Configuring the Primary Server

Configuring the primary server is a one-time operation, the first time you access the portal.

If you are installing an additional server, proceed directly with Installing and Configuring Additional CTERA Portal Servers.

Performing Initial CTERA Portal Setup

This procedure is performed only once, on the primary server.

Changing the IP address after installing a portal server, but prior to the full deployment of portal services like Nomad and Consul, causes the deployment to fail.

Wait until all the portal services have been loaded before changing the IP address. If you changed the IP address after the installation but before the full deployment of portal services like Nomad and Consul, run portal-manage.sh resetdb

You must run portal-manage.sh resetdb before initializing the portal or joining it to an existing portal cluster.

To perform initial CTERA Portal setup of the primary server:

1. Using a Web browser, browse to the CTERA Portal, via the IP address using HTTPS. For example, https://192.168.27.235/
   After a few minutes, the Setup wizard opens, displaying the Select Server Operation Mode window.
   
2. Choose This is the Master Server.
3. Click Next.
   The License Agreement window is displayed.
   
4. Read the agreement and then click I Accept and then click Next.
   Note

   Click Open in new tab to display the license agreement is the browser window.

   
   The database is initialized and then the Welcome to CTERA Portal window is displayed.
   
5. Complete the fields as follows:
   Username – The name for your CTERA Portal administrator account.
   First Name – The first name of the administrator.
   Last Name – The last name of the administrator.
   Email Address – The email address of the administrator for notifications.
   Password – The password administrator will use to access the CTERA Portal.
   Retype Password – The password.
   Warning

   If you have not recorded the administrator username and password details and they are forgotten, you will not be able to access the portal.

6. Click Next.
   The Email Settings window is displayed.
   
7. Complete the fields as follows:
   Delivery method – The outgoing delivery method, either SMTP Server or Microsoft Graph API. Microsoft Graph is a highly secure API-based method for basic email sending, replacing SMTP (SMTP AUTH).
   Sender – The email address that should appear in the From field of notifications. For example: CTERA Customer Service support@ctera.com.
   
   When the delivery method is SMTP Server:
   • SMTP Server – The outgoing mail server address for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users.
   • SMTP Port – The port number for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users. This port is usually TCP 25.
   • Enable TLS – Slide on to use Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users.
   • Server Requires Authentication – Slide on if the SMTP server requires authentication.
     • User Name – Type the user name that CTERA Portal should use when authenticating to the SMTP server.
     • Password – Type the password that CTERA Portal should use when authenticating to the SMTP server.
     Warning

     The username and password you specified for the portal administrator are sent to the email address using the information specified here. If the address is incorrect, the email will not arrive .

   When the delivery method is Microsoft Graph API:
   
   • Tenant ID – The outgoing mail server address for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users.
   • Client ID – The port number for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users. This port is usually TCP 25.
   • Client Secret – Slide on to use Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption for sending email messages from CTERA Portal to users.
   • Scope – Slide on if the SMTP server requires authentication.
   Note

   Microsoft have announced that they are phasing out support for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connections that use basic authentication; username and password authentication. Attempting to send email using just a username and password, even with TLS, will fail and only modern authentication (OAuth 2.0) will be valid. To send mail through Microsoft 365 without basic authentication, you need to authenticate with Azure Entra ID and obtain an OAuth token. To resolve this change, CTERA requires setting up an SMTP relay server to act as an intermediary mail server.

8. Click Next.
   The DNS Domain window is displayed.
   
9. In the DNS Suffix field, type the DNS suffix to append to each virtual portal's name, in order to create the virtual portal's DNS name.
   For example, if a virtual portal's name is myportal, and the DNS suffix is example.com, then the virtual portal's DNS name is myportal.example.com.
   Note

   You can change the DNS domain in the CTERA Portal user interface, in Settings > Global Settings.

10. Click Next.
    The Summary window is displayed.
    
11. Review the details and if they are OK, click Next.
    The data is saved and a success message is displayed.
    
12. Click Finish.
    CTERA Portal opens, displaying the Administrator Login page.
    
13. Enter the user name and password you specified in the Welcome to CTERA Portal window, above, and click SIGN IN.
    The portal opens, displaying the Main > Dashboard page. By default, CTERA Portal creates a team portal called portal. For information about how to rename, view and edit this portal, or create additional team portals, see Team Administrator Guide.

Enabling Internal Tools

To make the installation faster, features that take a long time to initialize are not started automatically. These tools are required for the following:

• CTERA Messaging Service
• CTERA Edge Filer Syslog Service
• Using an S3 Browser
• Setting the Local Quota

To initialize the features:

1. Log in as root over SSH to the CTERA Portal.
2. Run the following command:
   set /settings/platformServicesSetting/enabled true

Your features will be initialized.