Install a Subcloud Using Redfish Platform Management Service¶

For subclouds with servers that support Redfish Virtual Media Service (version 1.2 or higher), you can use the Central Cloud’s CLI to install the ISO and bootstrap the subclouds from the Central Cloud.

About this task

After physically installing the hardware and network connectivity of a subcloud, the subcloud installation has these phases:

Executing the dcmanager subcloud add command in the Central Cloud:
- Uses Redfish Virtual Media Service to remote install the ISO on controller-0 in the subcloud
- Uses Ansible to bootstrap StarlingX on controller-0 in the subcloud

Note

After a successful remote installation of a subcloud in a Distributed Cloud system, a subsequent remote reinstallation fails because of an existing ssh key entry in the /root/.ssh/known_hosts on the System Controller. In this case, delete the host key entry, if present, from /root/.ssh/known_hosts on the System Controller before doing reinstallations.

Prerequisites

The docker rvmc image needs to be added to the System Controller bootstrap override file, docker.io/starlingx/rvmc:stx.5.0-v1.0.0.
A new system CLI option --active is added to the load-import command to allow the import into the System Controller /opt/dc-vault/loads. The purpose of this is to allow Redfish install of subclouds referencing a single full copy of the bootimage.iso at /opt/dc-vault/loads. (Previously, the full bootimage.iso was duplicated for each subcloud add command).
Note

This is required only once and does not have to be done for every subcloud install.

