Plexxi HCN Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 May 3, 2018 100 Innovative Way - Suite 3322 Nashua, NH 03062 Tel. +1.888.630.PLEX (7539) www.plexxi.com
Legal Notices The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Plexxi, the Plexxi logo, and LightRail are registered trademarks, and Plexxi HCN, Plexxi Control and Plexxi Connect are trademarks of Plexxi, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other product or service name may be trademarks or service marks of others. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from Plexxi, Inc. Plexxi, Inc. reserves all rights of copyright in this documentation. PLEXXI, INC. PROVIDES THIS DOCUMENTATION AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY, TERM, OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND, EITHER IMPLIED OR EXPRESSED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES, TERMS, OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Plexxi, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to equipment design or program components described in this documentation, as progress in engineering, manufacturing methods, or other circumstances may warrant. No responsibility is assumed for the use of Plexxi, Inc. software or hardware, all rights, obligations and remedies related to which are as set forth in the applicable sales and license agreements. Plexxi, Inc. 100 Innovative Way - Suite 3322 Nashua, NH 03062 Tel: +1.888.630.PLEX (7539) www.plexxi.com Published May 3, 2018 Printed in United States of America. Copyright 2018 Plexxi, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
Table of Contents Legal Notices...2 Introduction...4 Related Documentation...4 Contacting Plexxi Support...4 1 Installation Considerations...5 Prerequisites... 5 Required Plexxi Connect Software... 5 Supported Hypervisors... 5 Operating System... 5 VM Requirements... 5 Secure Passwords... 5 2 Deploying a Plexxi Connect VM using OVA in VMware vsphere...6 Downloading the OVA File... 6 Deploying the Plexxi Connect VM... 6 3 Installing Plexxi Connect using an ISO File... 13 Downloading the ISO File... 13 Preparing to Run the ISO - Nutanix... 13 Preparing to Run the ISO - VMWare... 14 Follow the ISO Prompts... 15 Troubleshooting Menu... 19 4 Creating Pack Configurations and Registering the VMware vsphere Plugin... 20 5 Upgrading Plexxi Connect... 21 6 Administering Plexxi Connect... 23 Assigning a Static IP Address to Plexxi Connect... 23 Changing the Plexxi Connect Hostname... 24 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 3
Introduction This document, which describes Plexxi Connect installation/vm provisioning, is written for network installers and administrators who manage Plexxi fabrics connected to virtual environments running VMware vsphere and/or Nutanix Prism. You can install Plexxi Connect using either: OVA installation/deployment, or by creating a VM and installing Plexxi Connect on the VM using an ISO file. Related Documentation The following documentation supports this release: Plexxi Connect Release Notes for Release 3.0.0 Plexxi Software Compatibility Matrix, version 10 or greater, which identifies compatibility between the versions of Plexxi software and identifies software upgrade paths/compatibility. Plexxi Connect UI Online Help, available in the Plexxi Connect UI This documentation (except the Online Help) is available on the Resources > Technical Publications page of http://www.plexxi.com. Contacting Plexxi Support Plexxi Technical Support services are available to answer your questions and to make sure that your software and hardware continue to operate properly. You can contact Plexxi Support at: support@plexxi.com 1.888.415.9809 (US/Canada toll-free) +1 603-782-0702 (US/International) www.plexxi.com/support 4 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
1 Installation Considerations Prerequisites The appropriate version of Plexxi Control software is installed: IMPORTANT: For software version compatibility, refer to the latest version of the Plexxi Software Compatibility Matrix document available on the Resources > Technical Publications page of http://www.plexxi.com. Required Plexxi Connect Software Plexxi Connect installation file using either the OVA or ISO format as defined in the install procedures. IMPORTANT: For software version compatibility, refer to the Plexxi Software Compatibility Matrix document available on the Resources > Technical Publications page of http://www.plexxi.com. Supported Hypervisors VMware ESXi Nutanix AHV IMPORTANT: If you need to install Plexxi Connect on a different hypervisor, contact Plexxi Support before attempting the installation. Operating System The installation deploys a Linux (CentOS) VM. VM Requirements To support Plexxi Connect, the Plexxi Connect virtual machine (VM) must meet the following minimum requirements: 2 CPUs 8 GB RAM 50 GB disk Secure Passwords A secure Linux Administrator password to be configured after installing Plexxi Connect. A secure Plexxi Connect Administrator password to be configured after installing Plexxi Connect. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 5
