Cloudera Manager 5 Frequently Asked Questions

This guide answers frequently asked questions about Cloudera Manager.

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General Questions

What are the new features of Cloudera Manager 5?

For a list of new features in Cloudera Manager 5, see New Features and Changes in Cloudera Manager 5.

What operating systems are supported?

See CDH and Cloudera Manager Supported Operating Systems for more detailed information on which operating systems are supported.

What databases are supported?

See CDH and Cloudera Manager Supported Databases for more detailed information on which database systems are supported.

What version of CDH is supported for Cloudera Manager 5?

See CDH Requirements for Cloudera Manager for detailed information.

What are the differences between the Cloudera Express and the Cloudera Enterprise versions of Cloudera Manager?

Cloudera Express includes a free version of Cloudera Manager. The Cloudera Enterprise version of Cloudera Manager provides additional functionality. Both the Cloudera Express and Cloudera Enterprise versions automate the installation, configuration, and monitoring of CDH 5 on an entire cluster. See the data sheet at Cloudera Enterprise Datasheet for a comparison of the two versions.

The Cloudera Enterprise version of Cloudera Manager is available as part of the Cloudera Enterprise subscription offering, and requires a license. You can also choose a Cloudera Enterprise Enterprise Data Hub Edition Trial that is valid for 60 days.

If you are not an existing Cloudera customer, contact Cloudera Sales using this form or call 866-843-7207 to obtain a Cloudera Enterprise license. If you are already a Cloudera customer and you need to upgrade from Cloudera Express to Cloudera Enterprise, contact Cloudera Support to obtain a license.

Are there different types of Cloudera Enterprise licenses?

Cloudera Enterprise is available on a subscription basis in five editions, each designed around how you use the platform:
  • Basic Edition provides superior support and advanced management for core Apache Hadoop.
  • Data Engineering Edition for programmatic data preparation and predictive modeling.
  • Operational Database Edition for online applications with real-time serving needs.
  • Analytic Database Edition for BI and SQL analytics.
  • Enterprise Data Hub Edition provides for complete use of the platform.
All editions are available in your environment of choice: cloud, on-premise, or a hybrid deployment. For more information, see the Cloudera Enterprise Data Sheet.

Can I upgrade CDH using Cloudera Manager?

You can upgrade to CDH 4.1.2 and higher from within the Cloudera Manager Admin Console using parcels. Furthermore, once you have installed or upgraded CDH using parcels, you can perform rolling upgrades on your CDH services. If you have HDFS high availability configured and enabled, you can perform a rolling upgrade on your cluster without taking the entire cluster down.

What version of CDH does Cloudera Manager 5 install?

Cloudera Manager 5 allows you to install any version of CDH 5 with the same minor version or lower as Cloudera Manager. For more information, see CDH 5 and Cloudera Manager 5 Requirements and Supported Versions.

Where are CDH libraries located when I distribute CDH using parcels?

With parcel software distribution, the path to the CDH libraries is /opt/cloudera/parcels/CDH/lib/ instead of the usual /usr/lib/.

What upgrade paths are available for Cloudera Manager, and what's involved?

For instructions about upgrading, see Cloudera Upgrade Overview.

How do I install Cloudera Manager 5 in a walled-off environment (no Internet access)?

You can set up a local repository and use it in the installer. For instructions, see Understanding Custom Installation Solutions.

Do worker hosts need access to the Cloudera public repositories for an install with Cloudera Manager?

You can perform an installation or upgrade using the parcel format and when using parcels, only the Cloudera Manager Server requires access to the Cloudera public repositories. Distribution of the parcels to worker hosts is done between the Cloudera Manager Server and the worker hosts. See Parcels for more information. If you want to install using the traditional packages, hosts only require access to the installation files.

For both parcels and packages, it is also possible to create local repositories that serve these files to the hosts that are being upgraded. If you have established local repositories, no access to the Cloudera public repository is required. For more information, see Creating and Using a Package Repository for Cloudera Manager.

Can I use the service monitoring features of Cloudera Manager without the Cloudera Management Service?

No. To understand the desired state of the system, Cloudera Manager requires the global configuration that the Cloudera Management Service roles gather and provide. The Cloudera Manager Agent doubles as both the agent for supervision and for monitoring.

Can I run the Cloudera Management Service and the Hadoop services on the host where the Cloudera Manager Server is running?

Yes. This is especially common in deployments that have a small number of hosts.

Does Cloudera Manager Support an API?

Yes. A comprehensive set of APIs for the various features is supported in this version of Cloudera Manager. For more information about the Cloudera Manager API, see Cloudera Manager API. You can download this Cloudera Manager API example that shows how to integrate with Nagios or other systems.