Chapter 5. Installing operating systems

5.1. Installing hyperconverged hosts

The supported operating system for hyperconverged hosts is the latest version of Red Hat Virtualization 4.

5.1.1. Installing a hyperconverged host with Red Hat Virtualization 4

5.1.1.1. Downloading the Red Hat Virtualization 4 operating system

  1. Navigate to the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  2. Click Downloads to get a list of product downloads.
  3. Click Red Hat Virtualization.
  4. Click Download latest.
  5. In the Product Software tab, click the Download button beside the latest Hypervisor Image, for example, Hypervisor Image for RHV 4.4.
  6. When the file has downloaded, verify its SHA-256 checksum matches the one on the page.

    $ sha256sum image.iso
  7. Use the downloaded image to create an installation media device.

    See Creating installation media in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 documentation.

5.1.1.2. Installing the Red Hat Virtualization 4 operating system on hyperconverged hosts

Prerequisites

  • Be aware that this operating system is only supported for hyperconverged hosts. Do not install an Network-Bound Disk Encryption (NBDE) key server with this operating system.
  • Be aware of additional server requirements when enabling disk encryption on hyperconverged hosts. See Disk encryption requirements for details.

Procedure

  1. Start the machine and boot from the prepared installation media.
  2. From the boot menu, select Install Red Hat Virtualization 4 and press Enter.
  3. Select a language and click Continue.
  4. Accept the default Localization options.
  5. Click Installation destination.

    1. Deselect any disks you do not want to use as installation locations, for example, any disks that will be used for storage domains.

      Warning

      Disks with a check mark will be formatted and all their data will be lost. If you are reinstalling this host, ensure that disks with data that you want to retain do not show a check mark.

    2. Select the Automatic partitioning option.
    3. (Optional) If you want to use disk encryption, select Encrypt my data and specify a password.

      Warning

      Remember this password, as your machine will not boot without it.

      This password is used as the rootpassphrase for this host during Network-Bound Disk Encryption setup.

    4. Click Done.
  6. Click Network and Host Name.

    1. Toggle the Ethernet switch to ON.
    2. Select the network interface and click Configure

      1. On the General tab, check the Connect automatically with priority checkbox.
      2. (Optional) To use IPv6 networking instead of IPv4, specify network details on the IPv6 settings tab.

        For static network configurations, ensure that you provide the static IPv6 address, prefix, and gateway, as well as IPv6 DNS servers and additional search domains.

        Important

        You must use either IPv4 or IPv6; mixed networks are not supported.

      3. Click Save.
    3. Click Done.
  7. (Optional) Configure Security policy.
  8. Click Begin installation.

    1. Set a root password.

      Warning

      Red Hat recommends not creating additional users on hyperconverged hosts, as this can lead to exploitation of local security vulnerabilities.

    2. Click Reboot to complete installation.
  9. Increase the size of the /var/log partition.

    You need at least 15 GB of free space for Red Hat Gluster Storage logging requirements. Follow the instructions in Growing a logical volume using the Web Console to increase the size of this partition.

5.2. Installing Network-Bound Disk Encryption key servers

If you want to use Network-Bound Disk Encryption to encrypt the contents of your disks in Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization, you need to install at least one key server.

The supported operating systems for Network-Bound Disk Encryption (NBDE) key servers are the latest versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and 8.

5.2.1. Installing an NBDE key server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

5.2.1.1. Downloading the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system

  1. Navigate to the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  2. Click Downloads to get a list of product downloads.
  3. Click Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
  4. In the Product Software tab, click Download beside the latest binary DVD image, for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Binary DVD.
  5. When the file has downloaded, verify its SHA-256 checksum matches the one on the page.

    $ sha256sum image.iso
  6. Use the image to create an installation media device.

    See Creating installation media in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 documentation for details.

5.2.1.2. Installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system on Network-Bound Disk Encryption key servers

Procedure

  1. Start the machine and boot from the prepared installation media.
  2. From the boot menu, select Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and press Enter.
  3. Select a language and click Continue.
  4. Accept the default Localization and Software options.
  5. Click Installation destination.

    1. Select the disk that you want to install the operating system on.

      Warning

      Disks with a check mark will be formatted and all their data will be lost. If you are reinstalling this host, ensure that disks with data that you want to retain do not show a check mark.

    2. (Optional) If you want to use disk encryption, select Encrypt my data and specify a password.

      Warning

      Remember this password, as your machine will not boot without it.

    3. Click Done.
  6. Click Network and Host Name.

    1. Toggle the Ethernet switch to ON.
    2. Select the network interface and click Configure

      1. On the General tab, check the Connect automatically with priority checkbox.
      2. (Optional) To use IPv6 networking instead of IPv4, specify network details on the IPv6 settings tab.

        For static network configurations, ensure that you provide the static IPv6 address, prefix, and gateway, as well as IPv6 DNS servers and additional search domains.

        Important

        You must use either IPv4 or IPv6; mixed networks are not supported.

      3. Click Save.
    3. Click Done.
  7. (Optional) Configure Security policy.
  8. Click Begin installation.

    1. Set a root password.
    2. Click Reboot to complete installation.
  9. From the Initial Setup window, accept the licensing agreement and register your system.

5.2.2. Installing an NBDE key server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

5.2.2.1. Downloading the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating system

  1. Navigate to the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  2. Click Downloads to get a list of product downloads.
  3. Click Versions 7 and below.
  4. In the Product Software tab, click Download beside the latest binary DVD image, for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.8 Binary DVD.
  5. When the file has downloaded, verify its SHA-256 checksum matches the one on the page.

    $ sha256sum image.iso
  6. Use the image to create an installation media device.

    See Creating installation media in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 documentation for details.

5.2.2.2. Installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating system on Network-Bound Disk Encryption key servers

Prerequisites

  • Be aware that this operating system is only supported for Network-Bound Disk Encryption (NBDE) key servers. Do not install a hyperconverged host with this operating system.

Procedure

  1. Start the machine and boot from the prepared installation media.
  2. From the boot menu, select Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and press Enter.
  3. Select a language and click Continue.
  4. Click Date & Time.

    1. Select a time zone.
    2. Click Done.
  5. Click Keyboard.

    1. Select a keyboard layout.
    2. Click Done.
  6. Click Installation destination.

    1. Deselect any disks you do not want to use as an installation location.
    2. If you want to use disk encryption, select Encrypt my data and specify a password.

      Warning

      Remember this password, as your machine will not boot without it.

    3. Click Done.
  7. Click Network and Host Name.

    1. Click Configure…​General.
    2. Check the Automatically connect to this network when it is available check box.
    3. Click Done.
  8. Optionally, configure language support, security policy, and kdump.
  9. Click Begin installation.

    1. Set a root password.
    2. Click Reboot to complete installation.
  10. From the Initial Setup window, accept the licensing agreement and register your system.