2 Deploying a Plexxi Connect VM using OVA in VMware vsphere Plexxi Connect can be installed from an OVA file designed for VMware vsphere environments. In this section, you will use OVA from a VMware vsphere Web Client to deploy a new VMware VM to host the Plexxi Connect software. Downloading the OVA File 1. Determine the version of Plexxi Connect software to install. IMPORTANT: You can refer to the Plexxi Compatibility Matrix for software compatibility. 2. Login to https://software.plexxi.com and navigate to the download directory for the version of Plexxi Connect software. The path is: Connect/releases/<version>. 3. Download the OVA file, PlexxiConnect- version-###.ova. Deploying the Plexxi Connect VM Deploy the Plexxi Connect VM using OVA as follows: IMPORTANT: The screens and content in this procedure represent screens you should see. Your installation will contain different servers and values, etc. 1. Save the downloaded OVA file in an appropriate location for the OVA installation 2. Connect and log into the VMware vsphere Web Client. IMPORTANT: If you are logging into vsphere 6.0 or older, you may be prompted to install the Client Integration Plug-in in your web browser. If prompted, you must install the Client Integration Plug-in to enable OVA installation from your web browser. 3. Select a vsphere server or a specific ESX host. 6 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
4. Select Deploy OVF Template from the Actions menu or by right-clicking the hypervisor and selecting Deploy OVF Template. The OVF window opens. 5. In Select source, browse for the PlexxiConnect- version-###.ova file either locally or remotely as saved above. Click Next. 6. Verify the Plexxi Connect OVF template details. Click Next. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 7
7. Read the end user license agreement and click Accept to accept the license agreement. Click Next. 8. Enter a name and select a folder for the Plexxi Connect VM. Click Next. 8 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
9. In Select storage, select the virtual disk format, VM Storage Policy (Datastore Default) and select the datastore for the VM. Click Next. 10. In Setup Networks, select the source network (vswitch or port group). Click Next. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 9
11. In Customize template, enter a VM hostname, domain name, primary NTP server, secondary server, and set up either static IP or DHCP. In A) Network General Settings, configure: The Hostname for the Plexxi Connect VM host; for example, plexxi-connect. The Domain Name on the Plexxi Connect VM resides. This should be a valid DNS domain name, or if the network/deployment environment does not have a domain, you can use "localdomain" as the domain name. Time Servers (NTP): IP addresses or hostnames of the primary and secondary Network Time Servers (NTP) that Plexxi Connect will use to synchronize its internal clock. It is STRONGLY recommended to use NTP servers to ensure that all elements of the Plexxi system have the most accurate time & date settings. Note that when using DHCP, the NTP server information will not need to be provided. You should confirm that your DHCP server is properly configured to provide NTP server(s) when fulfilling DHCP requests. In B) Network Static IP Settings, configure: For static IP, enter the IP Address, Network Mask, and Default Gateway as needed for your environment. DNS Servers: For static IP, provide the IP address of the primary and secondary DNS servers that Plexxi Connect will use to resolve hostnames. When using DHCP, DNS server information is not needed. 10 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
In C) Network DHCP Settings, configure: Use DHCP: Check this option if DHCP is used. IMPORTANT: If you use DHCP, you must reserve an IP address on the DHCP server. 12. When finished, click Next. 13. In Ready to complete, verify the entered configuration settings. Click Finish. 14. You can monitor the OVA Install progress in the Recent Tasks window: 15. When finished, in vsphere, locate and Power On the new VM. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 11
