Contents x
    Installing CTERA Portal Instances
    • 03 Apr 2022
    • 8 Minutes to read
    • Print
    • Dark
      Light
    • PDF
    Contents

    Installing CTERA Portal Instances

    • Updated on 03 Apr 2022
    • 8 Minutes to read
    • Print
    • Dark
      Light
    • PDF
    Article Summary

    Use the following workflow to install CTERA Portal on each virtual machine.

    1. Importing the CTERA Portal OVA File.
    2. Preparing for Production Deployment.
    3. Logging In to the CTERA Portal Server and changing the password.
    4. Configuring Network Settings.
    5. Optionally, Initializing the Storage Pool.
    6. Configuring a Default Gateway.
    7. Additional Installation Instructions for Customers Without Internet Access.
    8. For the first server you install, follow all of the steps in Configuring the CTERA Portal Primary Server.
    9. For any additional servers besides the primary server, configure the server as an additional server as described in Installing Additional CTERA Portal Servers.
    10. Make sure that you replicate the database, as described in Backing Up the Database.

    You can use snapshots block-storage-level snapshots for backup, but snapshots are periodical in nature, configured to run every few hours. Therefore, using snapshots, you cannot recover the metadata to any point-in-time, and can lose a significant amount of data on failure. Also, many storage systems do not support block-level snapshots and replication, or do not do so efficiently.

    Importing the CTERA Portal OVA File

    Contact CTERA Networks, and request the latest ESXi CTERA Portal OVA file.

    Note: The following procedure uses the vSphere Client. You can also use the vSphere Host Client. When using the vSphere Host Client, because the OVA file is larger than 2GB, you must unpack the OVA file, which includes the OVF file, VMDK and MF files. Use the OVF and VMDK files to deploy the CTERA Portal.

    To install the CTERA Portal Server using the vSphere Client console:

    1. In the vSphere Client console click File > Deploy OVF Template.
    2. The Deploy OVF Template wizard is displayed.
    3. Browse to the CTERA Portal OVA file and choose it.
    4. Click NEXT.
    5. Continue through the wizard specifying the following information, as required for your configuration:
      • A name to identify the CTERA Portal in vCenter. 
      • The location for the CTERA Portal: either a datacenter or a folder in a datacenter.
      • The host or cluster to run the CTERA Portal.
      • The virtual disk format for the CTERA Portal software and the storage to use for this software. Refer to VMware documentation for a full explanation of the disk provisioning formats. Select either Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed or Thick Provision Eager Zeroed according to your preference.
        • Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed – Creates a virtual disk in a default thick format. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated when the virtual disk is created. Data remaining on the physical device is not erased during creation, but is zeroed out on demand at a later time on first write from the virtual machine. Using the default flat virtual disk format does not zero out or eliminate the possibility of recovering deleted files or restoring old data that might be present on this allocated space.
        • Thick Provision Eager Zeroed – Creates a virtual disk that supports clustering features such as Fault Tolerance. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated at creation time. In contrast to the flat format, the data remaining on the physical device is zeroed out when the virtual disk is created. It might take much longer to create disks in this format than to create lazy zeroed disks.
      • The network that the CTERA Portal will use.
    6. Review the configuration details and click FINISH.
      The CTERA Portal is created and powered off.
    7. Power on the CTERA Portal virtual machine.

    Preparing for Production Deployment

    • When deploying a main database server to production: It is recommended to remove the default 50GB and 60GB VMDKs included in the CTERA Portal OVA, and attach a VMDK sized 2% of the overall cloud storage you intend to allocate for the service. Prior to going to production, contact CTERA Support to evaluate whether the attached drive's performance meets CTERA's main database performance requirements.
    • When deploying an application server to production: It is recommended to remove the default 60GB VMDK included in the CTERA Portal OVA.
    • When deploying a document preview server to production: You may keep the existing drives included in the CTERA Portal OVA.

    Logging In to the CTERA Portal Server

    To log in to the CTERA Portal server:

    • Log in as root, using SSH or through the console.
      The default password is ctera321.
      You are prompted to change the password on your first login.

    Configuring Network Settings

    By default, the CTERA Portal server obtains an IP address using DHCP. In a production environment it is recommended to use a static IP address. Also when your infrastructure includes more than one network, you have to configure CTERA Portal for the appropriate network. You configure network settings by using nmtui, the built-in network manager.

    To use nmtui:

    1. Log in as root, using SSH or through the console.
    2. Run the following command: nmtui
      The NetworkManager TUI screen is displayed.
    3. Use your keyboard arrows or the TAB key to navigate between options.

