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Chapter 5. Installing Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisors
Important
- Installing with the Hypervisor Configuration Menu menu (refer to Section 5.1.2, “The RHEV Hypervisor Configuration Menu”
- Installing with kernel command line parameters (refer to Section 5.2, “RHEV Hypervisor Kernel Parameters and Automated Installation”
5.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor interactive installation
5.1.1. Booting the Hypervisor for installation
Procedure 5.1. Booting the Hypervisor
- Insert the RHEV Hypervisor installation media.
- Power on the system and ensure the system boots from the installation media.
- Once the RHEV Hypervisor has completed the boot phase, the kernel parameter prompt appears.
ISOLINUX 3.11 2005-09-02 Copyright (C) 1994-2005 H. Peter Anvin This is the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor 5.7-2.2 (4.2) - to boot press the <ENTER> key or type linux and press the <ENTER> key. - Extra kernel command line parameters can be passed following the linux keyword. - Boot parameters summary: BOOTIF=link|eth*|<MAC>(pxelinux format) storage_init=[usb|scsi|cciss[:serial#]]|/dev/... storage_vol=:SWAP_MB::CONFIG_MB:LOGGING_MB:DATA_MB mem_overcommit=<overcommit_ratio> upgrade ip=<client-ip> netmask=<netmask> gateway=<gw-ip> vlan=<VLAN-id> dns=server[:server] ntp=server[:server] hostname=fqdn management_server=RHEVM-host[:port] netconsole_server=RHEVM-host[:port] boot:
Enter any required kernel arguments. For example::linux firstboot
Important
Note
upgrade
parameter. This will automatically upgrade and reboot the system, rather than taking you to the interactive configuration menu. For more information, refer to Section 5.2.6, “Other parameters”.
Note
/pxelinux.cfg/default
). This can be used to run an automated setup, covered in Section 5.2, “RHEV Hypervisor Kernel Parameters and Automated Installation”, and may be more useful depending on your environment.
5.1.2. The RHEV Hypervisor Configuration Menu
Example 5.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor Configuration Menu
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor release 5.7-2.2 Hypervisor Configuration Menu 1) Configure storage partitions 6) Configure the host for RHEV 2) Configure authentication 7) View logs 3) Set the hostname 8) Install locally and reboot 4) Networking setup 9) Support Menu 5) Register Host to RHN Choose an option to configure:
Configuration menu options
- Configure storage partitions
- Prepares the local storage device for installation. Refer to Section 5.1.4, “Partitioning the disk”.
- Configure authentication
- Sets the root password for administration and SSH access. Refer to Section 5.1.5, “Set the administrator password”.
- Set the hostname
- Sets the hostname manually instead of using DHCP. Refer to Section 5.1.6, “Set the hostname”.
- Networking setup
- Configures network settings and services including: DHCP, IPv4, NTP and DNS. Refer to Section 5.1.7, “Set up Networking”.
- Register Host to RHN
- Registers the host to the Red Hat Network (RHN). Refer to Section 5.1.8, “Register to RHN”.
- Configure the host for RHEV
- Enter IP address of the RHEV Manager server. Refer to Section 5.1.9, “Configure the host for RHEV”.
- View logs
- View log files to debug the installation procedure. Refer to Section 5.1.10, “View logs”.
- Install locally and reboot
- Install the Hypervisor to the storage device and reboot. Refer to Section 5.1.11, “Installation”.
- Support Menu
- Contains options for continuing stateless boot and exiting to a shell prompt. This menu is not supported except when working with Red Hat support.
5.1.3. Remove existing RHEV Hypervisor installations
Important
firstboot
parameter may be required to trigger the interactive installation. To use the firstboot
parameter, append it to other kernel parameters. On a system with an existing RHEV Hypervisor, use the following kernel parameters to activate the interactive installation:
: linux firstboot
5.1.4. Partitioning the disk
Warning
storage_init
parameter.
Procedure 5.2. The Storage Configuration menu
- Select the Configure storage partitions option from the main menu to open the Configure storage partitions menu.
