Orleans clients

Alternatively, a client interface such as IGrainFactory or IClusterClient can be obtained from ISiloHost:

Configuration is provided via UseOrleansClient and several supplemental option classes that contain a hierarchy of configuration properties for programmatically configuring a client. For more information, see Client configuration.

Consider the following example of a client configuration:

// Alternatively, call Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args) if using the 
// Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting NuGet package.
using IHost host = new HostBuilder()
    .UseOrleansClient(clientBuilder =>
    {
        clientBuilder.Configure<ClusterOptions>(options =>
        {
            options.ClusterId = "my-first-cluster";
            options.ServiceId = "MyOrleansService";
        });

        clientBuilder.UseAzureStorageClustering(
            options => options.ConfigureTableServiceClient(connectionString))
    })
    .Build();

When the host is started, the client will be configured and available through its constructed service provider instance.

Configuration is provided via ClientBuilder and several supplemental option classes that contain a hierarchy of configuration properties for programmatically configuring a client. For more information, see Client configuration.

Example of a client configuration:

var client = new ClientBuilder()
    .Configure<ClusterOptions>(options =>
    {
        options.ClusterId = "my-first-cluster";
        options.ServiceId = "MyOrleansService";
    })
    .UseAzureStorageClustering(
        options => options.ConnectionString = connectionString)
    .ConfigureApplicationParts(
        parts => parts.AddApplicationPart(typeof(IValueGrain).Assembly))
    .Build();

Lastly, you need to call Connect() method on the constructed client object to make it connect to the Orleans cluster. It's an asynchronous method that returns a Task. So you need to wait for its completion with an await or .Wait().

await client.Connect();

There are two scenarios in which a cluster client can experience connectivity issues:

• When the client attempts to connect to a silo.
• When making calls on grain references that were obtained from a connected cluster client.

In the first case, the client will attempt to connect to a silo. If the client is unable to connect to any silo, it will throw an exception to indicate what went wrong. You can register an IClientConnectionRetryFilter to handle the exception and decide whether to retry or not. If no retry filter is provided, or if the retry filter returns false, the client gives up for good.

using Orleans.Runtime;

internal sealed class ClientConnectRetryFilter : IClientConnectionRetryFilter
{
    private int _retryCount = 0;
    private const int MaxRetry = 5;
    private const int Delay = 1_500;

    public async Task<bool> ShouldRetryConnectionAttempt(
        Exception exception,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        if (_retryCount >= MaxRetry)
        {
            return false;
        }

        if (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested &&
            exception is SiloUnavailableException siloUnavailableException)
        {
            await Task.Delay(++ _retryCount * Delay, cancellationToken);
            return true;
        }

        return false;
    }
}

There are two scenarios in which a cluster client can experience connectivity issues:

• When the IClusterClient.Connect() method is called initially.
• When making calls on grain references that were obtained from a connected cluster client.

In the first case, the Connect method will throw an exception to indicate what went wrong. This is typically (but not necessarily) a SiloUnavailableException. If this happens, the cluster client instance is unusable and should be disposed of. A retry filter function can optionally be provided to the Connect method which could, for instance, wait for a specified duration before making another attempt. If no retry filter is provided, or if the retry filter returns false, the client gives up for good.

If Connect returns successfully, the cluster client is guaranteed to be usable until it is disposed of. This means that even if the client experiences connection issues, it will attempt to recover indefinitely. The exact recovery behavior can be configured on a GatewayOptions object provided by the ClientBuilder, e.g.:

var client = new ClientBuilder()
    // ...
    .Configure<GatewayOptions>(
        options =>                         // Default is 1 min.
        options.GatewayListRefreshPeriod = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10))
    .Build();

using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

namespace Client;

public sealed class ClusterClientHostedService : IHostedService
{
    private readonly IClusterClient _client;

    public ClusterClientHostedService(IClusterClient client)
    {
        _client = client;
    }

    public Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        // Use the _client to consume grains...

