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Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a standalone Manager with local databases

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.3

ALTERNATIVE method — Installing the Red Hat Virtualization Manager and its databases on the same server

Red Hat Virtualization Documentation Team

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Abstract

This document describes how to install a standalone Manager environment – where the Red Hat Virtualization Manager is installed on either a physical server or a virtual machine hosted in another environment – with the Manager database and the Data Warehouse service and database installed on the same machine as the Manager. If this is not the configuration you want to use, see the other Installation Options in the Product Guide.

Preface

Standalone Manager installation is manual and customizable. You must install a Red Hat Enterprise Linux machine, then run the configuration script (engine-setup) and provide information about how you want to configure the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. Add hosts and storage after the Manager is running. At least two hosts are required for virtual machine high availability.

In a local database environment, the Manager database and Data Warehouse database can be created automatically by the Manager configuration script. Alternatively, you can create these databases manually on the Manager machine before running engine-setup.

See the Planning and Prerequisites Guide for information on environment options and recommended configuration.

Table 1. Red Hat Virtualization Key Components
Component NameDescription

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

A service that provides a graphical user interface and a REST API to manage the resources in the environment. The Manager is installed on a physical or virtual machine running Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts (RHEL hosts) and Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (image-based hypervisors) are the two supported types of host. Hosts use Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology and provide resources used to run virtual machines.

Shared Storage

A storage service is used to store the data associated with virtual machines.

Data Warehouse

A service that collects configuration information and statistical data from the Manager.

Standalone Manager Architecture

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager runs on a physical server, or a virtual machine hosted in a separate virtualization environment. A standalone Manager is easier to deploy and manage, but requires an additional physical server. The Manager is only highly available when managed externally with a product such as Red Hat’s High Availability Add-On.

The minimum setup for a standalone Manager environment includes:

  • One Red Hat Virtualization Manager machine. The Manager is typically deployed on a physical server. However, it can also be deployed on a virtual machine, as long as that virtual machine is hosted in a separate environment. The Manager must run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
  • A minimum of two hosts for virtual machine high availability. You can use Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts or Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH). VDSM (the host agent) runs on all hosts to facilitate communication with the Red Hat Virtualization Manager.
  • One storage service, which can be hosted locally or on a remote server, depending on the storage type used. The storage service must be accessible to all hosts.

Figure 1. Standalone Manager Red Hat Virtualization Architecture

Standalone Manager Red Hat Virtualization Architecture

Chapter 1. Installation Overview

Installing a standalone Manager environment with local databases involves the following steps:

Important

Keep the environment up to date. See https://access.redhat.com/articles/2974891 for more information. Since bug fixes for known issues are frequently released, Red Hat recommends using scheduled tasks to update the hosts and the Manager.

Chapter 2. Requirements

2.1. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Requirements

2.1.1. Hardware Requirements

The minimum and recommended hardware requirements outlined here are based on a typical small to medium-sized installation. The exact requirements vary between deployments based on sizing and load.

Hardware certification for Red Hat Virtualization is covered by the hardware certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/725243. To confirm whether specific hardware items are certified for use with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see https://access.redhat.com/ecosystem/#certifiedHardware.

Table 2.1. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Hardware Requirements
ResourceMinimumRecommended

CPU

A dual core CPU.

A quad core CPU or multiple dual core CPUs.

Memory

4 GB of available system RAM if Data Warehouse is not installed and if memory is not being consumed by existing processes.

16 GB of system RAM.

Hard Disk

25 GB of locally accessible, writable disk space.

50 GB of locally accessible, writable disk space.

You can use the RHV Manager History Database Size Calculator to calculate the appropriate disk space for the Manager history database size.

Network Interface

1 Network Interface Card (NIC) with bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps.

1 Network Interface Card (NIC) with bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps.

2.1.2. Browser Requirements

The following browser versions and operating systems can be used to access the Administration Portal and the VM Portal.

Browser support is divided into tiers:

  • Tier 1: Browser and operating system combinations that are fully tested and fully supported. Red Hat Engineering is committed to fixing issues with browsers on this tier.
  • Tier 2: Browser and operating system combinations that are partially tested, and are likely to work. Limited support is provided for this tier. Red Hat Engineering will attempt to fix issues with browsers on this tier.
  • Tier 3: Browser and operating system combinations that are not tested, but may work. Minimal support is provided for this tier. Red Hat Engineering will attempt to fix only minor issues with browsers on this tier.
Table 2.2. Browser Requirements
Support TierOperating System FamilyBrowser

Tier 1

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Mozilla Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) version

 

Any

Most recent version of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge

Tier 2

  

Tier 3

Any

Earlier versions of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox

 

Any

Other browsers

2.1.3. Client Requirements

Virtual machine consoles can only be accessed using supported Remote Viewer (virt-viewer) clients on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows. To install virt-viewer, see Installing Supporting Components on Client Machines in the Virtual Machine Management Guide. Installing virt-viewer requires Administrator privileges.

Virtual machine consoles are accessed through the SPICE, VNC, or RDP (Windows only) protocols. The QXL graphical driver can be installed in the guest operating system for improved/enhanced SPICE functionalities. SPICE currently supports a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 pixels.

Supported QXL drivers are available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Windows XP, and Windows 7.

SPICE support is divided into tiers:

  • Tier 1: Operating systems on which Remote Viewer has been fully tested and is supported.
  • Tier 2: Operating systems on which Remote Viewer is partially tested and is likely to work. Limited support is provided for this tier. Red Hat Engineering will attempt to fix issues with remote-viewer on this tier.
Table 2.3. Client Operating System SPICE Support
Support TierOperating System

Tier 1

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2 and later

 

Microsoft Windows 7

Tier 2

Microsoft Windows 8

 

Microsoft Windows 10

2.1.4. Operating System Requirements

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager must be installed on a base installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 that has been updated to the latest minor release.

Do not install any additional packages after the base installation, as they may cause dependency issues when attempting to install the packages required by the Manager.

Do not enable additional repositories other than those required for the Manager installation.

2.2. Host Requirements

Hardware certification for Red Hat Virtualization is covered by the hardware certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/725243. To confirm whether specific hardware items are certified for use with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see https://access.redhat.com/ecosystem/#certifiedHardware.

For more information on the requirements and limitations that apply to guests see https://access.redhat.com/articles/rhel-limits and https://access.redhat.com/articles/906543.

2.2.1. CPU Requirements

All CPUs must have support for the Intel® 64 or AMD64 CPU extensions, and the AMD-V™ or Intel VT® hardware virtualization extensions enabled. Support for the No eXecute flag (NX) is also required.

The following CPU models are supported:

  • AMD

    • Opteron G4
    • Opteron G5
    • EPYC
  • Intel

    • Nehalem
    • Westmere
    • Sandybridge
    • Haswell
    • Haswell-noTSX
    • Broadwell
    • Broadwell-noTSX
    • Skylake (client)
    • Skylake (server)
  • IBM POWER8
2.2.1.1. Checking if a Processor Supports the Required Flags

You must enable virtualization in the BIOS. Power off and reboot the host after this change to ensure that the change is applied.

  1. At the Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat Virtualization Host boot screen, press any key and select the Boot or Boot with serial console entry from the list.
  2. Press Tab to edit the kernel parameters for the selected option.
  3. Ensure there is a space after the last kernel parameter listed, and append the parameter rescue.
  4. Press Enter to boot into rescue mode.
  5. At the prompt, determine that your processor has the required extensions and that they are enabled by running this command:

    # grep -E 'svm|vmx' /proc/cpuinfo | grep nx

If any output is shown, the processor is hardware virtualization capable. If no output is shown, your processor may still support hardware virtualization; in some circumstances manufacturers disable the virtualization extensions in the BIOS. If you believe this to be the case, consult the system’s BIOS and the motherboard manual provided by the manufacturer.

2.2.2. Memory Requirements

The minimum required RAM is 2 GB. The maximum supported RAM per VM in Red Hat Virtualization Host is 4 TB.

However, the amount of RAM required varies depending on guest operating system requirements, guest application requirements, and guest memory activity and usage. KVM can also overcommit physical RAM for virtualized guests, allowing you to provision guests with RAM requirements greater than what is physically present, on the assumption that the guests are not all working concurrently at peak load. KVM does this by only allocating RAM for guests as required and shifting underutilized guests into swap.

2.2.3. Storage Requirements

Hosts require storage to store configuration, logs, kernel dumps, and for use as swap space. Storage can be local or network-based. Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) can boot with one, some, or all of its default allocations in network storage. Booting from network storage can result in a freeze if there is a network disconnect. Adding a drop-in multipath configuration file can help address losses in network connectivity. If RHVH boots from SAN storage and loses connectivity, the files become read-only until network connectivity restores. Using network storage might result in a performance downgrade.

The minimum storage requirements of RHVH are documented in this section. The storage requirements for Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts vary based on the amount of disk space used by their existing configuration but are expected to be greater than those of RHVH.

The minimum storage requirements for host installation are listed below. However, Red Hat recommends using the default allocations, which use more storage space.

  • / (root) - 6 GB
  • /home - 1 GB
  • /tmp - 1 GB
  • /boot - 1 GB
  • /var - 15 GB
  • /var/crash - 10 GB
  • /var/log - 8 GB
  • /var/log/audit - 2 GB
  • swap - 1 GB (for the recommended swap size, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/15244)
  • Anaconda reserves 20% of the thin pool size within the volume group for future metadata expansion. This is to prevent an out-of-the-box configuration from running out of space under normal usage conditions. Overprovisioning of thin pools during installation is also not supported.
  • Minimum Total - 55 GB

If you are also installing the RHV-M Appliance for self-hosted engine installation, /var/tmp must be at least 5 GB.

If you plan to use memory overcommitment, add enough swap space to provide virtual memory for all of virtual machines. See Memory Optimization.