Example 5.2. The Configure storage partitions menu
Configure storage partitions 1) Configure 2) Review 3) Commit configuration 4) Return to the Hypervisor Configuration Menu Choose an option:
Select storage device
Select Configure.If you have more than one storage device available, you are prompted to select the storage device on which to install the RHEV Hypervisor. If there is only one storage device, skip to Step 3.Example 5.3. Select storage device
/dev/mapper/SServeRA_venh_076A0444 (sda) (69889 MB) Disk Identifier: storage_serial_SServeRA_venh_076A0444 /dev/sdb (15296 MB) Disk Identifier: storage_serial_UFD_USB_Flash_Drive_XFHO0KCK69T746WFHAUB 1) /dev/mapper/SServeRA_venh_076A0444 3) Abort 2) /dev/sdb 4) Manual selection
Select the appropriate storage device from the menu. If the device you wish to use is not shown, select Manual selection. You will then be prompted to enter0 the path to the storage device. The path must be entered exactly; wildcards are not permitted.Choose partition sizes
You are prompted to set the size of the boot, swap, root, config, logging and data partitions. The value is accepted in megabytes (MB).Setting a size value of -1 sets the partition to take up all remaining disk space. Note that this can only be used with the Data partition.Pressing Enter without any value sets the partition to the default size.Important
Do not append units onto the end of the partition size values. Using MB or similar unit on the end of a value may have adverse effects. For example, use the value5
instead of5MB
.- The boot partition contains the boot loader, kernel and initramfs.The default and only supported size for the boot partition is 50MB. The size of the boot partition cannot be configured.
- The swap partition is used for swapping underused memory to the hard drive to speed up memory performance. The default size of the swap partition is calculated based on the amount of RAM and the overcommit ratio (default is 0.5). RHEV Hypervisors must have a swap partition and the swap partition cannot be disabled by setting its size to 0. The minimum size for the swap partition is 5MB.Red Hat Knowledgebase has an article on determining an appropriate size for the swap partition.Use the formula from the Red Hat Knowledgebase and add storage for the overcommit ratio (RAM multiplied by the overcommit ratio).
Recommended swap + (RAM * overcommit) = swap partition size
Pressing Enter during the installation sequence sets a recommended value for the swap partition. - The root partition contains the core files for the Hypervisor and the
LiveOS
directory from the installation media. The default total size of the root file system partition is 512MB. This value includes 256MB for one root partition and an additional 256MB for a backup root partition.The default and only supported size for the root partition is 256MB. The size of the root partition cannot be configured. - The config partition stores configuration files for the Hypervisor.The default and minimum size for the configuration partition is 5MB.
- The logging partition stores all logs for the Hypervisor.The logging partition is required and the recommended size is 2048MB.
- The data partition stores core files and kdump files and acts as temporary storage for ISO files. The default size of the data partition is the remaining available disk space (labeled as -1).When ISO files are uploaded using the ISO Uploader tool, they are temporarily stored on the data partition of a RHEV Hypervisor host, before being moved to the shared ISO Library. The data partition must include sufficient space to store these ISO files, which can be over 4GB in size for modern operating systems.The data partition must be large enough to hold core files for KVM. Core files depend on the RAM size for the virtual machine. The data partition must also be large enough to store kernel dump files, also known as kdumps. A kdump file is usually the same size as the host's total system RAM. The data partition also stores the RHEV Hypervisor ISO file for RHEV Hypervisor upgrades.The data partition must be at least 1.5x as large as the RAM on the host system plus an additional 512MB in size. The minimum size is 256MB.
Review
Select the Review menu option. The review menu output is similar to the screenshot below:The local disk will be repartitioned as follows: ================================================ Physical Hard Disk: /dev/hdb (10000 MB) Disk Identifier: storage_serial_QM00002 Boot partition size: 50 MB Swap partition size: 2233 MB Installation partition size: 256 * 2 MB Configuration partition size: 5 MB Logging partition size: 2048 MB Data partition size: 5152 MB
- Select Commit configuration to accept the partitions. The following warning displays:
!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!! !!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! If you proceed, all data on your selected storage !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! device will be destroyed and your hard disk !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! will be irreversibly reconfigured. !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!! !!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!! !!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!!WARNING!! Do you wish to proceed([Y]es or [N]o)?