    Changing the CTERA Portal Server's Hostname

    To change the CTERA Portal server's hostname:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Set system hostname and press Enter.
    2. The Set Hostname screen opens, displaying the current portal hostname.
    3. In the field provided, enter the server hostname.
    4. Navigate to OK and press Enter.
      A confirmation message is displayed.
    5. Press Enter.
      The new hostname is configured.
    6. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.
    7. You need to reboot the system for the change to take effect. You can reboot the system by entering the command: reboot

    Configuring a Network Interface

    Listing Network Interfaces

    To list all network interfaces:

    • Run the following command: ifconfig

    Configuring a Static IP Address for a Network Interface

    To configure a static IP address for a network interface:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Edit a connection and press Enter.
      A window network adapters attached to the CTERA Portal server.
    2. Navigate to the network adapter for which you want to set a static IP address and press Enter.
      The Edit connection window is displayed.
    3. Navigate to Automatic next to IPv4 CONFIGURATION, press Enter, and then select Manual.
    4. Navigate to Show next to IPv4 CONFIGURATION and press Enter.
      Additional fields are displayed.
    5. Navigate to Add next to Addresses and press Enter.
    6. Type the static IP address.
      To specify a subnet mask, use the classless inter-domain routing (CIDR) notation. For example:
      To set a class C subnet mask [255.255.255.0], use: IP_Address/24, for example, 192.168.93.204/24
      To set a class B subnet mask [255.255.0.0], use: IP_Address/16, for example, 192.168.93.204/16
      You can refer to the following link for a full IPv4 CIDR reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classless_Inter-Domain_Routing#IPv4_CIDR_blocks
    7. To configure a default gateway for the current network interface, navigate to Gateway, and then type the IP address of the default gateway.
    8. To configure a DNS server, navigate to Add next to DNS servers, press Enter, and then enter the IP address of the DNS server.
      You can add multiple DNS servers if desired, by repeating this step. In the following example, the network interface named eth0 has the static IP address 192.168.98.204, the default gateway address 192.168.90.1, and the two DNS servers 192.168.88.20 and 192.168.88.21.
    9. Navigate to OK and press Enter.
    10. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.
    11. Restart the network service by typing the command: service network restart

    Your changes take effect.

    Enabling DHCP for a Network Interface

    If you want to use DHCP, for example, for a demo, and you are configured to use a static IP, you can change to DHCP using nmtui.

    To enable DHCP for a network interface:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Edit a connection and press Enter.
      A window displays all network adapters attached to the CTERA Portal server.
    2. Navigate to the network adapter for which you want to enable DHCP, and then press Enter.
      The Edit connection screen is displayed.
    3. Navigate to Manual next to IPv4 CONFIGURATION, press Enter, and then select Automatic.
    4. Navigate to OK and press Enter.
    5. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.
    6. Restart the network service, by entering the command: service network restart

    Your changes take effect.

    Deactivating a Network Interface

    To deactivate a network interface:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Activate a connection and press Enter.
      A screen displays all network adapters attached to the CTERA Portal server.
      The asterisk (*) to the left of a network adapter's name indicates that the network adapter is activated.
    2. Navigate to the activated network adapter you want to deactivate, a network adapter with an asterisk, and press Enter.
    3. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.

    The network adapter is deactivated.

    Activating a Network Interface

    To activate a network interface:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Activate a connection and press Enter.
      A screen displays all network adapters attached to the CTERA Portal server.
    2. Navigate to the deactivated network adapter you want to activate, a network adapter without an asterisk, and press Enter.
    3. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.

    The network adapter is activated.

    The asterisk (*) to the left of a network adapter's name indicates that the network adapter is activated.

    Configuring Static Routes

    To configure a static route for a network interface:

    1. In nmtui, navigate to Edit a connection and press Enter.
      A screen displays all network adapters attached to the CTERA Portal server.
    2. Navigate to the network interface for which you want to set a static route and press Enter.
      The Edit connection screen is displayed.
    3. Navigate to Show next to IPv4 CONFIGURATION and press Enter.
      Additional fields are displayed.
    4. Navigate to Edit next to Routing and press Enter.
    5. Navigate to Add and press Enter.
    6. In the fields provided, type the network destination/prefix, the next hop, and the route metric.
      Note: To add another static route, navigate to Add and press Enter, and then specify the route details.
      To remove an existing route, navigate to Remove next to the static route you want to remove and press Enter.
    7. When done configuring static routes, navigate to OK and press Enter.
    8. Navigate to OK and press Enter.
    9. Navigate to Quit and press Enter to exit nmtui.
    10. Restart the network service, by running the following command: service network restart
      Your changes take effect.
    11. To view the list of static routes, run the following command: netstat –rn

    Initializing the Storage Pool

    The storage pool is initialized during the Configuring the CTERA Portal Primary Server procedure. You can also manually initialize the storage pool.

    To create a new LVM storage pool:

    1. Run the following command: fdisk –l 
    2. In the output, copy the name of the second disk displayed. In the following example, the second disk is named xvdf.
      Text  
      [root]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/xvde: 6442 MB, 6442450944 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 783 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal) : 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0xaae7682d

    Device Boot    Start    End     Blocks   Id   System

/dev/xvde1   *      1       783    6289416   83   Linux

Disk /deve/xvdf: 107.4 GB, 107374182400 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 13054 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal) : 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/xvdf doesn't contain a valid partition table

[root]#
    3. Run the following command: portal-storage-util.sh create_storage <2nd_vol_name>
      Where <2nd_vol_name> is the name of the volume copied in the previous step. For example: portal-storage-util.sh create_storage xvdf
    4. Run the following command to restart the portal: portal-manage.sh restart
    5. Run the following command to ensure the volume is OK: portal-manage.sh status

    The LVM storage pool is now initialized. For the primary server, proceed with Configuring the CTERA Portal Primary Server. For an additional server, proceed with Installing Additional CTERA Portal Servers.

    Was this article helpful?
    What's Next
    Copyright © CTERA Networks Ltd. All Rights Reserved