CHAOS MONKEY ALTERNATIVES

Private Cloud

READ TIME

Last Updated

October 17, 2018

GomJabbar

GomJabbar is an open-source implementation of Chaos Monkey written in Java and designed to perform attacks within a private cloud architecture. Attacks are defined through the YAML configuration file and are executed as plain shell commands (e.g.^{sudo service ${module} stop}). It also integrates with Ansible and Rundeck.

Attacks are defined in the ^config.yaml within the ^commands block. The ^fail value is the fault command to be executed, while the (optional) ^revert value is executed to attempt reversion. For example, here the ^{shutdown_service} command calls ^{sudo service <service-name> stop} as a fault and the opposite to revert.

YAML


commands:
  kill_service:
    description: 'Kills services.'
    fail: 'sudo pkill -s 9 -f ${module}'
    revert: 'sudo service ${module} start'

  shutdown_service:
    description: 'Shuts down services.'
    fail: 'sudo service ${module} stop'
    revert: 'sudo service ${module} start'

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The ^filters block in ^config.yaml defines a list of ^clusters, ^modules, and ^tags to either be included or excluded via ^include or ^exclude, respectively.

YAML


filters:
  clusters:
    include:
      - gremlin-chaos
    exclude:
      - grandmas-cluster

  modules:
    include:
      - nginx
      - redis-server
    exclude:
      - critical

  tags:
    include:
      - development
      - production
    exclude:
      - test

‍

As we saw in the ^commands block above ^${module} can be referenced in fault commands and will automatically be replaced with the relevant service name. Once configured you can start the server by exporting the generated ^GJ_OPTIONS and calling the^gomjabbar.shscript.

YAML


export GJ_OPTIONS="-Dcom.outbrain.gomjabbar.configFileUrl=|config file url| ..."
./gomjabbar.sh

‍

You can then use the REST API to trigger attacks and revert faults.

Failure Injection on Your Private Cloud with Gremlin

Gremlin locates weaknesses in your private cloud architecture before they cause problems. Gremlin makes Chaos Engineering simple, safe, and secure, improving your private cloud's stability and resilience. You can begin executing Chaos Experiments in just a few minutes by signing up for an account and installing Gremlin. Gremlin can run experiments on every major type of private cloud infrastructure including Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, OpenStack, VMware, and many more.

Check out these tutorials to learn how to install Gremlin and start Chaos Engineering your private cloud today.

Muxy

Muxy is an open-source tool written in Go that allows you to tamper with network traffic at the transport, TCP, or HTTP protocol layers of your systems. In can simulate real-world network connectivity problems and can also be extended with plugins via the Plugo interface.

Muxy is configured through a YAML file that defines a number of ^proxy and ^middleware blocks.

Start by installing Muxy with ^{go get}.

BASH


go get github.com/mefellows/muxy

Create a YAML file and paste the following test configuration in it.

YAML


# gremlin.yml
proxy:
  - name: http_proxy
    config:
      host: 0.0.0.0
      port: 8181
      proxy_host: www.gremlin.com
      proxy_port: 443

# Proxy plugins
middleware:
  - name: http_tamperer
    config:
      request:
        host: www.gremlin.com
        port: 443

  # Message Delay request/response plugin
  - name: delay
    config:
      request_delay: 2500
      response_delay: 2500

  # Log in/out messages
  - name: logger

This configuration creates a ^{localhost:8181} proxy that targets ^{www.gremlin.com:443}. It also creates an ^{http_tamperer} middleware that catches requests made to ^{www.gremlin.com:443} and adds a ^2.5-second delay to both requests and responses. Finally, it outputs Muxy messages to the default terminal logger.

Start Muxy with the following command, ensuring that you specify the location of the YAML configuration file.

BASH


muxy proxy --config ./gremlin.yml

BASH


# OUTPUT
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179395 [INFO]       Loading plugin  http_tamperer
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179415 [INFO]       Loading plugin  delay
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179419 [INFO]       Loading plugin  logger
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179451 [INFO]       Loading proxy   http_proxy
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179465 [DEBUG]      HTTP Tamperer Setup()
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179476 [DEBUG]      Delay Symptom - Setup()
2018/09/18 22:47:39.179578 [INFO]       HTTP proxy listening on http://0.0.0.0:8181

Now that Muxy is listening at ^{http://0.0.0.0:8181} you can make a request to ^{www.gremlin.com} through the proxy to test it out. Muxy should add a delay of approximately 5 seconds to the request.
BASH
```
time curl -H"Host: www.gremlin.com" http://localhost:8181/
```
BASH
```
# OUTPUT
real    0m5.070s
user    0m0.000s
sys 0m0.004s
```
Now try the same timed test but without passing through the ^{localhost:8181} proxy, and you'll see Muxy doesn't catch or muck with this request.
BASH
```
time curl -o /dev/null https://www.gremlin.com
```
BASH
```
# OUTPUT
real    0m0.257s
user    0m0.036s
sys 0m0.012s
```

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Check out the official Muxy documentation for more information on integrating Muxy into your private cloud Chaos Engineering.

Chaos Monkey