The Fabric Services System deployer VM

The procedures in this section describe how to deploy and configure the Fabric Services System deployer VM.

Downloading the Fabric Services System deployer image

Contact Nokia support for the location of the Fabric Services System deployer QCOW2 or OVA image.
Table 1. Deployer VM images
Deployment Where to download the image
VMware vSphere Download the OVA image to a host that can reach the VMware vCenter or ESXi host on which it will be deployed.
KVM Download the QCOW2 image to the deployer host.

Prepare the Fabric Services System deployer hypervisor

Before you install the deployer VM, you must prepare the node on which you are installing the deployer VM. Virtualization must be enabled on the node and can be enabled in the BIOS or EFI. You must also install a VMware vSphere or KVM environment on the node before installing the deployer VM.

Fabric Services System deployer VM creation

After you have downloaded the OVA or QCOW2 image and prepared the deployer node, follow the installation steps to create the deployer VM.

The Fabric Services System nodes contained in the cluster (worker nodes) and the node hosting the deployer VM must communicate with each other. Both the worker nodes and the deployer VM must be able to initiate connections.

Use one of the following procedures to configure networking for the deployer VM using a bridged network:

Creating the VM on a bridged network on KVM

This section provides an example script used to create a VM in a KVM-based hypervisor. You can use this script or you can use your own procedure as long as the resulting VM meets the requirements for the Fabric Services System VM.

  1. Create an fssvm_create.sh file, then copy the following contents into the file:
    create_fssvm() {
        BRIDGE="breth0:1"
        VM=fss-deployer
        VMDIR=/var/lib/libvirt/images/$VM
        FSSIMAGE=<path to fss-installer qcow2 image>
        sudo mkdir -vp $VMDIR
        sudo cp $FSSIMAGE $VMDIR/$VM.qcow2
        sudo virsh pool-create-as --name $VM --type dir --target $VMDIR
        sudo virt-install --import --name $VM \
        --memory 8096 --vcpus 1 --cpu host \
        --disk $VMDIR/$VM.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=virtio \
        --network bridge=$BRIDGE,model=virtio \
        --os-variant=centos7.0 \
        --noautoconsole --debug
    }
    VMDIR=.
    create_fssvm
  2. In the script, modify the FSSIMAGE=<path to fss-installer qcow2 image> field to show the actual path to the Fabric Services System image on your system.
    FSSIMAGE=./fss-deployer-x.y.qcow2
  3. Modify the permissions of the shell script file.
    chmod 755 fssvm_create.sh
  4. Execute the shell script.
    ./fssvm_create.sh

Creating the VM on VMware vSphere

You can use one of the following methods to deploy the VM on VMware vSphere:
  • the VMware vSphere vCenter or ESXi UI

    For instructions, see Deploy an OVF or OVA Template in the VMware vSphere documentation.

  • the VMware Open Virtualization Format Tool CLI

    The following section provides an example of how to use the VMware OVF Tool CLI.

  1. Download and install the latest version of the VMware OVF Tool from the VMware Developer website.
  2. Display details about the OVA image.
    Execute the ovftool command with just the OVA image name as the argument.
    $ ovftool fss-deployer-24.5.1-414.ova
    OVF version: 1.0
    VirtualApp: false
    Name: fss-deployer
    
    
    Download Size: 17.40 GB
    
    
    Deployment Sizes:
    Flat disks: 40.00 GB
    Sparse disks: 21.38 GB
    
    
    Networks:
    Name: OAM
    Description: The Fabric Services System OAM (UI and API) network
    
    
    Name: FABRIC
    Description: The Fabric Services System Fabric Management network
    
    
    Virtual Machines:
    Name: fss-deployer
    Operating System: centos7_64guest
    Virtual Hardware:
    Families: vmx-14
    Number of CPUs: 2
    Cores per socket: 1
    Memory: 7.91 GB
    
    
    Disks:
    Index: 0
    Instance ID: 4
    Capacity: 40.00 GB
    Disk Types: SCSI-lsilogic
    
    
    NICs:
    Adapter Type: VmxNet3
    Connection: OAM
    
    
    Adapter Type: VmxNet3
    Connection: FABRIC
    
    
    References:
    File: fss-deployer-disk1.vmdk
  3. Deploy the OVA image using the OVF Tool.

    For details about command line arguments, see the OVF Tool documentation from the VMware website.