        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }

    public Task StopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        => Task.CompletedTask;
}

public class ClusterClientHostedService : IHostedService
{
    private readonly IClusterClient _client;

    public ClusterClientHostedService(IClusterClient client)
    {
        _client = client;
    }

    public async Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        // A retry filter could be provided here.
        await _client.Connect();
    }

    public async Task StopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        await _client.Close();

        _client.Dispose();
    }
}

try
{
    using IHost host = Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
        .UseOrleansClient((context, client) =>
        {
            client.Configure<ClusterOptions>(options =>
            {
                options.ClusterId = "my-first-cluster";
                options.ServiceId = "MyOrleansService";
            })
            .UseAzureStorageClustering(
                options => options.ConfigureTableServiceClient(
                    context.Configuration["ORLEANS_AZURE_STORAGE_CONNECTION_STRING"]));
        })
        .UseConsoleLifetime()
        .Build();

    await host.StartAsync();

    IGrainFactory client = host.Services.GetRequiredService<IGrainFactory>();

    // Hardcoded player ID
    Guid playerId = new("{2349992C-860A-4EDA-9590-000000000006}");
    IPlayerGrain player = client.GetGrain<IPlayerGrain>(playerId);
    IGameGrain? game = null;
    while (game is null)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(
            $"Getting current game for player {playerId}...");

        try
        {
            game = await player.GetCurrentGame();
            if (game is null) // Wait until the player joins a game
            {
                await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(5_000));
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Exception: {ex.GetBaseException()}");
        }
    }

    Console.WriteLine(
        $"Subscribing to updates for game {game.GetPrimaryKey()}...");

    // Subscribe for updates
    var watcher = new GameObserver();
    await game.ObserveGameUpdates(
        client.CreateObjectReference<IGameObserver>(watcher));

    Console.WriteLine(
        "Subscribed successfully. Press <Enter> to stop.");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    Console.WriteLine(
        $"Unexpected Error: {e.GetBaseException()}");
}

await RunWatcherAsync();

// Block the main thread so that the process doesn't exit.
// Updates arrive on thread pool threads.
Console.ReadLine();

static async Task RunWatcherAsync()
{
    try
    {
        var client = new ClientBuilder()
            .Configure<ClusterOptions>(options =>
            {
                options.ClusterId = "my-first-cluster";
                options.ServiceId = "MyOrleansService";
            })
            .UseAzureStorageClustering(
                options => options.ConnectionString = connectionString)
            .ConfigureApplicationParts(
                parts => parts.AddApplicationPart(typeof(IValueGrain).Assembly))
            .Build();

            // Hardcoded player ID
            Guid playerId = new("{2349992C-860A-4EDA-9590-000000000006}");
            IPlayerGrain player = client.GetGrain<IPlayerGrain>(playerId);
            IGameGrain game = null;
            while (game is null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(
                    $"Getting current game for player {playerId}...");

                try
                {
                    game = await player.GetCurrentGame();
                    if (game is null) // Wait until the player joins a game
                    {
                        await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(5_000));
                    }
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Exception: {ex.GetBaseException()}");
                }
            }

            Console.WriteLine(
                $"Subscribing to updates for game {game.GetPrimaryKey()}...");

            // Subscribe for updates
            var watcher = new GameObserver();
            await game.SubscribeForGameUpdates(
                await client.CreateObjectReference<IGameObserver>(watcher));

            Console.WriteLine(
                "Subscribed successfully. Press <Enter> to stop.");
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(
                $"Unexpected Error: {e.GetBaseException()}");
        }
    }
}

/// <summary>
/// Observer class that implements the observer interface.
/// Need to pass a grain reference to an instance of
/// this class to subscribe for updates.
/// </summary>
class GameObserver : IGameObserver
{
    public void UpdateGameScore(string score)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("New game score: {0}", score);
    }
}