Hipchat server from OVA does not retain changes in /etc/hosts/ file

[Byron Boudreaux]

I am in the process of deploying a HipChat server from the OVA file and when I add the host name to the 127.0.0.1 line in the hosts file, the change does not survive a reboot so during the boot process I see the warning saying "Cannot translate <my_hostname> to FQDN name -- Name or service not known.

Full disclosure...I am not a Linux person.

[Bruno Raymundo]

Hi, Byron!

Instead of updating the /etc/hosts file manually, please update the FQDN directly in the web administration interface:

• Updating your Hipchat Server's Fully Qualified Domain Name

This will ensure the changes are retained after a reboot!

[Byron Boudreaux]

Thanks...I was just following the steps outlined here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/hipchatdc3/set-up-a-small-scale-hipchat-data-center-cluster-939689319.html

[Bruno Raymundo]

Hi, Byron!

Please notice that the steps to deploy Hipchat Data Center are different from the steps to deploy Hipchat Server:

* Deploying Hipchat Server

That may be the reason for the confusion!

[Byron Boudreaux]

Bruno, we want to modify the sources.list to be able to add/update packages.  We can modify it but once we reboot the VM, there must be a Chef cookbook that overwrites the file with an original version.  How can we modify this behavior so that it does not wipe out our changes when the system reboots?

[Arbi Dridi]

Hi Byron, 

It's Chef, indeed. Please have a look at How to change files maintained by Chef in Hipchat Server for a workaround. 

Thanks.

[Byron Boudreaux]

@Arbi Dridi thanks for the link...will give that a try

[Byron Boudreaux]

@Arbi Dridi the document seems a little misleading from the title.  It does not give me enough information to figure out even where the Chef files are that are controlling the startup environment.  The folder it references /etc/nginx/includes/files-site does not exist on my server.  I have /etc/nginx/includes/web-site.

[Arbi Dridi]

Hi Byron, 

The file in the article is only used an example to illustrate how the changes can persist. 

The idea is to create a startup script that will make the needed changes to your file. 

For example, in your case, you'd need a script that makes the change to sources.list.

The article shows where to place the script and what to do to make sure it does what it's intended to. 

If you're looking for the Chef template for sources.list, it's /hipchat-scm/chef-repo/cookbooks/ubuntu/templates/default/localsources.list.erb.
That being said, we do not recommend changing the Chef templates directly. Any changes you make will be reverted by upgrades anyways. 

Thanks. 

[Byron Boudreaux]

@Arbi Dridi gotcha...thanks