Chapter 5. Configuring a single node RHHI for Virtualization deployment

5.1. Configuring Red Hat Gluster Storage on a single node

Important

Ensure that disks specified as part of this deployment process do not have any partitions or labels.

  1. Log into the Web Console

    Browse to the the Web Console management interface of the first hyperconverged host, for example, https://node1.example.com:9090/, and log in with the credentials you created in the previous section.

  2. Start the deployment wizard

    1. Click VirtualizationHosted Engine and click Start underneath Hyperconverged.

      Hosted Engine Setup screen with Start buttons underneath the Hosted Engine and Hyperconverged options

      The Gluster Configuration window opens.

    2. Click the Run Gluster Wizard for Single Node button.

      Selecting the type of hyperconverged deployment in the Web Console

      The Gluster Deployment window opens in single node mode.

  3. Specify hyperconverged host

    Specify the back-end FQDN on the storage network of the hyperconverged host and click Next.

    The Hosts tab of the single node deployment wizard
  4. Specify volumes

    Specify the volumes to create.

    The Volumes tab of the single node deployment wizard
    Name
    Specify the name of the volume to be created.
    Volume Type
    Specify a Distribute volume type. Only distributed volumes are supported for single node deployments.
    Brick Dirs
    The directory that contains this volume’s bricks.
    Add Volume
    To add more volumes, click the Add Volume option and it will create a blank entry. Specify the name of the volume to be added and if arbiter volume is required, check the arbiter check box. It is recommended to use the brick path as /gluster_bricks/<volname>/<volname>.
  5. Specify bricks

    Specify the bricks to create.

    The Bricks tab of the single node deployment wizard
    RAID
    Specify the RAID configuration to use. This should match the RAID configuration of your host. Supported values are raid5, raid6, and jbod. Setting this option ensures that your storage is correctly tuned for your RAID configuration.
    Stripe Size
    Specify the RAID stripe size in KB. Do not enter units, only the number. This can be ignored for jbod configurations.
    Disk Count
    Specify the number of data disks in a RAID volume. This can be ignored for jbod configurations.
    LV Name
    The name of the logical volume to be created. This is pre-filled with the name that you specified on the previous page of the wizard.
    Device
    Specify the raw device you want to use. Red Hat recommends an unpartitioned device.
    Size
    Specify the size of the logical volume to create in GB. Do not enter units, only the number. This number should be the same for all bricks in a replicated set. Arbiter bricks can be smaller than other bricks in their replication set.
    Mount Point
    The mount point for the logical volume. This is pre-filled with the brick directory that you specified on the previous page of the wizard.
    Thinp
    This option is enabled and volumes are thinly provisioned by default, except for the engine volume, which must be thickly provisioned.
    Enable Dedupe & Compression
    Specify whether to provision the volume using VDO for compression and deduplication at deployment time.
    Logical Size (GB)
    Specify the logical size of the VDO volume. This can be up to 10 times the size of the physical volume, with an absolute maximum logical size of 4 PB.
    Configure LV Cache
    Optionally, check this checkbox to configure a small, fast SSD device as a logical volume cache for a larger, slower logical volume. Add the device path to the SSD field, the size to the LV Size (GB) field, and set the Cache Mode used by the device.
    Warning

    To avoid data loss when using write-back mode, Red Hat recommends using two separate SSD/NVMe devices. Configuring the two devices in a RAID-1 configuration (via software or hardware), significantly reduces the potential of data loss from lost writes.

    For further information about lvmcache configuration, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 LVM Administration.

    1. (Optional) If your system has multipath devices, additional configuration is required.

      1. To use multipath devices

        If you want to use multipath devices in your RHHI for Virtualization deployment, use multipath WWIDs to specify the device. For example, use /dev/mapper/3600508b1001caab032303683327a6a2e instead of /dev/sdb.

      2. To disable multipath device use

        If multipath devices exist in your environment, but you do not want to use them for your RHHI for Virtualization deployment, blacklist the devices.

        1. Create a custom multipath configuration file.

          # mkdir /etc/multipath/conf.d
          # touch /etc/multipath/conf.d/99-custom-multipath.conf
        2. Add the following content to the file, replacing <device> with the name of the device to blacklist:

          blacklist {
            devnode "<device>"
          }

          For example, to blacklist the /dev/sdb device, add the following:

          blacklist {
            devnode "sdb"
          }
        3. Restart multipathd.

          # systemctl restart multipathd
        4. Verify that your disks no longer have multipath names by using the lsblk command.

          If multipath names are still present, reboot hosts.

  6. Review and edit configuration

    Review the contents of the generated configuration file and click Edit to modify the file, and Save to keep your changes.

    Click Deploy when you are satisfied with the configuration file.

    The Review tab of the single node deployment wizard
  7. Wait for deployment to complete

    You can watch the deployment process in the text field.

    The window displays Successfully deployed gluster when complete.

    Click Continue to Hosted Engine Deployment and continue the deployment process with the instructions in Section 5.2, “Deploy the Hosted Engine on a single node using the Web Console”.

Important

If deployment fails, click Clean up to remove any potentially incorrect changes to the system.

When cleanup is complete, click the Redeploy button. This returns you to the Review and edit configuration tab so that you can correct any issues in the generated configuration file before reattempting deployment.

5.2. Deploy the Hosted Engine on a single node using the Web Console

This section shows you how to deploy the Hosted Engine on a single node using the Web Console. Following this process results in Red Hat Virtualization Manager running in a virtual machine on your node, and managing that virtual machine. It also configures a Default cluster consisting only of that node, and enables Red Hat Gluster Storage functionality and the virtual-host tuned performance profile for the cluster of one.