- Press Y to proceed and format the partitions.
5.1.5. Set the administrator password
Procedure 5.3. Set the administrator password
- Select Configure authentication from the main configuration menu.
Example 5.4. The Configure authentication menu
SSH remote access is currently disabled 1) Set administrator password 2) Toggle SSH password authentication 3) Return to the Hypervisor Configuration Menu Choose an option to configure:
- Select Set the administrator password.
- The password prompt displays.
Set the system administrator's (root) password: New UNIX password:
Enter the preferred password. You will be prompted to retype the password. Changing password for user root. passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully. storing to /config : /etc/shadow File persisted
This message indicates that the password has been set and saved to local storage.
Procedure 5.4. Optional: Configure SSH password authentication
- Select Toggle SSH password authentication from the Configure authentication menu.
Enable SSH password authentication ([Y]es or [N]o)?
Press y to enable SSH password authentication.- If successful, the following message is displayed:
SSH remote access is currently enabled.
5.1.6. Set the hostname
DHCP
and DNS
, a hostname can be assigned to the Hypervisor at boot time.
- Select the Set the hostname option from the main menu.
- Enter the hostname in the following format:
anyname.domain.example.com
. Whereanyname
is the individual name for the host on the specified domain.What is this Hypervisor's hostname?
Enter the hostname for the Hypervisor and press Enter. - If the hostname setting procedure is successful, this message is displayed:
The hostname is set.
Procedure 5.5. Resetting hostnames
- Open the Set the hostname menu.
- The specify a hostname prompt appears:
What is this Hypervisor's hostname?
Press the Enter key without typing anything else to reset the hostname.
5.1.7. Set up Networking
Important
- Select the Networking setup option.
- The network devices attached to your system are listed.
Choose an interface or a configuration option:
Select the network interface which will be used to connect to the RHEV Manager. On systems with one network interface there is onlyeth0
to choose from.Important
Wireless and logical network devices are presently unsupported.Identifying the interface
Hypervisors include a tool to assist in physically identifying which network interface was selected.Help identify
eth0
by blinking the lights for 10 seconds ([Y]es or [N]o)?Press y to identify which socketeth0
is. This is useful for systems with multiple network interfaces.If assistance is not required, continue by pressing n.If the selected network interface does not support this feature, the system will display the following message:Blinking is not supported by your network interface.
VLANs
A prompt will be displayed asking whether to include VLAN support:Include VLAN support ([Y]es, [N]o or [A]bort)?
- If VLAN support is not required, press n.
- To enable VLAN support, enter y.
What is the VLAN ID for this device (a=abort)
Enter the VLAN ID number when prompted.
IPv4
The IPv4 prompt appears.Enable IPv4 support ([S]tatic IP, [D]HCP, [N]o or [A]bort)?
Select DHCP or Static IP depending on your networking environment.- Press D to enable IPv4 support with
DHCP
. It is required to statically map all IP addresses for each RHEV Hypervisor on your DHCP server. - Alternatively, assign a static IP address by pressing S. You are then prompted for the IP address, Netmask and gateway.
Confirm your settings.Is this correct ([Y]es, [N]o or [A]bort)?
If the settings are correct, press Y to continue.DNS
Configure DNS if using static network configuration or of your DHCP server is not assigning DNS servers.- Enter the IP address of the first DNS gateway or press Enter to abort.
Enter the first DNS server (or press the Enter key to exit):
- Enter the IP address of the second DNS gateway or press Enter to skip.
Enter the second DNS server (or press the Enter key to exit):
- Confirm your settings.
Is this correct ([Y]es, [N]o or [A]bort)?
Press Y if correct to continue.
Network Time Protocol (NTP)
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) keeps system clocks in time with the rest of the world. NTP is crucial for some host systems with inconsistent clocks, as inaccurate timekeeping prevents Hypervisors from migrating virtual machines.Enter an NTP server:
Enter the IP address or hostname of an NTP server, or press Enter to abort.- You will be prompted to enter additional NTP servers. Enter as many as required and press Enter on a blank line to save your selection.