16. Verify the installation. In a Web browser, enter the URL and log into the UI. The URL format is: Plexxi Connect UI: http://<ip> Plexxi Prism UI: http://<hostname> http://<ip>/prism http://<hostname>/prism Log in as administrator using the default credentials: Username: admin Password: plexxi Verify that the UI opens successfully. 17. Plexxi recommends that you change the Plexxi Connect admin user password to a secure password as described in the Plexxi Connect UI online help. 18. While logged into the Plexxi Connect UI as administrator, you must create (add): One Plexxi Control pack configuration. VMware vsphere and/or Nutanix Prism pack configurations as needed for your environment. While in the Plexxi Connect UI, refer to the Plexxi Connect Help for information on adding pack configurations. 19. Plexxi recommends that you connect to the new VM and change the default Linux password for the admin user account. 20. Optionally, type <ctrl>-d to logout from the Linux session. The Plexxi Connect installation is complete. Disregard all other installation chapters. 12 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
3 Installing Plexxi Connect using an ISO File Plexxi Connect can be installed on a Nutanix VM or a VMware VM from an ISO file as described in this section. Downloading the ISO File 1. Determine the version of Plexxi Connect software to install. IMPORTANT: You can refer to the Plexxi Compatibility Matrix for software compatibility. 2. Login to https://software.plexxi.com and navigate to the download directory for the version of Plexxi Connect software. The path is: Connect/releases/<version>. 3. Download the ISO installer file, PlexxiConnect- version-###.iso. Preparing to Run the ISO - Nutanix Deploy a new VM to host Plexxi Connect and install Plexxi Connect on the VM as follows: 1. Open and log into Nutanix Prism TM Central server where Plexxi Connect will be deployed. 2. Upload the ISO file that you downloaded to Prism Central. 3. Logout of Nutanix Prism Central. 4. Open and log into Nutanix Prism TM where Plexxi Connect will be deployed. 5. Create a new VM for Plexxi Connect using the following minimum Plexxi-specific parameters: a. In Name, enter the name of the new VM. b. Optionally enter a VM Description. c. In VCPU(S), enter the number of CPUs. The minimum is 2 CPUs. d. Enter the number of cores per VCPU. e. Enter Memory size in GiB. The minimum is 8 GiB. f. In Disks, add a new disk with a minimum size of 50 GiB. g. In Disks, in the CD-ROM row, click the Edit icon, select Clone from Image Service, select the Plexxi Connect ISO image, and click Update. h. In Disks, select the CD-ROM as the Boot Device, to boot from the Plexxi Connect ISO installer file. i. In Network Adapters, add a NIC to the VM. j. (Optional) In VM Host Affinity, click Set Affinity, select the host, then click Save. k. Click Save to save the new VM. 6. Select VM > Table. 7. Select the new VM and scroll to the VM Summary at the bottom of the page. 8. Power ON the VM. 9. Immediately when Launch Console becomes active, launch a VM console. The ISO launches and the installer Main menu opens in the Console. IMPORTANT: A timer counts down and then the static IP installation will begin automatically. To stop the timer, press the down-arrow key. 10. Continue with the section, Follow the ISO Prompts. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 13
Preparing to Run the ISO - VMWare In this section, you will be asked to deploy a new VMware VM to host the Plexxi Connect software. Install Plexxi Connect as follows: 1. Open the VMware vsphere TM Web Client. 2. Upload the Plexxi Connect ISO file (PlexxiConnect-version-###.iso) to a datastore accessible from the ESXi server where Plexxi Connect will be deployed. IMPORTANT: For software version compatibility, refer to the Plexxi Compatibility Matrix document available on the Resources > Technical Publications page of http://www.plexxi.com. 3. Create a new VM for Plexxi Connect. You will need to configure the following Plexxi -specific parameters: l. Select Guest OS Family = Linux. m. Select Guest OS Version = CentOS 4/5/6/7 (64-bit). n. In Customer Hardware, select CPU = minimum 2 CPUs. o. Set Memory = minimum 8 GB. p. Set New Hard Disk = minimum 50 GB. q. Select New CD/DVD Drive = Datastore ISO File. r. In Select File, select the Plexxi Connect ISO file in the datastore where it was uploaded. s. Select (check) the Connect At Power On checkbox. t. Finish creating the VM. 4. Configure the VM to boot from the Plexxi Connect ISO installer file. 5. Power ON the VM. 6. Immediately launch a remote VM console. The ISO launches and the installer main menu opens in the Console. IMPORTANT: A timer counts down, then the static IP installation will begin automatically. To stop the timer, press the down-arrow key. 7. Continue with the next section, Follow the ISO Prompts. 14 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