Prerequisites

  • The RHV-M Appliance is installed during the deployment process; however, if required, you can install it on the deployment host before starting the installation:
# yum install rhvm-appliance

Manually installing the Manager virtual machine is not supported.

  • Configure Red Hat Gluster Storage on a single node
  • Gather the information you need for Hosted Engine deployment

    Have the following information ready before you start the deployment process.

    • IP address for a pingable gateway to the hyperconverged host
    • IP address of the front-end management network
    • Fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) for the Hosted Engine virtual machine
    • MAC address that resolves to the static FQDN and IP address of the Hosted Engine

Procedure

  1. Open the Hosted Engine Deployment wizard

    If you continued directly from the end of Configure Red Hat Gluster Storage on a single node, the wizard is already open.

    Otherwise:

    1. Click VirtualizationHosted Engine.
    2. Click Start underneath Hyperconverged.
    3. Click Use existing configuration.

      Important

      If the previous deployment attempt failed, click Clean up instead of Use existing configuration to discard the previous attempt and start from scratch.

  2. Specify virtual machine details

    The VM tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window with example values entered in all fields.
    1. Enter the following details:

      Engine VM FQDN
      The fully qualified domain name to be used for the Hosted Engine virtual machine, for example, engine.example.com.
      MAC Address

      The MAC address associated with the Engine VM FQDN.

      Important

      The pre-populated MAC address must be replaced.

      Network Configuration

      Choose either DHCP or Static from the Network Configuration drop-down list.

      • If you choose DHCP, you must have a DHCP reservation for the Hosted Engine virtual machine so that its host name resolves to the address received from DHCP. Specify its MAC address in the MAC Address field.
      • If you choose Static, enter the following details:

        • VM IP Address - The IP address must belong to the same subnet as the host. For example, if the host is in 10.1.1.0/24, the Hosted Engine virtual machine’s IP must be in the same subnet range (10.1.1.1-254/24).
        • Gateway Address
        • DNS Servers
      Bridge Interface
      Select the Bridge Interface from the drop-down list.
      Root password
      The root password to be used for the Hosted Engine virtual machine.
      Root SSH Access
      Specify whether to allow Root SSH Access.The default value of Root SSH Access is set to Yes.
      Number of Virtual CPUs
      Enter the Number of Virtual CPUs for the virtual machine.
      Memory Size (MiB)

      Enter the Memory Size (MiB). The available memory is displayed next to the input field.

      Note

      Red Hat recommends to retain the values of Root SSH Access, Number of Virtual CPUs and Memory Size to default values.

    2. Optionally expand the Advanced fields.

      The advanced options for Hosted engine Deployment window.
      Root SSH Public Key
      Enter a Root SSH Public Key to use for root access to the Hosted Engine virtual machine.
      Edit Hosts File
      Select or clear the Edit Hosts File check box to specify whether to add entries for the Hosted Engine virtual machine and the base host to the virtual machine’s /etc/hosts file. You must ensure that the host names are resolvable.
      Bridge Name
      Change the management Bridge Name, or accept the default ovirtmgmt.
      Gateway Address
      Enter the Gateway Address for the management bridge.
      Host FQDN
      Enter the Host FQDN of the first host to add to the Manager. This is the front-end FQDN of the base host you are running the deployment on.
      Network Test
      If you have a static network configuration or are using an isolated environment with addresses defined in /etc/hosts, set Network Test to Ping.
    3. Click Next. Your FQDNs are validated before the next screen appears.
  3. Specify virtualization management details

    1. Enter the password to be used by the admin account in the Administration Portal. You can also specify an email address for notifications, which requires further configuration after deployment; see Chapter 8, Post-deployment configuration suggestions.

      The Engine tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window with example values entered in all fields.
    2. Click Next.
  4. Review virtual machine configuration

    1. Ensure that the details listed on this tab are correct. Click Back to correct any incorrect information.

      The Prepare VM tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window with configuration details displayed for review.
    2. Click Prepare VM.
    3. Wait for virtual machine preparation to complete.

      The Prepare VM tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window showing, 'Execution completed successfully. Please proceed to the next step.'

      If preparation does not occur successfully, see Viewing Hosted Engine deployment errors.

    4. Click Next.
  5. Specify storage for the Hosted Engine virtual machine

    1. Specify the back-end address and location of the engine volume.

      The Storage tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window with the engine volume specified as hosted engine virtual machine storage.
    2. Click Next.
  6. Finalize Hosted Engine deployment

    1. Review your deployment details and verify that they are correct.

      Note

      The responses you provided during configuration are saved to an answer file to help you reinstall the hosted engine if necessary. The answer file is created at /etc/ovirt-hosted-engine/answers.conf by default. This file should not be modified manually without assistance from Red Hat Support.

      The Finish tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window with details of the Hosted Engine’s storage displayed.
    2. Click Finish Deployment.
  7. Wait for deployment to complete

    This can take some time, depending on your configuration details.

    The window displays the following when complete.

    The Finish tab of the Hosted Engine Deployment window showing Hosted Engine deployment complete.
    Important

    If deployment does not complete successfully, see Viewing Hosted Engine deployment errors.

    Click Close.

  8. Verify hosted engine deployment

    Browse to the Administration Portal (for example, http://engine.example.com/ovirt-engine) and verify that you can log in using the administrative credentials you configured earlier. Click Dashboard and look for your hosts, storage domains, and virtual machines.

    The Administration Portal dashboard after deployment.