2.2.4. PCI Device Requirements

Hosts must have at least one network interface with a minimum bandwidth of 1 Gbps. Red Hat recommends that each host have two network interfaces, with one dedicated to supporting network-intensive activities, such as virtual machine migration. The performance of such operations is limited by the bandwidth available.

For information about how to use PCI Express and conventional PCI devices with Intel Q35-based virtual machines, see Using PCI Express and Conventional PCI Devices with the Q35 Virtual Machine.

2.2.5. Device Assignment Requirements

If you plan to implement device assignment and PCI passthrough so that a virtual machine can use a specific PCIe device from a host, ensure the following requirements are met:

  • CPU must support IOMMU (for example, VT-d or AMD-Vi). IBM POWER8 supports IOMMU by default.
  • Firmware must support IOMMU.
  • CPU root ports used must support ACS or ACS-equivalent capability.
  • PCIe devices must support ACS or ACS-equivalent capability.
  • Red Hat recommends that all PCIe switches and bridges between the PCIe device and the root port support ACS. For example, if a switch does not support ACS, all devices behind that switch share the same IOMMU group, and can only be assigned to the same virtual machine.
  • For GPU support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 supports PCI device assignment of PCIe-based NVIDIA K-Series Quadro (model 2000 series or higher), GRID, and Tesla as non-VGA graphics devices. Currently up to two GPUs may be attached to a virtual machine in addition to one of the standard, emulated VGA interfaces. The emulated VGA is used for pre-boot and installation and the NVIDIA GPU takes over when the NVIDIA graphics drivers are loaded. Note that the NVIDIA Quadro 2000 is not supported, nor is the Quadro K420 card.

Check vendor specification and datasheets to confirm that your hardware meets these requirements. The lspci -v command can be used to print information for PCI devices already installed on a system.

2.2.6. vGPU Requirements

A host must meet the following requirements in order for virtual machines on that host to use a vGPU:

  • vGPU-compatible GPU
  • GPU-enabled host kernel
  • Installed GPU with correct drivers
  • Predefined mdev_type set to correspond with one of the mdev types supported by the device
  • vGPU-capable drivers installed on each host in the cluster
  • vGPU-supported virtual machine operating system with vGPU drivers installed

2.3. Networking Requirements

2.3.1. General Requirements

Red Hat Virtualization requires IPv6 to remain enabled on the computer or virtual machine where you are running the Manager (also called "the Manager machine"). Do not disable IPv6 on the Manager machine, even if your systems do not use it.

2.3.2. Firewall Requirements for DNS, NTP, IPMI Fencing, and Metrics Store

The firewall requirements for all of the following topics are special cases that require individual consideration.

DNS and NTP

Red Hat Virtualization does not create a DNS or NTP server, so the firewall does not need to have open ports for incoming traffic.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on any destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, define exceptions for requests that are sent to DNS and NTP servers.

Important
  • The Red Hat Virtualization Manager and all hosts (Red Hat Virtualization Host and Red Hat Enterprise Linux host) must have a fully qualified domain name and full, perfectly-aligned forward and reverse name resolution.
  • Running a DNS service as a virtual machine in the Red Hat Virtualization environment is not supported. All DNS services the Red Hat Virtualization environment uses must be hosted outside of the environment.
  • Red Hat strongly recommends using DNS instead of the /etc/hosts file for name resolution. Using a hosts file typically requires more work and has a greater chance for errors.

IPMI and Other Fencing Mechanisms (optional)

For IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) and other fencing mechanisms, the firewall does not need to have open ports for incoming traffic.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound IPMI traffic to ports on any destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for requests being sent to your IPMI or fencing servers.

Each Red Hat Virtualization Host and Red Hat Enterprise Linux host in the cluster must be able to connect to the fencing devices of all other hosts in the cluster. If the cluster hosts are experiencing an error (network error, storage error…​) and cannot function as hosts, they must be able to connect to other hosts in the data center.

The specific port number depends on the type of the fence agent you are using and how it is configured.

The firewall requirement tables in the following sections do not represent this option.

Metrics Store, Kibana, and ElasticSearch

For Metrics Store, Kibana, and ElasticSearch, see Network Configuration for Metrics Store virtual machines.

2.3.3. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Firewall Requirements

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager requires that a number of ports be opened to allow network traffic through the system’s firewall.

The engine-setup script can configure the firewall automatically, but this overwrites any pre-existing firewall configuration if you are using iptables. If you want to keep the existing firewall configuration, you must manually insert the firewall rules required by the Manager. The engine-setup command saves a list of the iptables rules required in the /etc/ovirt-engine/iptables.example file. If you are using firewalld, engine-setup does not overwrite the existing configuration.

The firewall configuration documented here assumes a default configuration.

Note

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at https://access.redhat.com/articles/3932211. You can use the IDs in the table to look up connections in the diagram.

Table 2.4. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Firewall Requirements
IDPort(s)ProtocolSourceDestinationPurposeEncrypted by default

M1

-

ICMP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Optional.

May help in diagnosis.

No

M2

22

TCP

System(s) used for maintenance of the Manager including backend configuration, and software upgrades.

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Secure Shell (SSH) access.

Optional.

Yes

M3

2222

TCP

Clients accessing virtual machine serial consoles.

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Secure Shell (SSH) access to enable connection to virtual machine serial consoles.

Yes

M4

80, 443

TCP

Administration Portal clients

VM Portal clients

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

REST API clients

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Provides HTTP (port 80, not encrypted) and HTTPS (port 443, encrypted) access to the Manager. HTTP redirects connections to HTTPS.

Yes

M5

6100

TCP

Administration Portal clients

VM Portal clients

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Provides websocket proxy access for a web-based console client, noVNC, when the websocket proxy is running on the Manager. If the websocket proxy is running on a different host, however, this port is not used.

No

M6

7410

UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

If Kdump is enabled on the hosts, open this port for the fence_kdump listener on the Manager. See fence_kdump Advanced Configuration. fence_kdump doesn’t provide a way to encrypt the connection. However, you can manually configure this port to block access from hosts that are not eligible.

No

M7

54323

TCP

Administration Portal clients

Red Hat Virtualization Manager (ImageIO Proxy server)

Required for communication with the ImageIO Proxy (ovirt-imageio-proxy).

Yes

M8

6442

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Open Virtual Network (OVN) southbound database

Connect to Open Virtual Network (OVN) database

Yes

M9

9696

TCP

Clients of external network provider for OVN

External network provider for OVN

OpenStack Networking API

Yes, with configuration generated by engine-setup.

M10

35357

TCP

Clients of external network provider for OVN

External network provider for OVN

OpenStack Identity API

Yes, with configuration generated by engine-setup.

M11

53

TCP, UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

DNS Server

DNS lookup requests from ports above 1023 to port 53, and responses. Open by default.

No

M12

123

UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

NTP Server

NTP requests from ports above 1023 to port 123, and responses. Open by default.

No

Note
  • A port for the OVN northbound database (6641) is not listed because, in the default configuration, the only client for the OVN northbound database (6641) is ovirt-provider-ovn. Because they both run on the same host, their communication is not visible to the network.
  • By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on any destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for the Manager to send requests to DNS and NTP servers. Other nodes may also require DNS and NTP. In that case, consult the requirements for those nodes and configure the firewall accordingly.

2.3.4. Host Firewall Requirements

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts and Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH) require a number of ports to be opened to allow network traffic through the system’s firewall. The firewall rules are automatically configured by default when adding a new host to the Manager, overwriting any pre-existing firewall configuration.

To disable automatic firewall configuration when adding a new host, clear the Automatically configure host firewall check box under Advanced Parameters.

To customize the host firewall rules, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/2772331.

Note

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at https://access.redhat.com/articles/3932211. You can use the IDs in the table to look up connections in the diagram.

Table 2.5. Virtualization Host Firewall Requirements
IDPort(s)ProtocolSourceDestinationPurposeEncrypted by default

H1

22

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Secure Shell (SSH) access.

Optional.

Yes

H2

2223

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Secure Shell (SSH) access to enable connection to virtual machine serial consoles.

Yes

H3

161

UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Simple network management protocol (SNMP). Only required if you want Simple Network Management Protocol traps sent from the host to one or more external SNMP managers.

Optional.

No

H4

111

TCP

NFS storage server

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

NFS connections.

Optional.

No

H5

5900 - 6923

TCP

Administration Portal clients

VM Portal clients

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Remote guest console access via VNC and SPICE. These ports must be open to facilitate client access to virtual machines.

Yes (optional)

H6

5989

TCP, UDP

Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM)

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Used by Common Information Model Object Managers (CIMOM) to monitor virtual machines running on the host. Only required if you want to use a CIMOM to monitor the virtual machines in your virtualization environment.

Optional.

No

H7

9090

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Client machines

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Required to access the Cockpit web interface, if installed.

Yes

H8

16514

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Virtual machine migration using libvirt.

Yes

H9

49152 - 49215

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Virtual machine migration and fencing using VDSM. These ports must be open to facilitate both automated and manual migration of virtual machines.

Yes. Depending on agent for fencing, migration is done through libvirt.

H10

54321

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

VDSM communications with the Manager and other virtualization hosts.

Yes

H11

54322

TCP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager (ImageIO Proxy server)

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Required for communication with the ImageIO daemon (ovirt-imageio-daemon).

Yes

H12

6081

UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

Required, when Open Virtual Network (OVN) is used as a network provider, to allow OVN to create tunnels between hosts.

No

H13

53

TCP, UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

DNS Server

DNS lookup requests from ports above 1023 to port 53, and responses. This port is required and open by default.

No

Note

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on any destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for the Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts to send requests to DNS and NTP servers. Other nodes may also require DNS and NTP. In that case, consult the requirements for those nodes and configure the firewall accordingly.

2.3.5. Database Server Firewall Requirements

Red Hat Virtualization supports the use of a remote database server for the Manager database (engine) and the Data Warehouse database (ovirt-engine-history). If you plan to use a remote database server, it must allow connections from the Manager and the Data Warehouse service (which can be separate from the Manager).

