helixml / helix

Installation - helixml/helix

Helix is an open-source, distributed, and event-driven data processing platform developed by Microsoft. It’s designed to process and analyze real-time data streams and large volumes of data. Helix provides a unified programming model for building reactive applications and microservices. In this guide, we will focus on deploying and installing Helix in various environments.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the deployment and installation process, it’s essential to ensure that you have the following prerequisites in place:

  1. Java Development Kit (JDK): Helix is built using Java, so you need to have JDK installed on your system. You can download JDK from the Oracle website.

  2. Maven: Helix uses Maven for building and managing dependencies. Make sure you have Maven installed on your system. You can download Maven from the Apache Maven website.

  3. Git: Helix is an open-source project, and you will need Git to clone the Helix repository. You can download Git from the Git website.

  4. Docker: Helix can be run in a containerized environment using Docker. Make sure you have Docker installed on your system. You can download Docker from the Docker website.

Building Helix from Source

To build Helix from source, follow these steps:

  1. Clone the Helix repository using Git:
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/helix.git
  1. Navigate to the Helix directory:
cd helix
  1. Build Helix using Maven:
mvn clean install

This command will download all the required dependencies, compile the code, and package it into JAR files.

Running Helix Locally

To run Helix locally, follow these steps:

  1. Start Zookeeper: Helix relies on Apache Zookeeper for coordination and configuration management. Start Zookeeper using the following command:
bin/zookeeper-start.sh
  1. Start Helix: Start Helix using the following command:
bin/start-helix.sh

This command will start the Helix process and register it with Zookeeper.

Deploying Helix to Kubernetes

Helix can be deployed to Kubernetes using Helm charts. Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that simplifies the deployment process.

  1. Install Helm: If you haven’t installed Helm yet, follow the instructions on the Helm website to install it.

  2. Add the Helix Helm repository:

helm repo add microsoft-helix https://microsoft.github.io/helix/charts/
  1. Update the Helm repository:
helm repo update
  1. Create a values.yaml file to customize the Helix deployment:
helix:
zookeeper:
enabled: true
image: "wurstmeister/zookeeper:3.7.0"
replicas: 1
service:
type: ClusterIP
externalPort: 2181
helix:
enabled: true
image: "microsoft/helix:latest"
replicas: 1
service:
type: LoadBalancer
externalPort: 8887
  1. Deploy Helix using Helm:
helm install my-helix microsoft-helix/helix --values values.yaml

This command will deploy Helix and Zookeeper to your Kubernetes cluster.

Conclusion

In this guide, we covered the process of deploying and installing Helix in various environments, including building Helix from source and deploying it to Kubernetes using Helm charts. We assumed that you already had the required prerequisites in place, such as JDK, Maven, Git, and Docker.

For more information about Helix, please refer to the Helix documentation. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Happy deploying and processing!