Follow the ISO Prompts The following is a sample main installer screen: IMPORTANT: As shown below, a timer counts down, then the static IP installation will begin automatically. To stop the timer, press the down-arrow key. Install Plexxi Connect (Static IP): Static IP is the Default and recommended option. Use this option to install Plexxi Connect using a statically assigned IP address. You will provide a Hostname, Domain name, IP Address, Netmask, Gateway, Name Servers (DNS), and optionally a VLAN ID and NTP server(s). Install Plexxi Connect (DHCP): Use this installation option to install Plexxi Connect and use DHCP to assign the Hostname, Domain name, and optionally NTP server(s). Troubleshooting: Open the Troubleshooting menu. 8. With the desired menu choice selected, press Enter to launch the installation. Progress messages appear as the installation progresses. 9. The Plexxi End User License Agreement (EULA) opens. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll and review the EULA. To accept the agreement, select the Accept button, then press Enter. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 15
10. Complete the following network information, then when finished, select OK and press Enter. For Static IP Complete the fields as follows: Hostname: Enter the host name for the VM. Domain name: Enter the domain name for the domain in which the host resides. Enter the domain name only, not a fully qualified domain name. If the network/deployment environment does not have a domain, you can specify "localdomain" as the domain name. NTP Servers: Optional: Enter NTP server names or IP addresses. IP Address: Enter a valid IP address for this Plexxi Connect host. Netmask: Enter the network mask using either dot-decimal or CIDR (omit the slash) notation. Gateway: Enter a valid gateway address. VLAN ID: Enter a VLAN ID (1-4095) or 0 (default) if not using a VLAN. WARNING: The VLAN ID field should only be used when: o o o software is being installed on 'bare metal' (non-hypervisor) servers. management traffic must be sent over a tagged VLAN.' when the VM is on a Plexxi fabric, only ID's 1-4000 are valid. If you're deployment does not meet these criteria, do not change the default value (0). Name Servers: Enter the IP addresses for DNS name servers, separated by spaces. 16 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
For DHCP Complete the fields as follows: Hostname: Enter the host name for the VM. Domain name: Enter the domain name for the domain in which the host resides. Enter the domain name only, not a fully qualified domain name. If the network/deployment environment does not have a domain, you can specify "localdomain" as the domain name. NTP Servers: Optional: Enter NTP server names or IP addresses. Error Notifications If you enter an invalid value in a parameter, when you click OK and Enter to continue, you will be notified with an error message in Red text. Examples include: ERROR: Gateway is not on the same network. ERROR: Nameserver sample.company.com is not a valid IP address. ERROR: Invalid hostname vm1_company.com. In this case, the hostname contains an invalid character (underscore). 11. When finished entering network information, tab to select OK, then press Enter. Progress messages appear as the installation progresses. The installation will take a few minutes. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 17
12. When the installation completes, the Linux login prompt will appear. You can login using the following default credentials: user: admin password: plexxi IMPORTANT: The IP address of the Plexxi Connect VM appears in the Linux output before the login prompt as illustrated above. The Plexxi Connect VM IP address can also be found in vsphere on the Summary tab for the new VM. When DHCP is used, you can obtain the IP directly from the console without logging in. 13. Verify the installation. In a Web browser, enter the URL and log into the UI. The URL format is: Plexxi Connect UI: http://<ip> Plexxi Prism UI: http://<hostname> http://<ip>/prism http://<hostname>/prism Log in as administrator using the default credentials: Username: admin Password: plexxi Verify that the UI opens successfully. 14. Plexxi recommends that you change the Plexxi Connect admin user password to a secure password as described in the Plexxi Connect UI online help. 15. While logged into the Plexxi Connect UI as administrator, you must create (add): One Plexxi Control pack configuration. VMware vsphere, VMware NSX and Nutanix Prism pack configurations as needed for your environment. While in the Plexxi Connect UI, refer to the Plexxi Connect Online Help for information on adding pack configurations. 16. Plexxi recommends that you connect to the new VM and change the default Linux password for the admin user account. 17. Optionally, type <ctrl>-d to logout from the Linux session. 18. The Plexxi Connect installation is complete. Disregard all other installation chapters. 18 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