Similarly, if you plan to access a local or remote Data Warehouse database from an external system, such as Red Hat CloudForms, the database must allow connections from that system.

Important

Accessing the Manager database from external systems is not supported.

Note

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at https://access.redhat.com/articles/3932211. You can use the IDs in the table to look up connections in the diagram.

Table 2.6. Database Server Firewall Requirements
IDPort(s)ProtocolSourceDestinationPurposeEncrypted by default

D1

5432

TCP, UDP

Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Data Warehouse service

Manager (engine) database server

Data Warehouse (ovirt-engine-history) database server

Default port for PostgreSQL database connections.

No, but can be enabled.

D2

5432

TCP, UDP

External systems

Data Warehouse (ovirt-engine-history) database server

Default port for PostgreSQL database connections.

Disabled by default. No, but can be enabled.

Chapter 3. Installing the Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Installing the Red Hat Virtualization Manager involves the following steps:

3.1. Preparing the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Machine

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager must run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. For detailed instructions on installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide.

This machine must meet the minimum Manager hardware requirements.

To install the Red Hat Virtualization Manager on a system that does not have access to the Content Delivery Network, see Appendix A, Configuring a Local Repository for Offline Red Hat Virtualization Manager Installation before configuring the Manager.

By default, the Red Hat Virtualization Manager’s configuration script, engine-setup, creates and configures the Manager database and Data Warehouse database automatically on the Manager machine. To set up either database, or both, manually, see Appendix B, Preparing a Local Manually Configured PostgreSQL Database before configuring the Manager.

3.2. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Repositories

Register the system with Red Hat Subscription Manager, attach the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription, and enable Manager repositories.

Procedure

  1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user name and password when prompted:

    # subscription-manager register
    Note

    If you are using an IPv6 network, use an IPv6 transition mechanism to access the Content Delivery Network and subscription manager.

  2. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

    # subscription-manager list --available
  3. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

    # subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
    Note

    To view currently attached subscriptions:

    # subscription-manager list --consumed

    To list all enabled repositories:

    # yum repolist
  4. Configure the repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-supplementary-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4.3-manager-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-manager-tools-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms \
        --enable=jb-eap-7.2-for-rhel-7-server-rpms

3.3. Installing and Configuring the Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Install the package and dependencies for the Red Hat Virtualization Manager, and configure it using the engine-setup command. The script asks you a series of questions and, after you provide the required values for all questions, applies that configuration and starts the ovirt-engine service.

Important

The engine-setup command guides you through several distinct configuration stages, each comprising several steps that require user input. Suggested configuration defaults are provided in square brackets; if the suggested value is acceptable for a given step, press Enter to accept that value.

You can run engine-setup --accept-defaults to automatically accept all questions that have default answers. This option should be used with caution and only if you are familiar with engine-setup.

Procedure

  1. Ensure all packages are up to date:

    # yum update
    Note

    Reboot the machine if any kernel-related packages were updated.

  2. Install the rhvm package and dependencies.

    # yum install rhvm
  3. Run the engine-setup command to begin configuring the Red Hat Virtualization Manager:

    # engine-setup
  4. Press Enter to configure the Manager on this machine:

    Configure Engine on this host (Yes, No) [Yes]:
  5. Optionally install Open Virtual Network (OVN). Selecting Yes will install an OVN central server on the Manager machine, and add it to Red Hat Virtualization as an external network provider. The default cluster will use OVN as its default network provider, and hosts added to the default cluster will automatically be configured to communicate with OVN.

    Configure ovirt-provider-ovn (Yes, No) [Yes]:

    For more information on using OVN networks in Red Hat Virtualization, see Adding Open Virtual Network (OVN) as an External Network Provider in the Administration Guide.

  6. Optionally allow engine-setup to configure the Image I/O Proxy (ovirt-imageio-proxy) to allow the Manager to upload virtual disks into storage domains.

    Configure Image I/O Proxy on this host? (Yes, No) [Yes]:
  7. Optionally allow engine-setup to configure a websocket proxy server for allowing users to connect to virtual machines through the noVNC console:

    Configure WebSocket Proxy on this machine? (Yes, No) [Yes]:
    Important

    The websocket proxy and noVNC are Technology Preview features only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service-level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete, and Red Hat does not recommend using them for production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process. For more information see Red Hat Technology Preview Features Support Scope.

  8. Choose whether to configure Data Warehouse on this machine.

    Please note: Data Warehouse is required for the engine. If you choose to not configure it on this host, you have to configure it on a remote host, and then configure the engine on this host so that it can access the database of the remote Data Warehouse host.
    Configure Data Warehouse on this host (Yes, No) [Yes]:
  9. Optionally allow access to a virtual machines’s serial console from the command line.

    Configure VM Console Proxy on this host (Yes, No) [Yes]:

    Additional configuration is required on the client machine to use this feature. See Opening a Serial Console to a Virtual Machine in the Virtual Machine Management Guide.

  10. Press Enter to accept the automatically detected host name, or enter an alternative host name and press Enter. Note that the automatically detected host name may be incorrect if you are using virtual hosts.

    Host fully qualified DNS name of this server [autodetected host name]:
  11. The engine-setup command checks your firewall configuration and offers to open the ports used by the Manager for external communication, such as ports 80 and 443. If you do not allow engine-setup to modify your firewall configuration, you must manually open the ports used by the Manager. firewalld is configured as the firewall manager; iptables is deprecated.

    Setup can automatically configure the firewall on this system.
    Note: automatic configuration of the firewall may overwrite current settings.
    NOTICE: iptables is deprecated and will be removed in future releases
    Do you want Setup to configure the firewall? (Yes, No) [Yes]:

    If you choose to automatically configure the firewall, and no firewall managers are active, you are prompted to select your chosen firewall manager from a list of supported options. Type the name of the firewall manager and press Enter. This applies even in cases where only one option is listed.

  12. Specify whether to configure the Data Warehouse database on this machine, or on another machine:

    Where is the DWH database located? (Local, Remote) [Local]:
    • If you select Local, the engine-setup script can configure your database automatically (including adding a user and a database), or it can connect to a preconfigured local database:

      Setup can configure the local postgresql server automatically for the DWH to run. This may conflict with existing applications.
      Would you like Setup to automatically configure postgresql and create DWH database, or prefer to perform that manually? (Automatic, Manual) [Automatic]:
      • If you select Automatic by pressing Enter, no further action is required here.
      • If you select Manual, input the following values for the manually configured local database:

        DWH database secured connection (Yes, No) [No]:
        DWH database name [ovirt_engine_history]:
        DWH database user [ovirt_engine_history]:
        DWH database password:
        Note

        engine-setup requests these values after the Manager database is configured in the next step.

    • If you select Remote (for example, if you are installing the Data Warehouse service on the Manager machine, but have configured a remote Data Warehouse database), input the following values for the remote database server:

      DWH database host [localhost]:
      DWH database port [5432]:
      DWH database secured connection (Yes, No) [No]:
      DWH database name [ovirt_engine_history]:
      DWH database user [ovirt_engine_history]:
      DWH database password:
      Note

      engine-setup requests these values after the Manager database is configured in the next step.

  13. Specify whether to configure the Manager database on this machine, or on another machine:

    Where is the Engine database located? (Local, Remote) [Local]:
    • If you select Local, the engine-setup command can configure your database automatically (including adding a user and a database), or it can connect to a preconfigured local database:

      Setup can configure the local postgresql server automatically for the engine to run. This may conflict with existing applications.
      Would you like Setup to automatically configure postgresql and create Engine database, or prefer to perform that manually? (Automatic, Manual) [Automatic]:
      • If you select Automatic by pressing Enter, no further action is required here.
      • If you select Manual, input the following values for the manually configured local database:

        Engine database secured connection (Yes, No) [No]:
        Engine database name [engine]:
        Engine database user [engine]:
        Engine database password:
  14. Set a password for the automatically created administrative user of the Red Hat Virtualization Manager:

    Engine admin password:
    Confirm engine admin password:
  15. Select Gluster, Virt, or Both:

    Application mode (Both, Virt, Gluster) [Both]:

    Both offers the greatest flexibility. In most cases, select Both. Virt allows you to run virtual machines in the environment; Gluster only allows you to manage GlusterFS from the Administration Portal.

  16. If you installed the OVN provider, you can choose to use the default credentials, or specify an alternative.

    Use default credentials (admin@internal) for ovirt-provider-ovn (Yes, No) [Yes]:
    oVirt OVN provider user[admin@internal]:
    oVirt OVN provider password:
  17. Set the default value for the wipe_after_delete flag, which wipes the blocks of a virtual disk when the disk is deleted.

    Default SAN wipe after delete (Yes, No) [No]:
  18. The Manager uses certificates to communicate securely with its hosts. This certificate can also optionally be used to secure HTTPS communications with the Manager. Provide the organization name for the certificate:

    Organization name for certificate [autodetected domain-based name]:
  19. Optionally allow engine-setup to make the landing page of the Manager the default page presented by the Apache web server:

    Setup can configure the default page of the web server to present the application home page. This may conflict with existing applications.
    Do you wish to set the application as the default web page of the server? (Yes, No) [Yes]:
  20. By default, external SSL (HTTPS) communication with the Manager is secured with the self-signed certificate created earlier in the configuration to securely communicate with hosts. Alternatively, choose another certificate for external HTTPS connections; this does not affect how the Manager communicates with hosts:

    Setup can configure apache to use SSL using a certificate issued from the internal CA.
    Do you wish Setup to configure that, or prefer to perform that manually? (Automatic, Manual) [Automatic]:
  21. Choose how long Data Warehouse will retain collected data:

    Please choose Data Warehouse sampling scale:
    (1) Basic
    (2) Full
    (1, 2)[1]:

    Full uses the default values for the data storage settings listed in the Data Warehouse Guide (recommended when Data Warehouse is installed on a remote server).

