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    Installing CTERA Portal Instances
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    Contents

    Installing CTERA Portal Instances

    • 6 Minutes to read
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    Article summary

    Use the following workflow to install CTERA Portal.

    1. Creating a Portal Instance. The image is obtainable from CTERA support.
    2. Configuring Network Settings.
    3. Optionally, configure a default gateway.
    4. Additional Installation Instructions for Customers Without Internet Access.
    5. For the first server you install, follow the steps in Configuring the Primary Server.
    6. For any additional servers beside the primary server, install the server as described below and configure it as an additional server, as described in Installing and Configuring Additional CTERA Portal Servers.
    7. Make sure that you replicate the database, as described in Configuring the CTERA Portal Database for Backup.
    8. Backup the server as described in Backing Up the CTERA Portal Servers and Storage.
    Note

    You can use block-storage-level snapshots for backup, but snapshots are periodical in nature, configured to run every few hours. Therefore, 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.

    Creating a Portal Instance: Portal Versions running on CentOS 9, From 7.5.1159.49

    Note

    For the primary database server and secondary, replication, server, the portal instance is created with a fixed size data pool. If you require a larger data pool, which should be approximately 1% of the expected global file system size, you can extend the data pool as described in Hyper-V Specific Management.

    To create a CTERA Portal Server in Hyper-V:

    1. Open the Hyper-V Manager.
    2. Right-click the hypervisor and click New > Virtual Machine.
      image.png
      The New Virtual Machine Wizard opens, displaying the Before You Begin window.
      image.png
    3. Click Next.
      The Specify Name and Location window is displayed.
      image.png
    4. Enter a name for the portal and click Next.
      The Specify Generation window is displayed.
      image.png
    5. Select the Generation 2 option and click Next.
      The Assign Memory window is displayed.
      image.png
    6. Specify the RAM for the machine. For details, see Requirements.
    7. Make sure Use Dynamic Memory for this virtual machine is unchecked.
    8. Click Next.
      The Configure Networking window is displayed.
      image.png
    9. Select the network from the Connection drop-down list and click Next.
      The Connect Virtual Hard Disk window is displayed.
      image.png
    10. Select the Use an existing virtual hard disk option and browse to the vhd file from CTERA.
      image.png
    11. Click Next.
      The Completing the New Virtual Machine Wizard window is displayed.
    12. Click Finish.
    13. Click Settings.
      image.png
      1. Select Memory and change the RAM value, based on the server requirements. For details, see Requirements.
      2. Click Apply.
      3. Select Processor and change the Number of virtual processors value, based on the server requirements. For details, see Requirements.
      4. Click Apply.
      5. Select Hard Drive under SCSI Controller in the Hardware list and click Add for a new hard drive.
        image.png
      6. Click New.
        The New Virtual Hard Disk Wizard is displayed.
        image.png
      7. Click Next and make sure the Dynamically expanding disk type is selected.
        image.png
      8. Click Next and specify a name and location for the disk.
      9. Click Next and configure the disk.
        image.png
      10. Specify the disk size, based on the server requirements. For details, see Requirements.
      11. Click Next and then Finish.
      12. Click Apply and then OK.
    14. For the primary CTERA Portal database server and the secondary, replication, server, right-click the virtual machine and click Settings and add a second disk to use as the archive pool, following the above steps, a. to i.
      Note

      The minimum archive pool should be 200GB but it should be sized around 2% of the expected global file system size. For more details, see Requirements

    15. Right-click the virtual machine and click Start.
    16. Continue with Logging in to the Server to Create the Storage.

    Logging in to the Server to Create the Storage

    You need to create a data pool on every server and on the primary database server, and when PostgreSQL streaming replication is required, an archive pool on the primary and replication database servers. See Using PostgreSQL Streaming Replication for details about PostgreSQL streaming replication.

    To log in to the portal server:

    • Right-click the virtual machine and click Connect to open the machine console.
      The default password is ctera321

    You are prompted to change the password on your first login.

    To create the data and archive pools:

    1. Connect to the virtual machine.
    2. Run fdisk -l to identify the disks to use for the data pool and, if required, archive pool.
    3. Run the following command to create the data pool: portal-storage-util.sh create_storage Device
      where Device is the Device name of the disk to use for the data pool.
    4. Run the following command to create the archive pool: portal-storage-util.sh create_db_archive_pool Device
      Where Device is the Device name of the disk to use for the archive pool.
    5. Start CTERA Portal services, by running the following command: portal-manage.sh start

    Creating a Portal Instance: Portal Versions running on CentOS 7

    Note

    For the primary database server and secondary, replication, server, the portal instance is created with a fixed size data pool. If you require a larger data pool, which should be approximately 1% of the expected global file system size, you can extend the data pool as described in Hyper-V Specific Management.

    To create a CTERA Portal Server in Hyper-V:

    1. Open the Hyper-V Manager.
    2. Right-click the hypervisor and click Import Virtual Machine....
      image.png
      The Import Virtual Machine wizard opens, displaying the Locate Folder window.
      image.png
    3. Click Browse and browse to the CTERA Portal image folder.
    4. Click Next.
      The Select Virtual Machine window is displayed.
      image.png
    5. Click Next.
      The Choose Import Type window is displayed.
      image.png
    6. Select the Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID) option and click Next.
      The Choose Folders for Virtual Machine Files window is displayed.
      image.png
    7. Specify where to store the CTERA Portal virtual machine.
    8. Click Next.
      The Choose Folders to Store Virtual Hard Disks window is displayed.
      image.png
    9. Specify where to store the CTERA Portal data pool disk and click Next.
      The Completing Import Wizard window is displayed.
      image.png
    10. Click Finish.
    11. For the primary CTERA Portal database server and the secondary, replication, server, right-click the virtual machine and click Settings.
      image.png
      1. Select Hard Drive under IDE Controller in the Hardware list and click Add for a new hard drive.
        image.png
      2. Click New.
        The New Virtual Hard Disk Wizard is displayed.
        image.png
      3. Click Next and make sure the VHDX disk format is selected.
      4. Click Next and make sure the Dynamically expanding disk type is selected.
      5. Click Next and specify the size for the new disk.
      6. Enter a size for the new hard disk.
        Note

        The minimum archive pool should be 200GB but it should be sized around 2% of the expected global file system size.

      7. Click Apply and then OK.
    12. Right-click the virtual machine and click Start.
    13. For the primary database server and the secondary, replication, servers, continue with Logging in to the Server to Create the Archive Pool.

    Logging in to the Server to Create the Archive Pool

    You need to create a data pool and on every server, and when PostgreSQL streaming replication is required, an archive pool. See Using PostgreSQL Streaming Replication for details about PostgreSQL streaming replication.

    To log in to the CTERA Portal server:

    • Right-click the virtual machine and click Connect to open the machine console.
      The default password is ctera321

    You are prompted to change the password on your first login.

    To create the archive pool:

    1. Connect to the virtual machine.
    2. Run fdisk -l to identify the disk to use for the archive pool.
    3. Run the following command to create the archive pool: portal-storage-util.sh create_db_archive_pool Device
      where Device is the Device name of the disk to use for the archive pool.
      For example: portal-storage-util.sh create_db_archive_pool sdc
      This command creates both a logical volume and an LVM volume group using the specified device. Therefore, multiple devices can be specified if desired. For example: portal-storage-util.sh create_db_archive_pool sdd sde sdf
    4. Start CTERA Portal services, by running the following command: portal-manage.sh start
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