Scalelite v1.3 Compatibility & Upgrade Path for BigBlueButton 3.x Cluster

[Sam Shome]

Hello,

I am planning an upgrade for our BigBlueButton cluster and would appreciate some guidance regarding Scalelite compatibility and its upgrade procedure.

Our current setup is as follows:

• BigBlueButton: Version 2.6.x (running on Ubuntu 20.04 servers)

• Scalelite: Version 1.3 (running on an Ubuntu 20.04 server, confirmed via docker ps output: blindsidenetwks/scalelite:v1.3-api).

• Greenlight: Version 2.12.6 (running on same server with Scalelite).

Our goal is to upgrade our BigBlueButton nodes to version 3.0 (which requires Ubuntu 22.04) and ensure our Scalelite instance is compatible and up-to-date.

I have a few specific questions:

• Is Scalelite v1.3 directly compatible with BigBlueButton 3.x servers, or is an upgrade of Scalelite necessary?
• What is the recommended and safest procedure for upgrading Scalelite from version 1.3 to a version compatible with BBB 3.x. Are there any specific steps or considerations for this multi-version jump, particularly regarding database migrations (rake db:migrate) or environment variable changes across intermediate versions?
  
• Can the Scalelite server remain on Ubuntu 20.04 after the Scalelite Docker images are updated, while the new BigBlueButton 3.x nodes run on Ubuntu 22.04? Or is an OS upgrade for the Scalelite host also a prerequisite or strong recommendation?

I have 5x BBB server, 1x Postgresql DB server, 1x Scalelite Server (where greenlight installed), 1x Turn Server - all are running on ubuntu 20.04.

I'm looking for clarity on the best practices for this specific upgrade path in a Scalelite cluster.

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise.

Regards,
Sam

[Jean Pluzo]

Hi again,

I have a similar setup to yours and am also planning on upgrading everything later this year.

Can't really answer your questions but perhaps my experience will shed some light.

- Even though Scalelite (SL) 1.3 should/could be compatible with BBB 3, it is best if you upgrade to the latest SL release. In my experience there have been some/many problems which have been solved by upgrading to a newer release. Even if you do stay on SL 1.3 and post around here regarding a problem, the most probable answer will be "update to the latest version".

- "Safest"... can't really say. I have done some test-upgrades (e. g. 1.3->1.4, 1.4.->1.5) and have had no major problems. I wouldn't do 1.3->1.6 since that's a very big "jump", but it may just work. There are many new features in the newer versions. A DB migration should be done automatically (e.g. you don't have to do it explicitly).

- Sure, SL can remain in ubuntu 20.04 since the images/containers can always be updated to the latest version. An OS upgrade for SL is not a prerequisite, but it is highly recomended. Besides, you WILL have to update Ubuntu 20.04 sometime in the future. It might be a good oportunity to start "fresh" (24.04 for example).

BTW, if you're running the version of coturn that comes with Ubuntu 20.04 please do update as soon as possible, since the included coturn version of Ubuntu 24.04 has many fixes, albeit it's not perfect.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

J.

[Sam Shome]

Hi again,

I would like to ask few more things related to this. 

- You said safest is to upgrade from 1.3 > 1.4 > 1.5. Did you use BBB 2.7 with new scalelite 1.5? 
- I know you didn't test this. But do you think for BBB 3 upgrade, if I Cordon a BigBlueButton 2.7 server from Scalelite and upgrade to v3. Bring to BBB 3 in scalelite pool. During this transitional period, when Scalelite is managing a mix of both BigBlueButton 2.7 and BigBlueButton 3.0 servers, will the existing BigBlueButton 2.7 servers that are still online continue to function correctly? Will this mix versions of BBB functions?


Best Regards,
Sam 

[Jean Pluzo]

Hi,

I'm still using BBB 2.6 with SL 1.4. Can't really say if BBB 2.7 is compatible with SL 1.5 but I would say there should be no problems.

I don't think SL cares much about which BBB version each server has, as long the BBB API is there.

I have another test setup where different BBB versions are being used with SL 1.6, and have not experienced any problems. YMMV

If in doubt, just test what you're planning to do.

Regards,

J.