- Select Save And Return To Menu to save the configuration.
- If the network is configured correctly, the output should be similar to Figure 5.1, “Working network configuration”.
Figure 5.1. Working network configuration
5.1.8. Register to RHN
- Select Register Host to RHN from the main menu.
- To register to the public RHN system, select 1) Register to public RHN
Enter RHN account username:
Enter your RHN account username.Enter password for RHN account:
Enter your RHN account password.Enter profile name for this system (optional):
Enter a profile name for this system. This parameter is optional. If a blank profile name is provided, the system hostname will be used by default.Enter HTTP proxy in host:port format, e.g. proxy.example.com:3128 (leave blank if not required):
Enter your HTTP proxy address. This parameter is optional. If a blank proxy address is provided, no proxy server will be used.
- To register to an RHN Satellite, select 2) Register to RHN Satellite
Enter URL of RHN Satellite (ie. https://satellite.example.com)
Enter your the URL of your RHN Satellite.Enter location of satellite cert (https://satellite.example.com/pub/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT):
Enter the URL of your satellite certificate, or press enter to select the default URL shown.Enter RHN account username:
Enter your RHN account username.Enter password for RHN account:
Enter your RHN account password.Enter profile name for this system (optional):
Enter a profile name for this system. This parameter is optional. If a blank profile name is provided, the system hostname will be used by default.Enter HTTP proxy in host:port format, e.g. proxy.example.com:3128 (leave blank if not required):
Enter your HTTP proxy address. This parameter is optional. If a blank proxy address is provided, no proxy server will be used.
5.1.9. Configure the host for RHEV
Important
Table 5.1. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager addressing examples
Type | Format | Example |
---|---|---|
IP address | IP[:port] | 127.0.0.1:443 |
Host Name | host.name.domain[:port] | www.redhat.com:443 |
- Select Configure the host for RHEV from the main menu.
Connecting RHEV Manager
Once the Configure the host for RHEV menu item is selected the following output displays:Enter the RHEV Manager's hostname or IP address. Optionally: append a port after the hostname or IP address For example, 10.0.0.1:443 or rhev.example.com:443
- Enter the RHEV Manager's hostname or IP address in the specified format.If the RHEV Manager port is skipped the setup will use the default port, port 443. However, if a port has previously been assigned, the RHEV Hypervisor uses that port as the default instead. For example, if port 12345 was specified during a previous installation then the default port for future installations is port 12345.
Note
RHEV Managers use port 443 by default. If you configured another port when installing the RHEV Manager, use it instead. Once another port is specified for the RHEV Hypervisor, that port will be recorded as the new default port. - If the RHEV Manager is successfully located, the following output is displayed:
The RHEV Manager's address is set. The RHEV Manager's port is set.
NetConsole access
Enter the NetConsole manager's hostname or IP address. Optionally: append a port after the hostname or IP address For example, 10.0.0.1:25285 or rhev.redhat.com:25285 If you are unsure, use the RHEV Manager's address, without a port.
- Enter the NetConsole server and port. In most cases, this server is the RHEV Manager. The NetConsole port is the NetConsole port number specified during the installation of the RHEV Manager.
- If the NetConsole server is successfully found, the following output is displayed before being returned to the configuration menu:
The NetConsole manager address is set. The NetConsole manager port is set.
5.1.10. View logs
/var/log/ovirt.log
- Contains detailed information about the hypervisor installation and configuration procedure.
/var/log/messages
- Contains general messages from the system and core services.
/var/log/secure
- Contains authentication and security messages, including failed login attempts.
5.1.11. Installation
- Select Install locally and reboot from the Hypervisor Configuration Menu.
This option exits the menu and requires a reboot. Ensure local storage and networking is configured correctly on the previous menu before continuing. The current kernel boot parameters are crashkernel=128M@16M elevator=deadline processor.max_cstate=1 Enter additional kernel boot parameters (press Enter to use the present arguments):
Press Enter to continue.Do you wish to proceed ([Y]es or [N]o)?
Press Y to continue.
Note