    Basic reduces the values of DWH_TABLES_KEEP_HOURLY to 720 and DWH_TABLES_KEEP_DAILY to 0, easing the load on the Manager machine. Use Basic when the Manager and Data Warehouse are installed on the same machine.

  22. Review the installation settings, and press Enter to accept the values and proceed with the installation:

    Please confirm installation settings (OK, Cancel) [OK]:

    When your environment has been configured, engine-setup displays details about how to access your environment. If you chose to manually configure the firewall, engine-setup provides a custom list of ports that need to be opened, based on the options selected during setup. engine-setup also saves your answers to a file that can be used to reconfigure the Manager using the same values, and outputs the location of the log file for the Red Hat Virtualization Manager configuration process.

  23. If you intend to link your Red Hat Virtualization environment with a directory server, configure the date and time to synchronize with the system clock used by the directory server to avoid unexpected account expiry issues. See Synchronizing the System Clock with a Remote Server in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administrator’s Guide for more information.
  24. Install the certificate authority according to the instructions provided by your browser. You can get the certificate authority’s certificate by navigating to http://manager-fqdn/ovirt-engine/services/pki-resource?resource=ca-certificate&format=X509-PEM-CA, replacing manager-fqdn with the FQDN that you provided during the installation.

Log in to the Administration Portal, where you can add hosts and storage to the environment:

3.4. Connecting to the Administration Portal

Access the Administration Portal using a web browser.

  1. In a web browser, navigate to https://manager-fqdn/ovirt-engine, replacing manager-fqdn with the FQDN that you provided during installation.

    Note

    You can access the Administration Portal using alternate host names or IP addresses. To do so, you need to add a configuration file under /etc/ovirt-engine/engine.conf.d/. For example:

    # vi /etc/ovirt-engine/engine.conf.d/99-custom-sso-setup.conf
    SSO_ALTERNATE_ENGINE_FQDNS="alias1.example.com alias2.example.com"

    The list of alternate host names needs to be separated by spaces. You can also add the IP address of the Manager to the list, but using IP addresses instead of DNS-resolvable host names is not recommended.

  2. Click Administration Portal. An SSO login page displays. SSO login enables you to log in to the Administration and VM Portal at the same time.
  3. Enter your User Name and Password. If you are logging in for the first time, use the user name admin along with the password that you specified during installation.
  4. Select the Domain to authenticate against. If you are logging in using the internal admin user name, select the internal domain.
  5. Click Log In.
  6. You can view the Administration Portal in multiple languages. The default selection is chosen based on the locale settings of your web browser. If you want to view the Administration Portal in a language other than the default, select your preferred language from the drop-down list on the welcome page.

To log out of the Red Hat Virtualization Administration Portal, click your user name in the header bar and click Sign Out. You are logged out of all portals and the Manager welcome screen displays.

Chapter 4. Installing Hosts for Red Hat Virtualization

Red Hat Virtualization supports two types of hosts: Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts. Depending on your environment, you may want to use one type only, or both. At least two hosts are required for features such as migration and high availability.

See Section 4.3, “Recommended Practices for Configuring Host Networks” for networking information.

Important

SELinux is in enforcing mode upon installation. To verify, run getenforce. SELinux must be in enforcing mode on all hosts and Managers for your Red Hat Virtualization environment to be supported.

Table 4.1. Host Types
Host TypeOther NamesDescription

Red Hat Virtualization Host

RHVH, thin host

This is a minimal operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is distributed as an ISO file from the Customer Portal and contains only the packages required for the machine to act as a host.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux host

RHEL host, thick host

Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems with the appropriate subscriptions attached can be used as hosts.

Host Compatibility

When you create a new data center, you can set the compatibility version. Select the compatibility version that suits all the hosts in the data center. Once set, version regression is not allowed. For a fresh Red Hat Virtualization installation, the latest compatibility version is set in the default data center and default cluster; to use an earlier compatibility version, you must create additional data centers and clusters. For more information about compatibility versions see Red Hat Virtualization Manager Compatibility in Red Hat Virtualization Life Cycle.

4.1. Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

4.1.1. Installing Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) is a minimal operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux that is designed to provide a simple method for setting up a physical machine to act as a hypervisor in a Red Hat Virtualization environment. The minimal operating system contains only the packages required for the machine to act as a hypervisor, and features a Cockpit web interface for monitoring the host and performing administrative tasks. See http://cockpit-project.org/running.html for the minimum browser requirements.

RHVH supports NIST 800-53 partitioning requirements to improve security. RHVH uses a NIST 800-53 partition layout by default.

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.

Procedure

  1. Download the RHVH ISO image from the Customer Portal:

    1. Log in to the Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com.
    2. Click Downloads in the menu bar.
    3. Click Red Hat Virtualization. Scroll up and click Download Latest to access the product download page.
    4. Go to Hypervisor Image for RHV 4.3 and and click Download Now.
    5. Create a bootable media device. See Making Media in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for more information.
  2. Start the machine on which you are installing RHVH, booting from the prepared installation media.
  3. From the boot menu, select Install RHVH 4.3 and press Enter.

    Note

    You can also press the Tab key to edit the kernel parameters. Kernel parameters must be separated by a space, and you can boot the system using the specified kernel parameters by pressing the Enter key. Press the Esc key to clear any changes to the kernel parameters and return to the boot menu.

  4. Select a language, and click Continue.
  5. Select a time zone from the Date & Time screen and click Done.
  6. Select a keyboard layout from the Keyboard screen and click Done.
  7. Select the device on which to install RHVH from the Installation Destination screen. Optionally, enable encryption. Click Done.

    Important

    Red Hat strongly recommends using the Automatically configure partitioning option.

  8. Select a network from the Network & Host Name screen and click Configure…​ to configure the connection details.

    Note

    To use the connection every time the system boots, select the Automatically connect to this network when it is available check box. For more information, see Edit Network Connections in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide.

    Enter a host name in the Host name field, and click Done.

  9. Optionally configure Language Support, Security Policy, and Kdump. See Installing Using Anaconda in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Installation Guide for more information on each of the sections in the Installation Summary screen.
  10. Click Begin Installation.
  11. Set a root password and, optionally, create an additional user while RHVH installs.

    Warning

    Red Hat strongly recommends not creating untrusted users on RHVH, as this can lead to exploitation of local security vulnerabilities.

  12. Click Reboot to complete the installation.

    Note

    When RHVH restarts, nodectl check performs a health check on the host and displays the result when you log in on the command line. The message node status: OK or node status: DEGRADED indicates the health status. Run nodectl check to get more information. The service is enabled by default.

4.1.2. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Host Repository

Register the system to receive updates. Red Hat Virtualization Host only requires one repository. This section provides instructions for registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network, or with Red Hat Satellite 6.

Registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network

  1. Log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.
  2. Navigate to Subscriptions, click Register System, and enter your Customer Portal user name and password. The Red Hat Virtualization Host subscription is automatically attached to the system.
  3. Click Terminal.
  4. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host 7 repository to allow later updates to the Red Hat Virtualization Host:

    # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rhvh-4-rpms

Registering RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6

  1. Log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.
  2. Click Terminal.
  3. Register RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6:

      # rpm -Uvh http://satellite.example.com/pub/katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm
      # subscription-manager register --org="org_id"
      # subscription-manager list --available
      # subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
      # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhvh-4-rpms

4.1.3. Advanced Installation

4.1.3.1. Custom Partitioning

Custom partitioning on Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) is not recommended. Red Hat strongly recommends using the Automatically configure partitioning option in the Installation Destination window.

If your installation requires custom partitioning, select the I will configure partitioning option during the installation, and note that the following restrictions apply:

  • Ensure the default LVM Thin Provisioning option is selected in the Manual Partitioning window.
  • The following directories are required and must be on thin provisioned logical volumes:

    • root (/)
    • /home
    • /tmp
    • /var
    • /var/crash
    • /var/log
    • /var/log/audit

      Important

      Do not create a separate partition for /usr. Doing so will cause the installation to fail.

      /usr must be on a logical volume that is able to change versions along with RHVH, and therefore should be left on root (/).

      For information about the required storage sizes for each partition, see Section 2.2.3, “Storage Requirements”.

  • The /boot directory should be defined as a standard partition.
  • The /var directory must be on a separate volume or disk.
  • Only XFS or Ext4 file systems are supported.

Configuring Manual Partitioning in a Kickstart File

The following example demonstrates how to configure manual partitioning in a Kickstart file.

clearpart --all
part /boot --fstype xfs --size=1000 --ondisk=sda
part pv.01 --size=42000 --grow
volgroup HostVG pv.01 --reserved-percent=20
logvol swap --vgname=HostVG --name=swap --fstype=swap --recommended
logvol none --vgname=HostVG --name=HostPool --thinpool --size=40000 --grow
logvol / --vgname=HostVG --name=root --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=6000 --grow
logvol /var --vgname=HostVG --name=var --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool
--fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=15000
logvol /var/crash --vgname=HostVG --name=var_crash --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=10000
logvol /var/log --vgname=HostVG --name=var_log --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=8000
logvol /var/log/audit --vgname=HostVG --name=var_audit --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=2000
logvol /home --vgname=HostVG --name=home --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=1000
logvol /tmp --vgname=HostVG --name=tmp --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=1000
Note

If you use logvol --thinpool --grow, you must also include volgroup --reserved-space or volgroup --reserved-percent to reserve space in the volume group for the thin pool to grow.

4.1.3.2. Automating Red Hat Virtualization Host Deployment

You can install Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) without a physical media device by booting from a PXE server over the network with a Kickstart file that contains the answers to the installation questions.

General instructions for installing from a PXE server with a Kickstart file are available in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide, as RHVH is installed in much the same way as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. RHVH-specific instructions, with examples for deploying RHVH with Red Hat Satellite, are described below.