Troubleshooting Menu Selecting Troubleshooting from the main menu opens the following Troubleshooting menu: Rescue an existing system: Rescue a previously installed Linux system. Run a memory test: Use this utility to test the system memory and verify that it is working correctly. Boot from local drive: Attempt to boot the system from the local drive, using the boot order as defined in the system BIOS. Return to main menu: Return to the main installer menu.. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 19
4 Creating Pack Configurations and Registering the VMware vsphere Plugin Before you can use any installed pack, you must create one or more pack configurations using the Plexxi Connect UI as described in the Plexxi Connect Online Help. Additionally, Plexxi Connect supports a VMware vsphere Plugin which must be registered with VMware before it can be used. If you will use the VMware vsphere plugin, in the Plexxi Connect UI, you must first: Create a VMware vsphere pack configuration. Register the vsphere plugin with VMware. For further information on creating pack configurations and registering vsphere packs, refer to the Plexxi Connect Online Help. 20 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
5 Upgrading Plexxi Connect To upgrade Plexxi Connect: 1. Download the file: PlexxiConnect_Upgrade-version-xxxx.tar.gz 2. Upload the upgrade file to Plexxi Connect: scp PlexxiConnect_Upgrade-version-xxxx.tar.gz admin@<ip or Hostname>:/var/tmp 3. SSH to Plexxi Connect: ssh admin@<ip or Hostname> 4. Change to the /var/tmp directory: cd /var/tmp 5. Create a tmp directory: mkdir tmp 6. Extract the upgrade: tar xzf PlexxiConnect_Upgrade-version-xxxx.tar.gz -C tmp/ 7. Install the upgrade: cd tmp && sudo./upgrade-plexxiconnect.sh *.rpm 8. Accept the packages to be installed: Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 21
9. Read the End User License Agreement and click Accept to accept the license agreement: 10. After the upgrade completes successfully, close any browsers connected to Plexxi Connect 11. At the Linux prompt, reboot the Plexxi Connect VM: sudo reboot 12. Upon reboot, the VMware vsphere plugin will automatically update. If you are logged into the vsphere Web Client during the Plexxi Connect upgrade, logout of the vsphere Web Client and log back in using the account settings from the vsphere Pack Configuration that you used to register the plugin. This will complete the plug-in upgrade and allow you to continue. 22 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0
6 Administering Plexxi Connect Assigning a Static IP Address to Plexxi Connect If static IP needs to be configured for Plexxi Connect, post Plexxi Connect installation, it can be configured as follows: 1. Ensure that the network is connected to the Plexxi Connect VM. 2. Login to the Plexxi Connect console as admin. The default password is plexxi. 3. Using an edit utility with sudo, edit the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 file as follows: For example, if using VI: sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 Remove the following lines: PEERDNS=yes PEERROUTES=yes IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6INIT=yes IPV6_AUTOCONF=yes IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes IPV6_PEERDNS=yes IPV6_PEERROUTES=yes IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no DEFROUTE=yes Change the BOOTPROTO and ONBOOT lines: BOOTPROTO=static ONBOOT=yes Add the following lines, substituting appropriate values: IPADDR=10.0.1.100 NETMASK=255.255.255.0 GATEWAY=10.0.1.1 4. Run the following command (sudo password is plexxi): sudo /opt/plexxi/scripts/enable-network.sh 5. After 2-3 minutes, execute the ip addr command to ensure that an IP address has been assigned. Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0 23
Changing the Plexxi Connect Hostname To change the Plexxi Connect hostname: 1. Log in to Plexxi Connect through either SSH or a console as user: admin. If not already changed, the default password is plexxi 2. Enter the following command: Note that the sudo password is plexxi. sudo vi /etc/hosts 3. Append to the end of the file: if using FQDN, use an alias as well. For example: 172.16.100.101 hostname.domain.com hostname otherwise use the format: 172.16.100.101 hostname 4. Configure a new hostname using the command: sudo hostnamectl set-hostname <hostname> 5. Enter the command: sudo /opt/plexxi/scripts/enable-network.sh 6. Reboot the host: sudo reboot 24 Plexxi Connect Installation, Upgrade and Administration Guide Release 3.0.0