDE integration

Each of these utilize the OpenShift REST API at the backend; therefore, as a user, we could potentially orchestrate OpenShift using the API with such common command-line utilities as curl to write scripts for automation. We could also use the API to write our own custom user interface, if we had the desire. In the following sections, we will explore using each of the currently supported user experiences, all of which...

Getting started using OpenShift

As discussed previously, we will be using the OpenShift Online free hosted service for example portions. OpenShift Online has the lowest barrier of entry from a user's perspective because we will not have to deploy our own OpenShift PaaS before being able to utilize it. Since we will be using the OpenShift Online service, the very first step is going to be to visit their website and sign up for a free account via https://openshift.redhat.com/app/account/new.

New account form

Once this step is complete, we will find an e-mail in our inbox that was provided during sign up, with a subject line similar to Confirm your Red Hat OpenShift account; inside that e-mail will be a URL that needs to be followed to complete the setup and verification step. Now that we've successfully completed the sign up phase, let's move on to exploring the different ways in which we can use and interact with OpenShift.

Command-line utilities

Due to the advancements in modern computing and the advent of mobile devices such as tablets, smart phones, and many other devices, we are often accustomed to Graphical User Interface (GUI) over Command-Line Interface (CLI) for most of our computing needs. This trend is heavier in the realm of web applications because of the rich visual experiences that can be delivered using next generation web technologies. However, those of us who are in the development and system administration circles of the world are no strangers to the CLI, and we know that it is often the most powerful way to accomplish an array of tasks pertaining to development and administration. Much of this is a credit to powerful shell environments that have their roots in traditional UNIX environments; popular examples of these are bash and zsh. Also, in more recent years, PowerShell for the Microsoft Windows platform has aimed to provide some relatively similar CLI power.

Note

The shell, as it is referenced...

Web Console

With the advent of modern web technologies such as HTML5, user interactions with the web have become more and more common, and that mindset is exactly what OpenShift aims to help developers deliver, or provide application administrators the ability to run. In this spirit, the OpenShift development team has written their own web user interface on which we can perform the following actions on applications:

• View

• Create

• Delete

• Restart

• Obtain detailed information

In this section, we will walk through the steps and show how to interact with the OpenShift Online web console.

Note

The OpenShift web console, just as the command-line utilities, is continuously undergoing active development, so certain views in the diagrams to follow are subject to change.

First, we will need to log in; then navigate to https://openshift.com with your favorite web browser and click on MY APPS at the top right. From there, we will be presented with a page similar to the following screenshot:

My Applications

The thing...

IDE Integrations

Some developers enjoy their command-line editors, such as Vim or Emacs; some enjoy a graphical text editor targeted at developers, such as Gedit, Sublime Text, Kate, TextMate, or Notepad++, and others enjoy an IDE. An IDE is a piece of software used to develop software, often containing things such as build automation tools, debugging capabilities, compilers, interpreters, and often with a plugin ecosystem to provide extended functionality. Two examples of very popular IDEs are the Open Source IDE, named Eclipse, and Microsoft's Visual Studio. Continuing with the theme of offering developers as much choice as possible, not only does OpenShift offer command-line utilities and a web console, but also an IDE with built-in OpenShift capabilities named JBoss Developer Studio (JBDS) by Red Hat, which is based on the Open Source Eclipse IDE.

The first step is to download and install JBDS by following the instructions available at https://devstudio.jboss.com/download/7.x.html; once...

Summary

Hopefully, we can select our preferred method of deploying on OpenShift, and developers of all backgrounds, preferences, and development platforms will feel at home working with OpenShift as a development and deployment platform. In Chapter 3, OpenShift – Technologies and Working, we will work through some details of how the OpenShift platform works internally as a service, discussing the different components and their individual roles within the service.