The automated RHVH deployment has 3 stages:

4.1.3.2.1. Preparing the Installation Environment
  1. Log in to the Customer Portal.
  2. Click Downloads in the menu bar.
  3. Click Red Hat Virtualization. Scroll up and click Download Latest to access the product download page.
  4. Go to Hypervisor Image for RHV 4.3 and and click Download Now.
  5. Make the RHVH ISO image available over the network. See Installation Source on a Network in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide.
  6. Extract the squashfs.img hypervisor image file from the RHVH ISO:

    # mount -o loop /path/to/RHVH-ISO /mnt/rhvh
    # cp /mnt/rhvh/Packages/redhat-virtualization-host-image-update* /tmp
    # cd /tmp
    # rpm2cpio redhat-virtualization-host-image-update* | cpio -idmv
    Note

    This squashfs.img file, located in the /tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-host/image/ directory, is called redhat-virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img. It contains the hypervisor image for installation on the physical machine. It should not be confused with the /LiveOS/squashfs.img file, which is used by the Anaconda inst.stage2 option.

4.1.3.2.2. Configuring the PXE Server and the Boot Loader
  1. Configure the PXE server. See Preparing for a Network Installation in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide.
  2. Copy the RHVH boot images to the /tftpboot directory:

    # cp mnt/rhvh/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/
  3. Create a rhvh label specifying the RHVH boot images in the boot loader configuration:

    LABEL rhvh
    MENU LABEL Install Red Hat Virtualization Host
    KERNEL /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/vmlinuz
    APPEND initrd=/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/initrd.img inst.stage2=URL/to/RHVH-ISO

    RHVH Boot Loader Configuration Example for Red Hat Satellite

    If you are using information from Red Hat Satellite to provision the host, you must create a global or host group level parameter called rhvh_image and populate it with the directory URL where the ISO is mounted or extracted:

    <%#
    kind: PXELinux
    name: RHVH PXELinux
    %>
    # Created for booting new hosts
    #
    
    DEFAULT rhvh
    
    LABEL rhvh
    KERNEL <%= @kernel %>
    APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> inst.ks=<%= foreman_url("provision") %> inst.stage2=<%= @host.params["rhvh_image"] %> intel_iommu=on console=tty0 console=ttyS1,115200n8 ssh_pwauth=1 local_boot_trigger=<%= foreman_url("built") %>
    IPAPPEND 2
  4. Make the content of the RHVH ISO locally available and export it to the network, for example, using an HTTPD server:

    # cp -a /mnt/rhvh/ /var/www/html/rhvh-install
    # curl URL/to/RHVH-ISO/rhvh-install
4.1.3.2.3. Creating and Running a Kickstart File
  1. Create a Kickstart file and make it available over the network. See Kickstart Installations in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide.
  2. Ensure that the Kickstart file meets the following RHV-specific requirements:

    • The %packages section is not required for RHVH. Instead, use the liveimg option and specify the redhat-virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img file from the RHVH ISO image:

      liveimg --url=example.com/tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-host/image/redhat-virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img
    • Autopartitioning is highly recommended:

      autopart --type=thinp
      Note

      Thin provisioning must be used with autopartitioning.

      The --no-home option does not work in RHVH because /home is a required directory.

      If your installation requires manual partitioning, see Section 4.1.3.1, “Custom Partitioning” for a list of limitations that apply to partitions and an example of manual partitioning in a Kickstart file.

    • A %post section that calls the nodectl init command is required:

      %post
      nodectl init
      %end

      Kickstart Example for Deploying RHVH on Its Own

      This Kickstart example shows you how to deploy RHVH. You can include additional commands and options as required.

      liveimg --url=http://FQDN/tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-host/image/redhat-virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img
      clearpart --all
      autopart --type=thinp
      rootpw --plaintext ovirt
      timezone --utc America/Phoenix
      zerombr
      text
      
      reboot
      
      %post --erroronfail
      nodectl init
      %end

      Kickstart Example for Deploying RHVH with Registration and Network Configuration from Satellite

      This Kickstart example uses information from Red Hat Satellite to configure the host network and register the host to the Satellite server. You must create a global or host group level parameter called rhvh_image and populate it with the directory URL to the squashfs.img file. ntp_server1 is also a global or host group level variable.

      <%#
      kind: provision
      name: RHVH Kickstart default
      oses:
      - RHVH
      %>
      install
      liveimg --url=<%= @host.params['rhvh_image'] %>squashfs.img
      
      network --bootproto static --ip=<%= @host.ip %> --netmask=<%= @host.subnet.mask %> --gateway=<%= @host.subnet.gateway %> --nameserver=<%= @host.subnet.dns_primary %> --hostname <%= @host.name %>
      
      zerombr
      clearpart --all
      autopart --type=thinp
      
      rootpw --iscrypted <%= root_pass %>
      
      # installation answers
      lang en_US.UTF-8
      timezone <%= @host.params['time-zone'] || 'UTC' %>
      keyboard us
      firewall --service=ssh
      services --enabled=sshd
      
      text
      reboot
      
      %post --log=/root/ks.post.log --erroronfail
      nodectl init
      <%= snippet 'subscription_manager_registration' %>
      <%= snippet 'kickstart_networking_setup' %>
      /usr/sbin/ntpdate -sub <%= @host.params['ntp_server1'] || '0.fedora.pool.ntp.org' %>
      /usr/sbin/hwclock --systohc
      
      /usr/bin/curl <%= foreman_url('built') %>
      
      sync
      systemctl reboot
      %end
  3. Add the Kickstart file location to the boot loader configuration file on the PXE server:

    APPEND initrd=/var/tftpboot/pxelinux/initrd.img inst.stage2=URL/to/RHVH-ISO inst.ks=URL/to/RHVH-ks.cfg
  4. Install RHVH following the instructions in Booting from the Network Using PXE in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide.

4.2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

4.2.1. Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

A Red Hat Enterprise Linux host is based on a standard basic installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 on a physical server, with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscriptions attached.

For detailed installation instructions, see the Performing a standard {enterprise-linux-shortname} installation.

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.

Important

Virtualization must be enabled in your host’s BIOS settings. For information on changing your host’s BIOS settings, refer to your host’s hardware documentation.

Important

Third-party watchdogs should not be installed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts, as they can interfere with the watchdog daemon provided by VDSM.

4.2.2. Enabling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host Repositories

To use a Red Hat Enterprise Linux machine as a host, you must register the system with the Content Delivery Network, attach the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscriptions, and enable the host repositories.

Procedure

  1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user name and password when prompted:

    # subscription-manager register
  2. Find the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscription pools and record the pool IDs:

    # subscription-manager list --available
  3. Use the pool IDs to attach the subscriptions to the system:

    # subscription-manager attach --pool=poolid
    Note

    To view currently attached subscriptions:

    # subscription-manager list --consumed

    To list all enabled repositories:

    # yum repolist
  4. Configure the repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-mgmt-agent-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms

    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 hosts, little endian, on IBM POWER8 hardware:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-mgmt-agent-for-power-le-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-for-power-le-rpms

    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 hosts, little endian, on IBM POWER9 hardware:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-mgmt-agent-for-power-9-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-for-power-9-rpms
  5. Ensure that all packages currently installed are up to date:

    # yum update
  6. Reboot the machine.

4.2.3. Installing Cockpit on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

You can install Cockpit for monitoring the host’s resources and performing administrative tasks.

Procedure

  1. Install the dashboard packages:

    # yum install cockpit-ovirt-dashboard
  2. Enable and start the cockpit.socket service:

    # systemctl enable cockpit.socket
    # systemctl start cockpit.socket
  3. Check if Cockpit is an active service in the firewall:

    # firewall-cmd --list-services

    You should see cockpit listed. If it is not, enter the following with root permissions to add cockpit as a service to your firewall:

    # firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=cockpit

    The --permanent option keeps the cockpit service active after rebooting.

You can log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.

4.4. Adding Standard Hosts to the Red Hat Virtualization Manager

Adding a host to your Red Hat Virtualization environment can take some time, as the following steps are completed by the platform: virtualization checks, installation of packages, and creation of a bridge.

Important

When creating a management bridge that uses a static IPv6 address, disable network manager control in its interface configuration (ifcfg) file before adding a host. See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3981311 for more information.

Procedure

  1. From the Administration Portal, click ComputeHosts.
  2. Click New.
  3. Use the drop-down list to select the Data Center and Host Cluster for the new host.
  4. Enter the Name and the Address of the new host. The standard SSH port, port 22, is auto-filled in the SSH Port field.
  5. Select an authentication method to use for the Manager to access the host.

    • Enter the root user’s password to use password authentication.
    • Alternatively, copy the key displayed in the SSH PublicKey field to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the host to use public key authentication.
  6. Optionally, click the Advanced Parameters button to change the following advanced host settings:

    • Disable automatic firewall configuration.
    • Add a host SSH fingerprint to increase security. You can add it manually, or fetch it automatically.
  7. Optionally configure power management, where the host has a supported power management card. For information on power management configuration, see Host Power Management Settings Explained in the Administration Guide.
  8. Click OK.

The new host displays in the list of hosts with a status of Installing, and you can view the progress of the installation in the Events section of the Notification Drawer ( EventsIcon ). After a brief delay the host status changes to Up.

Chapter 5. Preparing Storage for Red Hat Virtualization

Prepare storage to be used for storage domains in the new environment. A Red Hat Virtualization environment must have at least one data storage domain, but adding more is recommended.

A data domain holds the virtual hard disks and OVF files of all the virtual machines and templates in a data center, and cannot be shared across data centers while active (but can be migrated between data centers). Data domains of multiple storage types can be added to the same data center, provided they are all shared, rather than local, domains.

