Sandbox

Ground Rules, Content Policy and Quotas

The objective of the Stackato Sandbox Service is to give Stackato users an easy way to test drive Stackato deployment of applications in a privately hosted environment on EC2.

  • Stackato users can get started with ActiveState’s Stackato Sandbox hosted cluster at no charge for up to 45 days.
  • After 45 days, all application containers will be deleted. There will be no mechanism to restore any of the contents.
  • This Sandbox is strictly for testing. You should not launch a production application or service on it.
  • Custom URLs are not available. All applications launched will resolve to a *.stacka.to URL.

Key Features of the Stackato Sandbox Service:

  • Deployment to a Private Cloud hosted on Amazon EC2
  • Scaling the number of instances and memory allocation
  • Enhanced multi-tenant security model as each application is in its own LXC container

Who can use it:

  • The Sandbox is available only to ActiveState Community members enrolled in the Stackato program.
  • Users must fill out the request form and meet minimal requirements and agree with the Terms of Services (Legal Agreement).
  • Users will be sent a one-time use INVITE CODE and be required to create an account tied to the community.activestate.com site and its forums.
  • Users can use it to test Stackato and app deployment, keeping in mind that the Sandbox is not designed for hosting production applications.

Access to the Sandbox is subject to space availability and by invitation only.

Users requesting access will be placed in a queue and notified when space becomes available.

The 45-day access period begins as soon as the automated notification email is sent. Users will receive notice when their trial ends via email as well.

Sandbox Limitations

General

Upon sign-up, new Stackato Sandbox users receive the following Stackato services for 45 days. The Sandbox is not meant for or to be used for production applications or services.

Technical Limits

The following limits are per each Sandbox user:

  • Stackato running on Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit
  • Application Memory: 256 MB
  • DiskSpace: 10 GB
  • Bandwidth (per month): 50 GB

The Sandbox includes the full range of our supported languages subject to change without notice:

  • 2 applications
    • Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Node.Js.
    • Java and Clojure may have issues due to their larger memory requirements. These operate normally in an unrestricted Stackato cloud.
  • 2 instances of each application

  • 2 services which represent a given database, such as MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, or PostgreSQL

  • For the Sandbox, database services are limited to 100 MB of disk space

The stackato dbshell command will not function as expected on the Sandbox due to security concerns, so direct database access is not possible. Database configuration and setup will need to be done by the code after being pushed to the Sandbox. See Pre-populating a database while pushing an app for instructions on configuring your app to set up your database when you push it to the Sandbox.

Data Persistence

From time to time, the Sandbox may need to be restarted. In such cases, any local files, file-based databases, etc, created by the application will be lost when the app is reloaded. Database services and persistent file system services are provided in order to maintain an application’s information and should be used for any data storage needs on the Sandbox.

Ground Rules For Deployment of Apps to the Sandbox

When using the Stackato Sandbox Service, you must comply with the ActiveState Acceptable Use Policy (the “Acceptable Use Policy”) which is incorporated herein by this reference and which may be updated from time to time.

The ActiveState Stackato Sandbox Services shall be subject to the privacy policy for ActiveState Services. You agree to the use of your data in accordance with ActiveState’s privacy policies.

You must protect the privacy and legal rights of the End Users of your application. You must provide legally adequate privacy notice and protection for End Users. If End Users provide you with user names, passwords, or other login information or personal information, you must make the users aware that the information will be available to your application and to ActiveState.

Content Policy on the Stackato Sandbox Service and Take Down Obligations

You understand that all information (such as data files, written text, computer software, music, audio files or other sounds, photographs, videos or other images) to which you may have access as part of, or through your use of, the Stackato Sandbox Service are the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated. All such information is referred to below as the “Content.” The term Content shall specifically exclude the web application that you create using the Stackato Sandbox Service and any source code written by you to be used with the Stackato Sandbox Service (collectively, “Applications”).

ActiveState reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to remove any or all Content from the Stackato Sandbox Service. You agree to immediately take down any Content that violates the Acceptable Use Policy, including pursuant to a take down request from ActiveState. In the event that you elect not to comply with a request from ActiveState to take down certain Content, ActiveState reserves the right to directly take down such Content or to disable Applications. In the event that you become aware of any violation of the Acceptable Use Policy by an End User of Applications, you shall immediately terminate such end user’s account on your Application. ActiveState reserves the right to disable Applications in response to a violation or suspected violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.

You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that ActiveState has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) the Application or any Content that you create, transmit or display while using the Stackato Sandbox Service and for the consequences of your actions (including any loss or damage which ActiveState may suffer) by doing so.

You agree that ActiveState has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content and other communications maintained or transmitted through use of the Service. You further acknowledge that you are solely responsible for securing and backing up your Applications and any Content.

Requesting Access

In order to request access to the Sandbox, you must have a Stacakto Community site account.

Joining The Queue

Log into the Stackato Community site. You will see a notice about the Sandbox Sandbox and a button to request your 45 day access.

Determining Position In The Queue

To determine your position in the queue for access, visit the Accounts page. Your position will be noted in the Stackato Sandbox Access area.

Leaving The Queue

To remove yourself from the queue for access, visit the Accounts page. Press the “Leave the queue” button in the Stackato Sandbox Access area.

Logging In and Targeting

If you do not already have the Stackato client installed, please see the Command Line Client instructions.

The client must be set to target the Sandbox URL. This tells the Stackato client where it will be pushing applications:

$ stackato target api.stacka.to
Successfully targeted to [http://api.stacka.to]

To log in, use the login command and enter your email address and password when prompted:

$ stackato login

Deploying Applications

Applications are deployed to the Sandbox in the same way they would be deployed to a local setup. Please read the Deployment section for instructions, sample applications, and specific details on deploying various types of projects.

Keep in mind that application names are unique across the sandbox. Choose names that are specific, or add a unique name in front of them (Example: Use “jsmith-helloworld” instead of “helloworld”). The Stackato Client will prompt you should there be a conflict, but this will help prevent it beforehand.

Testing Applications

When an application is pushed to the Sandbox, the client will provide you with an Application URL that can be used to view the application. For example, if you want to launch an application called cirrus:

$ stackato push cirrus
...
Application Deployed URL: 'cirrus.stacka.to'?
Application Url: cirrus.stacka.to
...

The application URL can be used in a web browser to see the results of the pushed application.