    Note: Ensure that you use thick provisioning for the disk and to connect all the interfaces to a network. The secondary interface can be disconnected and disabled after the deployment and before you power on.
    $ ovftool --acceptAllEulas -dm=thick -ds=VSAN -n=fss-deployer --net:"OAM=OAM-network" --net:"FABRIC=Fabric-network" fss-deployer_24.5.1-414.ova vi://administrator%40vsphere.local@vcenter.domain.tld/My-Datacenter/host/My-Cluster/Resources/My-Resource-Group
    
    Opening OVA source: fss-deployer_24.5.1-414.ova
    The manifest validates
    Enter login information for target vi://vcenter.domain.tld/
    Username: administrator%40vsphere.local
    Password: ***********
    Opening VI target: vi://administrator%40vsphere.local@vcenter.domain.tld/My-Datacenter/host/My-Cluster/Resources/My-Resource-Group
    Deploying to VI: vi://administrator%40vsphere.local@vcenter.domain.tld/My-Datacenter/host/My-Cluster/Resources/My-Resource-Group
    Transfer Completed

Configuring the Fabric Services System deployer VM

  1. From the VMware vSphere console or the KVM console, log in to the deployer VM.

    Use the following credentials:

    Username: root

    Password: N0ki@FSSb4se!

    Note: After the initial login, Nokia recommends that you change this default password to a stronger password to enhance the security of the deployer and the Fabric Services System environment.
  2. If your environment does not support or use cloud-init services, disable and stop these services.
    # systemctl stop cloud-init cloud-init-local cloud-config cloud-final
    # systemctl disable cloud-init cloud-init-local cloud-config cloud-final
  3. Enable SSH.
    The base image is a hardened image, so SSH is disabled by default for the root user. To enable SSH, update the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and change the following lines:
    PasswordAuthentication no
    PermitRootLogin no
    to:
    PasswordAuthentication yes
    PermitRootLogin yes
    Note: You can keep password authentication disabled to provide extra security. In this case, only key-based authentication works, and you must configure the appropriate public SSH keys for the root user to log in over SSH. In any case, this configuration is needed for the deployer VM to reach the nodes.
  4. Restart SSH.
    # systemctl restart sshd
  5. Edit the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 file to configure the correct static IP address, DNS servers, and gateway.
    The final content should look similar to the following, except with the IP address, DNS, and domain details specific to the target environment:
    BOOTPROTO=static
    DEVICE=eth0
    ONBOOT=yes
    TYPE=Ethernet
    USERCTL=no
    IPADDR=192.0.2.10
    PREFIX=24
    GATEWAY=192.0.2.1
    DNS1=192.0.2.5
    DNS2=192.0.2.6
    DOMAIN=fss.nokia.local
    MTU=9000
  6. Restart the network to apply the new configuration.

    Execute the following command:

    # systemctl restart NetworkManager.service
  7. Configure the appropriate NTP servers.
    Edit the /etc/chrony.conf configuration file and replace all lines beginning with server with the correct server lines for the environment.
  8. Restart the chronyd service.
    # systemctl restart chronyd
  9. Verify that time synchronization is functioning properly.
    # chronyc tracking
    Reference ID    : 87E30FFE (192.0.2.5)
    Stratum         : 4
    Ref time (UTC)  : Wed Feb 16 01:20:36 2022
    System time     : 0.000014215 seconds slow of NTP time
    Last offset     : -0.000001614 seconds
    RMS offset      : 0.000106133 seconds
    Frequency       : 11.863 ppm slow
    Residual freq   : -0.071 ppm
    Skew            : 0.187 ppm
    Root delay      : 0.063009784 seconds
    Root dispersion : 0.018440660 seconds
    Update interval : 64.5 seconds
    Leap status     : Normal

    If the Reference ID field does not show any of the configured servers, but instead refers to something like 127.127.1.1, time synchronization is not functioning properly.

  10. Synchronize the RTC clock and the system clock.

    Ensure that the RTC and the system clock are synchronized after every reboot.

    # hwclock --systohc
    Then, verify that local time and the RTC time are synchronized.
    # timedatectl
  11. Optional: Change the hostname.
    # hostnamectl set-hostname new-hostname.domain.tld
  12. Reboot the Fabric Services System deployer VM to ensure that all services come up with the correct network configuration.
    # reboot