You can use one of the following storage types:

5.1. Preparing NFS Storage

Set up NFS shares on your file storage or remote server to serve as storage domains on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Host systems. After exporting the shares on the remote storage and configuring them in the Red Hat Virtualization Manager, the shares will be automatically imported on the Red Hat Virtualization hosts.

For information on setting up and configuring NFS, see Network File System (NFS) in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Storage Administration Guide.

For information on how to export an 'NFS' share, see How to export 'NFS' share from NetApp Storage / EMC SAN in Red Hat Virtualization

Specific system user accounts and system user groups are required by Red Hat Virtualization so the Manager can store data in the storage domains represented by the exported directories. The following procedure sets the permissions for one directory. You must repeat the chown and chmod steps for all of the directories you intend to use as storage domains in Red Hat Virtualization.

Procedure

  1. Create the group kvm:

    # groupadd kvm -g 36
  2. Create the user vdsm in the group kvm:

    # useradd vdsm -u 36 -g 36
  3. Set the ownership of your exported directory to 36:36, which gives vdsm:kvm ownership:

    # chown -R 36:36 /exports/data
  4. Change the mode of the directory so that read and write access is granted to the owner, and so that read and execute access is granted to the group and other users:

    # chmod 0755 /exports/data

5.2. Preparing iSCSI Storage

Red Hat Virtualization supports iSCSI storage, which is a storage domain created from a volume group made up of LUNs. Volume groups and LUNs cannot be attached to more than one storage domain at a time.

For information on setting up and configuring iSCSI storage, see Online Storage Management in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Storage Administration Guide.

Important

If you are using block storage and you intend to deploy virtual machines on raw devices or direct LUNs and to manage them with the Logical Volume Manager, you must create a filter to hide the guest logical volumes. This will prevent guest logical volumes from being activated when the host is booted, a situation that could lead to stale logical volumes and cause data corruption. See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/2662261 for details.

Important

Red Hat Virtualization currently does not support block storage with a block size of 4K. You must configure block storage in legacy (512b block) mode.

Important

If your host is booting from SAN storage and loses connectivity to the storage, the storage file systems become read-only and remain in this state after connectivity is restored.

To prevent this situation, Red Hat recommends adding a drop-in multipath configuration file on the root file system of the SAN for the boot LUN to ensure that it is queued when there is a connection:

# cat /etc/multipath/conf.d/host.conf
multipaths {
    multipath {
        wwid boot_LUN_wwid
        no_path_retry queue
    }

5.3. Preparing FCP Storage

Red Hat Virtualization supports SAN storage by creating a storage domain from a volume group made of pre-existing LUNs. Neither volume groups nor LUNs can be attached to more than one storage domain at a time.

Red Hat Virtualization system administrators need a working knowledge of Storage Area Networks (SAN) concepts. SAN usually uses Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) for traffic between hosts and shared external storage. For this reason, SAN may occasionally be referred to as FCP storage.

For information on setting up and configuring FCP or multipathing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see the Storage Administration Guide and DM Multipath Guide.

Important

If you are using block storage and you intend to deploy virtual machines on raw devices or direct LUNs and to manage them with the Logical Volume Manager, you must create a filter to hide the guest logical volumes. This will prevent guest logical volumes from being activated when the host is booted, a situation that could lead to stale logical volumes and cause data corruption. See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/2662261 for details.

Important

Red Hat Virtualization currently does not support block storage with a block size of 4K. You must configure block storage in legacy (512b block) mode.

Important

If your host is booting from SAN storage and loses connectivity to the storage, the storage file systems become read-only and remain in this state after connectivity is restored.

To prevent this situation, Red Hat recommends adding a drop-in multipath configuration file on the root file system of the SAN for the boot LUN to ensure that it is queued when there is a connection:

# cat /etc/multipath/conf.d/host.conf
multipaths {
    multipath {
        wwid boot_LUN_wwid
        no_path_retry queue
    }

5.4. Preparing POSIX-compliant File System Storage

POSIX file system support allows you to mount file systems using the same mount options that you would normally use when mounting them manually from the command line. This functionality is intended to allow access to storage not exposed using NFS, iSCSI, or FCP.

Any POSIX-compliant file system used as a storage domain in Red Hat Virtualization must be a clustered file system, such as Global File System 2 (GFS2), and must support sparse files and direct I/O. The Common Internet File System (CIFS), for example, does not support direct I/O, making it incompatible with Red Hat Virtualization.

For information on setting up and configuring POSIX-compliant file system storage, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux Global File System 2.

Important

Do not mount NFS storage by creating a POSIX-compliant file system storage domain. Always create an NFS storage domain instead.

5.5. Preparing Local Storage

A local storage domain can be set up on a host. When you set up a host to use local storage, the host is automatically added to a new data center and cluster that no other hosts can be added to. Multiple-host clusters require that all hosts have access to all storage domains, which is not possible with local storage. Virtual machines created in a single-host cluster cannot be migrated, fenced, or scheduled.

Important

On Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH), local storage should always be defined on a file system that is separate from / (root). Red Hat recommends using a separate logical volume or disk, to prevent possible loss of data during upgrades.

Preparing Local Storage for Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

  1. On the host, create the directory to be used for the local storage:

    # mkdir -p /data/images
  2. Ensure that the directory has permissions allowing read/write access to the vdsm user (UID 36) and kvm group (GID 36):

    # chown 36:36 /data /data/images
    # chmod 0755 /data /data/images

Preparing Local Storage for Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat recommends creating the local storage on a logical volume as follows:

  1. Create a local storage directory:

    # mkdir /data
    # lvcreate -L $SIZE rhvh -n data
    # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/rhvh-data
    # echo "/dev/mapper/rhvh-data /data ext4 defaults,discard 1 2" >> /etc/fstab
    # mount /data
  2. Mount the new local storage, and then modify the permissions and ownership:

    # mount -a
    # chown 36:36 /data /rhvh-data
    # chmod 0755 /data /rhvh-data

5.6. Preparing Red Hat Gluster Storage

For information on setting up and configuring Red Hat Gluster Storage, see the Red Hat Gluster Storage Installation Guide.

For the Red Hat Gluster Storage versions that are supported with Red Hat Virtualization, see https://access.redhat.com/articles/2356261.

5.7. Customizing Multipath Configurations for SAN Vendors

To customize the multipath configuration settings, do not modify /etc/multipath.conf. Instead, create a new configuration file that overrides /etc/multipath.conf.

Warning

Upgrading Virtual Desktop and Server Manager (VDSM) overwrites the /etc/multipath.conf file. If multipath.conf contains customizations, overwriting it can trigger storage issues.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. To override the values of settings in /etc/multipath.conf, create a new configuration file in the /etc/multipath/conf.d/ directory.

    Note

    The files in /etc/multipath/conf.d/ execute in alphabetical order. Follow the convention of naming the file with a number at the beginning of its name. For example, /etc/multipath/conf.d/90-myfile.conf.

  2. Copy the settings you want to override from /etc/multipath.conf to the new configuration file in /etc/multipath/conf.d/. Edit the setting values and save your changes.
  3. Apply the new configuration settings by entering the systemctl reload multipathd command.

    Note

    Avoid restarting the multipathd service. Doing so generates errors in the VDSM logs.

Verification steps

If you override the VDSM-generated settings in /etc/multipath.conf, verify that the new configuration performs as expected in a variety of failure scenarios.

For example, disable all of the storage connections. Then enable one connection at a time and verify that doing so makes the storage domain reachable.

Troubleshooting

If a Red Hat Virtualization Host has trouble accessing shared storage, check /etc/multpath.conf and files under /etc/multipath/conf.d/ for values that are incompatible with the SAN.

Additional resources

Chapter 6. Adding Storage for Red Hat Virtualization

Add storage as data domains in the new environment. A Red Hat Virtualization environment must have at least one data domain, but adding more is recommended.

Add the storage you prepared earlier:

6.1. Adding NFS Storage

This procedure shows you how to attach existing NFS storage to your Red Hat Virtualization environment as a data domain.

If you require an ISO or export domain, use this procedure, but select ISO or Export from the Domain Function list.

Procedure

  1. In the Administration Portal, click StorageDomains.
  2. Click New Domain.
  3. Enter a Name for the storage domain.
  4. Accept the default values for the Data Center, Domain Function, Storage Type, Format, and Host lists.
  5. Enter the Export Path to be used for the storage domain. The export path should be in the format of 123.123.0.10:/data (for IPv4), [2001:0:0:0:0:0:0:5db1]:/data (for IPv6), or domain.example.com:/data.
  6. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters:

    1. Click Advanced Parameters.
    2. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed to the user and logged.
    3. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged, and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.
    4. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete property of disks that already exist.
  7. Click OK.

The new NFS data domain has a status of Locked until the disk is prepared. The data domain is then automatically attached to the data center.

6.2. Adding iSCSI Storage

This procedure shows you how to attach existing iSCSI storage to your Red Hat Virtualization environment as a data domain.

Procedure

  1. Click StorageDomains.
  2. Click New Domain.
  3. Enter the Name of the new storage domain.
  4. Select a Data Center from the drop-down list.
  5. Select Data as the Domain Function and iSCSI as the Storage Type.
  6. Select an active host as the Host.

    Important

    Communication to the storage domain is from the selected host and not directly from the Manager. Therefore, all hosts must have access to the storage device before the storage domain can be configured.

  7. The Manager can map iSCSI targets to LUNs or LUNs to iSCSI targets. The New Domain window automatically displays known targets with unused LUNs when the iSCSI storage type is selected. If the target that you are using to add storage does not appear, you can use target discovery to find it; otherwise proceed to the next step.

    1. Click Discover Targets to enable target discovery options. When targets have been discovered and logged in to, the New Domain window automatically displays targets with LUNs unused by the environment.

      Note

      LUNs used externally to the environment are also displayed.

      You can use the Discover Targets options to add LUNs on many targets or multiple paths to the same LUNs.

