Installing and Configuring Packages on Linux Instances - AWS OpsWorks

Installing and Configuring Packages on Linux Instances

Important

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The built-in layers support only certain packages. For more information, see Layers. You can install other packages, such as a Redis server, by implementing custom recipes to handle the associated setup, configuration, and deployment tasks. In some cases, the best approach is to extend a built-in layer to have it install the package on its instances alongside the layer's standard packages. For example, if you have a stack that supports a PHP application, and you would like to include a Redis server, you could extend the PHP App Server layer to install and configure a Redis server on the layer's instances in addition to a PHP application server.

A package installation recipe typically needs to perform tasks like these:

  • Create one or more directories and set their modes.

  • Create a configuration file from a template.

  • Run the installer to install the package on the instance.

  • Start one or more services.

For an example of how to install a Tomcat server, see Creating a Custom Tomcat Server Layer. The topic describes how to set up a custom Redis layer, but you could use much the same code to install and configure Redis on a built-in layer. For examples of how to install other packages, see the built-in cookbooks, at https://github.com/aws/opsworks-cookbooks.