[HBASE-2328] Make important configurations more obvious to new users

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Implemented
• Component/s: documentation
• Labels: moved_from_0_20_5
• Assignee: M Linville
• Reporter: Jean-Daniel Cryans
• Created: 15/Mar/10 22:16
• Updated: 11/Jun/22 23:19
• Resolved: 02/Jul/14 01:25

Description

Over the last 2 weeks, I encountered many situations where people didn't set file descriptors and xcievers higher and that was causing a ton of problems that are hard to debug if you're not used to them. To improve that we should:

• Refuse to start HBase if ulimit -n returns some small number smaller than 2048, or at least print out in big red blinking letters that the current configuration is bad and then link to a simple troubleshooting entry on the wiki.
• Write a clearer Getting Started document where we don't give as much explanations but add more stuff like "this is what your hbase-site.xml/hdfs-site/xml should look like now" and give a complete file example. At this point we don't even give a number for xcievers and we expect new users to come up with one.

Any other low hanging fruit others can think of?

Issue Links

• incorporates: HBASE-2750 Add sanity check for system configs in hbase-daemon wrapper