    2. Enter the FQDN or IP address of the iSCSI host in the Address field.
    3. Enter the port with which to connect to the host when browsing for targets in the Port field. The default is 3260.
    4. If CHAP is used to secure the storage, select the User Authentication check box. Enter the CHAP user name and CHAP password.

      Note

      You can define credentials for an iSCSI target for a specific host with the REST API. See StorageServerConnectionExtensions: add in the REST API Guide for more information.

    5. Click Discover.
    6. Select one or more targets from the discovery results and click Login for one target or Login All for multiple targets.

      Important

      If more than one path access is required, you must discover and log in to the target through all the required paths. Modifying a storage domain to add additional paths is currently not supported.

  8. Click the + button next to the desired target. This expands the entry and displays all unused LUNs attached to the target.
  9. Select the check box for each LUN that you are using to create the storage domain.
  10. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters:

    1. Click Advanced Parameters.
    2. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed to the user and logged.
    3. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged, and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.
    4. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete property of disks that already exist.
    5. Select the Discard After Delete check box to enable the discard after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created. This option is only available to block storage domains.
  11. Click OK.

If you have configured multiple storage connection paths to the same target, follow the procedure in Configuring iSCSI Multipathing to complete iSCSI bonding.

If you want to migrate your current storage network to an iSCSI bond, see Migrating a Logical Network to an iSCSI Bond.

6.3. Adding FCP Storage

This procedure shows you how to attach existing FCP storage to your Red Hat Virtualization environment as a data domain.

Procedure

  1. Click StorageDomains.
  2. Click New Domain.
  3. Enter the Name of the storage domain.
  4. Select an FCP Data Center from the drop-down list.

    If you do not yet have an appropriate FCP data center, select (none).

  5. Select the Domain Function and the Storage Type from the drop-down lists. The storage domain types that are not compatible with the chosen data center are not available.
  6. Select an active host in the Host field. If this is not the first data domain in a data center, you must select the data center’s SPM host.

    Important

    All communication to the storage domain is through the selected host and not directly from the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. At least one active host must exist in the system and be attached to the chosen data center. All hosts must have access to the storage device before the storage domain can be configured.

  7. The New Domain window automatically displays known targets with unused LUNs when Fibre Channel is selected as the storage type. Select the LUN ID check box to select all of the available LUNs.
  8. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters.

    1. Click Advanced Parameters.
    2. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed to the user and logged.
    3. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged, and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.
    4. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete property of disks that already exist.
    5. Select the Discard After Delete check box to enable the discard after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created. This option is only available to block storage domains.
  9. Click OK.

The new FCP data domain remains in a Locked status while it is being prepared for use. When ready, it is automatically attached to the data center.

6.4. Adding POSIX-compliant File System Storage

This procedure shows you how to attach existing POSIX-compliant file system storage to your Red Hat Virtualization environment as a data domain.

Procedure

  1. Click StorageDomains.
  2. Click New Domain.
  3. Enter the Name for the storage domain.
  4. Select the Data Center to be associated with the storage domain. The data center selected must be of type POSIX (POSIX compliant FS). Alternatively, select (none).
  5. Select Data from the Domain Function drop-down list, and POSIX compliant FS from the Storage Type drop-down list.

    If applicable, select the Format from the drop-down menu.

  6. Select a host from the Host drop-down list.
  7. Enter the Path to the POSIX file system, as you would normally provide it to the mount command.
  8. Enter the VFS Type, as you would normally provide it to the mount command using the -t argument. See man mount for a list of valid VFS types.
  9. Enter additional Mount Options, as you would normally provide them to the mount command using the -o argument. The mount options should be provided in a comma-separated list. See man mount for a list of valid mount options.
  10. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters.

    1. Click Advanced Parameters.
    2. Enter a percentage value in the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed to the user and logged.
    3. Enter a GB value in the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged, and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.
    4. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete property of disks that already exist.
  11. Click OK.

6.5. Adding Local Storage

Adding local storage to a host places the host in a new data center and cluster. The local storage configuration window combines the creation of a data center, a cluster, and storage into a single process.

Procedure

  1. Click ComputeHosts and select the host.
  2. Click ManagementMaintenance and click OK.
  3. Click ManagementConfigure Local Storage.
  4. Click the Edit buttons next to the Data Center, Cluster, and Storage fields to configure and name the local storage domain.
  5. Set the path to your local storage in the text entry field.
  6. If applicable, click the Optimization tab to configure the memory optimization policy for the new local storage cluster.
  7. Click OK.

Your host comes online in a data center of its own.

6.6. Adding Red Hat Gluster Storage

To use Red Hat Gluster Storage with Red Hat Virtualization, see Configuring Red Hat Virtualization with Red Hat Gluster Storage.

For the Red Hat Gluster Storage versions that are supported with Red Hat Virtualization, see https://access.redhat.com/articles/2356261.

Appendix A. Configuring a Local Repository for Offline Red Hat Virtualization Manager Installation

To install Red Hat Virtualization Manager on a system that does not have a direct connection to the Content Delivery Network, download the required packages on a system that has Internet access, then create a repository that can be shared with the offline Manager machine. The system hosting the repository must be connected to the same network as the client systems where the packages are to be installed.

Prerequisites

  • A Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Server installed on a system that has access to the Content Delivery Network. This system downloads all the required packages, and distributes them to your offline system(s).
  • A large amount of free disk space available. This procedure downloads a large number of packages, and requires up to 50GB of free disk space.

Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Manager repositories on the online system:

Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Repositories

Register the system with Red Hat Subscription Manager, attach the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription, and enable Manager repositories.

Procedure

  1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user name and password when prompted:

    # subscription-manager register
    Note

    If you are using an IPv6 network, use an IPv6 transition mechanism to access the Content Delivery Network and subscription manager.

  2. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

    # subscription-manager list --available
  3. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

    # subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
    Note

    To view currently attached subscriptions:

    # subscription-manager list --consumed

    To list all enabled repositories:

    # yum repolist
  4. Configure the repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-supplementary-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4.3-manager-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-manager-tools-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms \
        --enable=jb-eap-7.2-for-rhel-7-server-rpms

Configuring the Offline Repository

  1. Servers that are not connected to the Internet can access software repositories on other systems using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). To create the FTP repository, install and configure vsftpd:

    1. Install the vsftpd package:

      # yum install vsftpd
    2. Start the vsftpd service, and ensure the service starts on boot:

      # systemctl start vsftpd.service
      # systemctl enable vsftpd.service
    3. Create a sub-directory inside the /var/ftp/pub/ directory. This is where the downloaded packages will be made available:

      # mkdir /var/ftp/pub/rhvrepo
  2. Download packages from all configured software repositories to the rhvrepo directory. This includes repositories for all Content Delivery Network subscription pools attached to the system, and any locally configured repositories:

    # reposync -l -p /var/ftp/pub/rhvrepo

    This command downloads a large number of packages, and takes a long time to complete. The -l option enables yum plug-in support.

  3. Install the createrepo package:

    # yum install createrepo
  4. Create repository metadata for each of the sub-directories where packages were downloaded under /var/ftp/pub/rhvrepo:

    # for DIR in $(find /var/ftp/pub/rhvrepo -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d); do createrepo $DIR; done
  5. Create a repository file, and copy it to the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory on the offline machine on which you will install the Manager.

    The configuration file can be created manually or with a script. Run the script below on the system hosting the repository, replacing ADDRESS in the baseurl with the IP address or FQDN of the system hosting the repository:

    #!/bin/sh
    
    REPOFILE="/etc/yum.repos.d/rhev.repo"
    echo -e " " > $REPOFILE
    
    for DIR in $(find /var/ftp/pub/rhvrepo -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d);
    do
        echo -e "[$(basename $DIR)]"	>> $REPOFILE
        echo -e "name=$(basename $DIR)" >> $REPOFILE
        echo -e "baseurl=ftp://_ADDRESS_/pub/rhvrepo/`basename $DIR`" >> $REPOFILE
        echo -e "enabled=1" >> $REPOFILE
        echo -e "gpgcheck=0" >> $REPOFILE
        echo -e "\n" >> $REPOFILE
    done

Return to Section 3.3, “Installing and Configuring the Red Hat Virtualization Manager”. Packages are installed from the local repository, instead of from the Content Delivery Network.

Appendix B. Preparing a Local Manually Configured PostgreSQL Database

Use this procedure to set up the Manager database or Data Warehouse database with custom values. Set up this database before you configure the Manager; you must supply the database credentials during engine-setup.

Note

The engine-setup and engine-backup --mode=restore commands only support system error messages in the en_US.UTF8 locale, even if the system locale is different.

The locale settings in the postgresql.conf file must be set to en_US.UTF8.

Important

The database name must contain only numbers, underscores, and lowercase letters.

Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Repositories

Register the system with Red Hat Subscription Manager, attach the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription, and enable Manager repositories.

Procedure

  1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user name and password when prompted:

    # subscription-manager register
    Note

    If you are using an IPv6 network, use an IPv6 transition mechanism to access the Content Delivery Network and subscription manager.

