How to setup EAP in Domain Mode with Remote Host Controllers ?

Resolution

This solution will use the same EAP version for all instances, if you are looking whether different instance versions can be used in the same domain please refer to Is it possible to run a mix of different EAP (EAP6 and EAP7) versions within the same domain? .

We will use two machines:

The "master" box, which will run the Domain Controller, hereafter called the DC. A "slave", which will run a Host Controller, hereafter called the HC1. You can use multiple slaves with each an HC. The principle stays the same. But in following steps we use on slave:

Step 1) Unzip jboss-eap-6.x.y.zip on the DC, for example to /opt/jboss-eap-6-Master

Step 2) Unzip jboss-eap-6.x.y.zip on HC1, for example to /opt/jboss-eap-6-Slave

Step 3) On the DC, edit /opt/jboss-eap-6-Master/domain/configuration/host.xml and set its host name as follows: (the name should be unique in the whole domain)

<host name="masterOne" xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:1.3">

Do not confuse this name with the actual hostname of the machine.

Step 4) On HC1, edit /opt/jboss-eap-6-Slave/domain/configuration/host.xml and set its host name like follows: (the name should be unique in the whole domain)

<host name="hostOne" xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:1.3">

and tell it where the DC is - here we need to use the actual hostname of the DC

    <domain-controller>
        <remote host="YourMasterHostName" port="9999" security-realm="ManagementRealm"/>
    </domain-controller>

Note: For EAP 7, you need to mention the protocol type as well through which HC1 will communicate with DC. The default protocol is remote. Apart from remote protocol, http-remoting and https-remoting protocol can be used.
http-remoting allow to connect host controller to domain controller via http management protocol, default port is 9990 and https-remoting allow to connect host controller to domain controller via management https protocol where ssl is enabled, default port is 9993.

    <domain-controller>
         <remote protocol="remote" host="YourMasterHostName" port="9999" security-realm="ManagementRealm"/> 
    </domain-controller>

• To share single user for multiple host-slave controllers use the below way :

<host name="AnyName" xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:1.3">
     :
     :
    <domain-controller>
        <remote host="YourMasterHostName" port="9999" security-realm="ManagementRealm" username="hostOne"/>
    </domain-controller>
     :
     :
</host>

Note: If you have an internal DNS environment where you register your servers, make sure you configured host attribute using the FQDN (Full-Qualified Domain Name)
Still in /opt/jboss-eap-6-Slave/domain/configuration/host.xml, make the servers section look like:

<servers>
  <server name="TestServer" group="main-server-group" auto-start="true"/>
</servers>

Step 5) Now on the DC you will need to create a user, for each HC you want to use, in the ManagementRealm. So in our scenario, create a user for hostOne as you defined in <host name="hostOne" ...>

Use the following script on the DC: /opt/jboss-eap-6-Master/bin/add-user.sh
Note: In this case we'll use the password "passwordOne"):

$ ./add-user.sh 

What type of user do you wish to add? 
 a) Management User (mgmt-users.properties) 
 b) Application User (application-users.properties)
(a): a

Enter the details of the new user to add.
Realm (ManagementRealm) : ManagementRealm
Username : hostOne
Password : passwordOne
Re-enter Password : passwordOne
About to add user 'hostOne' for realm 'ManagementRealm'
Is this correct yes/no? yes
Added user 'hostOne' to file '/opt/jboss-eap-6-Master/standalone/configuration/mgmt-users.properties'
Added user 'hostOne' to file '/opt/jboss-eap-6-Master/domain/configuration/mgmt-users.properties'
Is this new user going to be used for one AS process to connect to another AS process e.g. slave domain controller?

yes/no? yes

To represent the user add the following to the `server-identities` definition `<secret value="cGFzc3dvcmRPbmU=" />`

Step 6) On HC1 edit /opt/jboss-eap-6-Slave/domain/configuration/host.xml and add the <server-identity> and the <secret value="..."> which was generated in step 5 as follows:

<management>
  <security-realms>
    <security-realm name="ManagementRealm">
      <server-identities>
          <secret value="cGFzc3dvcmRPbmU=" />
      </server-identities>
      <authentication>
        <local default-user="$local" />
        <properties path="mgmt-users.properties" relative-to="jboss.domain.config.dir"/>
      </authentication>
    </security-realm>
    .
    .
    .
</management>

Step 7) Start the DC with the script in /opt/jboss-eap-6-Master/bin as below. Make sure that there are no firewall restrictions so that YourMasterHostName:9999 is accessible from remote HCs.

./domain.sh -b YourMasterHostName -bmanagement YourMasterHostName

Note that YourMasterHostName should be the host name of the machine where the DC is running, as defined in DNS and not the name you gave the JBoss DC itself (masterOne)

Step 8) Start the HC1 with the script in /opt/jboss-eap-6-Slave/bin as below:

./domain.sh -Djboss.domain.master.address=YourMasterHostName -b SlaveHostName -bmanagement SlaveHostName

Again note that SlaveHostName should be the host name of the machine where HC1 is running, as defined in DNS and not the name you gave the JBoss HC1 itself (hostOne)

The result should be that on the DC, in the console log you see the slaves join, while on the slaves you see a server instance start-up.