  2. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

    # subscription-manager list --available
  3. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

    # subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
    Note

    To view currently attached subscriptions:

    # subscription-manager list --consumed

    To list all enabled repositories:

    # yum repolist
  4. Configure the repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos \
        --disable='*' \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-supplementary-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4.3-manager-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-rhv-4-manager-tools-rpms \
        --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms \
        --enable=jb-eap-7.2-for-rhel-7-server-rpms

Initializing the PostgreSQL Database

  1. Install the PostgreSQL server package:

    # yum install rh-postgresql10 rh-postgresql10-postgresql-contrib
  2. Initialize the PostgreSQL database, start the postgresql service, and ensure that this service starts on boot:

    # scl enable rh-postgresql10 -- postgresql-setup --initdb
    # systemctl enable rh-postgresql10-postgresql
    # systemctl start rh-postgresql10-postgresql
  3. Connect to the psql command line interface as the postgres user:

    su - postgres -c 'scl enable rh-postgresql10 -- psql'
  4. Create a default user. The Manager’s default user is engine and Data Warehouse’s default user is ovirt_engine_history:

    postgres=# create role user_name with login encrypted password 'password';
  5. Create a database. The Manager’s default database name is engine and Data Warehouse’s default database name is ovirt_engine_history:

    postgres=# create database database_name owner user_name template template0 encoding 'UTF8' lc_collate 'en_US.UTF-8' lc_ctype 'en_US.UTF-8';
  6. Connect to the new database:

    postgres=# \c database_name
  7. Add the uuid-ossp extension:

    database_name=# CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp";
  8. Add the plpgsql language if it does not exist:

    database_name=# CREATE LANGUAGE plpgsql;
  9. Quit the psql interface:

    database_name=# \q
  10. Ensure the database can be accessed remotely by enabling md5 client authentication. Edit the /var/opt/rh/rh-postgresql10/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf file, and add the following line immediately underneath the line starting with local at the bottom of the file, replacing X.X.X.X with the IP address of the Manager or the Data Warehouse machine, and 0-32 or 0-128 with the CIDR mask length:

    host    database_name    user_name    X.X.X.X/0-32    md5
    host    database_name    user_name    X.X.X.X::/0-128   md5
  11. Update the PostgreSQL server’s configuration. Edit the /var/opt/rh/rh-postgresql10/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf file and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

    autovacuum_vacuum_scale_factor=0.01
    autovacuum_analyze_scale_factor=0.075
    autovacuum_max_workers=6
    maintenance_work_mem=65536
    max_connections=150
    work_mem=8192
  12. Restart the postgresql service:

    # systemctl restart rh-postgresql10-postgresql
  13. Optionally, set up SSL to secure database connections using the instructions at http://www.postgresql.org/docs/10/static/ssl-tcp.html#SSL-FILE-USAGE.

Return to Section 3.3, “Installing and Configuring the Red Hat Virtualization Manager”, and answer Local and Manual when asked about the database.

Appendix C. Configuring a Host for PCI Passthrough

Note

This is one in a series of topics that show how to set up and configure SR-IOV on Red Hat Virtualization. For more information, see Setting Up and Configuring SR-IOV

Enabling PCI passthrough allows a virtual machine to use a host device as if the device were directly attached to the virtual machine. To enable the PCI passthrough function, you must enable virtualization extensions and the IOMMU function. The following procedure requires you to reboot the host. If the host is attached to the Manager already, ensure you place the host into maintenance mode first.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure that the host hardware meets the requirements for PCI device passthrough and assignment. See PCI Device Requirements for more information.

Configuring a Host for PCI Passthrough

  1. Enable the virtualization extension and IOMMU extension in the BIOS. See Enabling Intel VT-x and AMD-V virtualization hardware extensions in BIOS in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Virtualization Deployment and Administration Guide for more information.
  2. Enable the IOMMU flag in the kernel by selecting the Hostdev Passthrough & SR-IOV check box when adding the host to the Manager or by editing the grub configuration file manually.

  3. For GPU passthrough, you need to run additional configuration steps on both the host and the guest system. See GPU device passthrough: Assigning a host GPU to a single virtual machine in Setting up an NVIDIA GPU for a virtual machine in Red Hat Virtualization for more information.

Enabling IOMMU Manually

  1. Enable IOMMU by editing the grub configuration file.

    Note

    If you are using IBM POWER8 hardware, skip this step as IOMMU is enabled by default.

    • For Intel, boot the machine, and append intel_iommu=on to the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line in the grub configuration file.

      # vi /etc/default/grub
      ...
      GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nofb splash=quiet console=tty0 ... intel_iommu=on
      ...
    • For AMD, boot the machine, and append amd_iommu=on to the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line in the grub configuration file.

      # vi /etc/default/grub
      ...
      GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nofb splash=quiet console=tty0 ... amd_iommu=on
      ...
      Note

      If intel_iommu=on or amd_iommu=on works, you can try adding iommu=pt or amd_iommu=pt. The pt option only enables IOMMU for devices used in passthrough and provides better host performance. However, the option might not be supported on all hardware. Revert to previous option if the pt option doesn’t work for your host.

      If the passthrough fails because the hardware does not support interrupt remapping, you can consider enabling the allow_unsafe_interrupts option if the virtual machines are trusted. The allow_unsafe_interrupts is not enabled by default because enabling it potentially exposes the host to MSI attacks from virtual machines. To enable the option:

      # vi /etc/modprobe.d
      options vfio_iommu_type1 allow_unsafe_interrupts=1
  2. Refresh the grub.cfg file and reboot the host for these changes to take effect:

    # grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
    # reboot

To enable SR-IOV and assign dedicated virtual NICs to virtual machines, see https://access.redhat.com/articles/2335291.

Appendix D. Removing the Red Hat Virtualization Manager

You can use the engine-cleanup command to remove specific components or all components of the Red Hat Virtualization Manager.

Note

A backup of the Manager database and a compressed archive of the PKI keys and configuration are always automatically created. These files are saved under /var/lib/ovirt-engine/backups/, and include the date and engine- and engine-pki- in their file names respectively.

Procedure

  1. Run the following command on the Manager machine:

    # engine-cleanup
  2. You are prompted whether to remove all Red Hat Virtualization Manager components:

    • Type Yes and press Enter to remove all components:

      Do you want to remove all components? (Yes, No) [Yes]:
    • Type No and press Enter to select the components to remove. You can select whether to retain or remove each component individually:

      Do you want to remove Engine database content? All data will be lost (Yes, No) [No]:
      Do you want to remove PKI keys? (Yes, No) [No]:
      Do you want to remove PKI configuration? (Yes, No) [No]:
      Do you want to remove Apache SSL configuration? (Yes, No) [No]:
  3. You are given another opportunity to change your mind and cancel the removal of the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. If you choose to proceed, the ovirt-engine service is stopped, and your environment’s configuration is removed in accordance with the options you selected.

    During execution engine service will be stopped (OK, Cancel) [OK]:
    ovirt-engine is about to be removed, data will be lost (OK, Cancel) [Cancel]:OK
  4. Remove the Red Hat Virtualization packages:

    # yum remove rhvm* vdsm-bootstrap

Appendix E. Securing Red Hat Virtualization

This topic includes limited information about how to secure Red Hat Virtualization. This information will increase over time.

This information is specific to Red Hat Virtualization; it and does not cover fundamental security practices related to:

  • Disabling unnecessary services
  • Authentication
  • Authorization
  • Accounting
  • Penetration testing and hardening of non-RHV services
  • Encryption of sensitive application data

Prerequisites

  • You should be proficient in your organization’s security standards and practices. If possible, consult with your organization’s Security Officer.
  • Consult the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide before deploying RHEL hosts.

E.1. DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) distributes Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) for various platforms and operating systems.

While installing Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH), the DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7 profile is one of the security policies available. Enabling this profile as your security policy during installation removes the need regenerate SSH keys, SSL certificates, or otherwise re-configure the host later in the deployment process.

Important

The DISA STIG security policy is the only security policy that Red Hat officially tests and certifies.

DISA STIGs are "configuration standards for DOD IA and IA-enabled devices/systems. Since 1998, DISA has played a critical role in enhancing the security posture of DoD’s security systems by providing the Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs). The STIGs contain technical guidance to 'lock down' information systems/software that might otherwise be vulnerable to a malicious computer attack."

These STIGs are based on requirements put forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53, a catalog of security controls for all U.S. federal information systems except those related to national security.

To determine which various profiles overlap, Red Hat refers to the Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM). This CCM specifies a comprehensive set of cloud-specific security controls, and maps each one to the requirements of leading standards, best practices, and regulations.

To help you verify your security policy, Red Hat provides OpenSCAP tools and Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) profiles for various Red Hat platforms, including RHEL and RHV.

Red Hat’s OpenSCAP project provides open source tools for administrators and auditors to assess, measure, and enforce of SCAP baselines. NIST awarded SCAP 1.2 certification to OpenSCAP in 2014.

NIST maintains the SCAP standard. SCAP-compliant profiles provide detailed low-level guidance on setting the security configuration of operating systems and applications.

Red Hat publishes SCAP baselines for various products and platforms to two locations:

  • The NIST National Checklist Program (NCP), the U.S. government repository of publicly available security checklists (or benchmarks).
  • The Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Exchange

E.2. Applying the DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7 Profile

This topic shows you how to enable the DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7 security profile while installing the Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) Manager ("the Manager"), the Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH), and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host.

Enable DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7 for RHVH

The following procedure applies to installing Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) for two different purposes:

  • Using RHVH as the host for the Manager virtual machine when you deploy the Manager as a self-hosted engine.
  • Using RHVH as an ordinary host in an RHV cluster.

If you use the Anaconda installer to install RHVH:

  1. On the Installation Summary screen, select Security Policy. security policy
  2. On the Security Policy screen that opens, toggle the Apply security policy setting to On.
  3. Scroll down the list of profiles and select DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7.
  4. Click the Select profile button. This action adds a green checkmark next to the profile and adds packages to the list of Changes that were done or need to be done.

    Note

    These packages are already part of the RHVH image. RHVH ships as a single system image. Installation of packages required by any other selected security profiles which are not part of the RHVH image may not be possible. Please see the RHVH package manifest for a list of included packages. security policy selected

  5. Click Done.
  6. On the Installation Summary screen, verify that the status of Security Policy is Everything okay.
  7. Later, when you log into RHVH, the command line displays the following information. security policy rhvh login
Note

If you deploy RHV as a Self-Hosted Engine using the command line, during the series of prompts after you enter ovirt-hosted-engine-setup, the command line will ask Do you want to apply a default OpenSCAP security profile? Enter Yes and follow the instructions to select the DISA STIG for Red Hat Linux 7 profile.

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