dcmanager recognizes bootimage names ending in <.iso> and <.sig>

For example,
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ system --os-region-name SystemController load-import --active bootimage.iso bootimage.sig
```
In order to be able to deploy subclouds from either controller, all local files that are referenced in the bootstrap.yml file must exist on both controllers (for example, /home/sysadmin/docker-registry-ca-cert.pem).

Increase Subcloud Platform Backup Size using the CLI¶

By default, 30GB is allocated for /opt/platform-backup. If additional persistent disk space is required, the partition can be increased in the next subcloud reinstall using the following commands:

To increase /opt/platform-backup to 40GB, add the persistent_size: 40000 parameter to the subcloud install-values.yaml file.

Use the dcmanager subcloud update command to save the configuration change for the next subcloud reinstall.

~(keystone_admin)]$ dcmanager subcloud update --install-values <install-values-yaml-file><subcloud-name>

For a new subcloud deployment, use the dcmanager subcloud add command with the install-values.yaml file containing the desired persistent_size value.

Procedure

At the subcloud location, physically install the servers and network connectivity required for the subcloud.

Note

Do not power off the servers. The host portion of the server can be powered off, but the BMC portion of the server must be powered and accessible from the System Controller.

There is no need to wipe the disks.

Note

The servers require connectivity to a gateway router that provides IP routing between the subcloud management subnet and the System Controller management subnet, and between the subcloud OAM subnet and the System Controller subnet.

Create the install-values.yaml file and use the content to pass the file into the dcmanager subcloud add command, using the --install-values command option.

Note

If your controller is on a ZTSystems Triton server that requires a longer timeout value, you can now use the rd.net.timeout.ipv6dad dracut parameter to specify an increased timeout value for dracut to wait for the interface to have carrier, and complete IPv6 duplicate address detection DAD. For the ZTSystems server, this can take more than four minutes. It is recommended to set this value to 300 seconds, by specifying the following in the subcloud install-values.yaml file:

rd.net.timeout.ipv6dad: 300

Note

The wait_for_timeout value must be chosen based on your network performance (bandwidth, latency, and quality) and should be increased if the network does not meet the minimum or timeout requirements. The default value of 3600 seconds is based on a network bandwidth of 100 Mbps with a 50 ms delay.

For example, --install-values /home/sysadmin/install-values.yaml.

# Specify the StarlingX software version, for example 'nn.nn' for the StarlingX nn.nn release of software.
software_version: <software_version>
bootstrap_interface: <bootstrap_interface_name> # e.g. eno1
bootstrap_address: <bootstrap_interface_ip_address> # e.g.128.224.151.183
bootstrap_address_prefix: <bootstrap_netmask> # e.g. 23

# Board Management Controller
bmc_address: <BMCs_IPv4_or_IPv6_address> # e.g. 128.224.64.180
bmc_username: <bmc_username> # e.g. root

# If the subcloud's bootstrap IP interface and the system controller are not on the
# same network then the customer must configure a default route or static route
# so that the Central Cloud can login bootstrap the newly installed subcloud.

# If nexthop_gateway is specified and the network_address is not specified then a
# default route will be configured. Otherwise, if a network_address is specified then
# a static route will be configured.

nexthop_gateway: <default_route_address> for  # e.g. 128.224.150.1 (required)
network_address: <static_route_address>   # e.g. 128.224.144.0
network_mask: <static_route_mask>         # e.g. 255.255.254.0

# Installation type codes
#0 - Standard Controller, Serial Console
#1 - Standard Controller, Graphical Console
#2 - AIO, Serial Console
#3 - AIO, Graphical Console
#4 - AIO Low-latency, Serial Console
#5 - AIO Low-latency, Graphical Console
install_type: 3

# Optional parameters defaults can be modified by uncommenting the option with a modified value.

# This option can be set to extend the installing stage timeout value
# wait_for_timeout: 3600

# Set this options for https
no_check_certificate: True

# If the bootstrap interface is a vlan interface then configure the vlan ID.
# bootstrap_vlan: <vlan_id>

# Override default filesystem device.
# rootfs_device: "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:00:1f.2-ata-1.0"
# boot_device: "/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:00:1f.2-ata-1.0"

# Set the value for persistent file system (/opt/platform-backup).
# The value must be whole number (in MB) that is greater than or equal
# to 30000.
persistent_size: 30000

At the System Controller, create a /home/sysadmin/subcloud1-bootstrap-values.yaml overrides file for the subcloud.

For example:

system_mode: simplex
name: "subcloud1"

description: "test"
location: "loc"

management_subnet: 192.168.101.0/24
management_start_address: 192.168.101.2
management_end_address: 192.168.101.50
management_gateway_address: 192.168.101.1

external_oam_subnet: 10.10.10.0/24
external_oam_gateway_address: 10.10.10.1
external_oam_floating_address: 10.10.10.12

systemcontroller_gateway_address: 192.168.204.101

docker_registries:
  k8s.gcr.io:
    url: registry.central:9001/k8s.gcr.io
  gcr.io:
    url: registry.central:9001/gcr.io
  ghcr.io:
    url: registry.central:9001/ghcr.io
  quay.io:
    url: registry.central:9001/quay.io
  docker.io:
    url: registry.central:9001/docker.io
  docker.elastic.co:
    url: registry.central:9001/docker.elastic.co
  defaults:
    username: sysinv
    password: <sysinv_password>
    type: docker

Where <sysinv_password> can be found by running the following command as ‘sysadmin’ on the Central Cloud:

$ keyring get sysinv services

This configuration will install container images from the local registry on your central cloud. The Central Cloud’s local registry’s HTTPS Certificate must have the Central Cloud’s OAM IP, registry.local and registry.central in the certificate’s SAN list. For example, a valid certificate contains a SAN list:

"DNS.1: registry.local DNS.2: registry.central IP.1: floating_management IP.2: floating_OAM"

If required, run the following command on the Central Cloud prior to bootstrapping the subcloud to install the new certificate for the Central Cloud with the updated SAN list:

~(keystone_admin)]$ system certificate-install -m docker_registry path_to_cert

If you prefer to install container images from the default external registries, make the following substitutions for the docker_registries sections of the file.

docker_registries:
  defaults:
   username: <your_default_registry_username>
   password: <your_default_registry_password>

Add the subcloud using dcmanager.

When calling the subcloud add command, specify the install values, the bootstrap values and the subcloud’s sysadmin password.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ dcmanager subcloud add \
--bootstrap-address <oam_ip_address_of_subclouds_controller-0> \
--bootstrap-values /home/sysadmin/subcloud1-bootstrap-values.yaml \
--sysadmin-password <sysadmin_password> \
--install-values /home/sysadmin/install-values.yaml \
--bmc-password <bmc_password>
```
If the --sysadmin-password is not specified, you are prompted to enter it once the full command is invoked. The password is masked when it is entered.
```
Enter the sysadmin password for the subcloud:
```
(Optional) The --bmc-password <password> is used for subcloud installation, and only required if the --install- values parameter is specified.

If the --bmc-password <password> is omitted and the --install-values option is specified the system administrator will be prompted to enter it, following the dcmanager subcloud add command. This option is ignored if the --install-values option is not specified. The password is masked when it is entered.
```
Enter the bmc password for the subcloud:
```
The dcmanager subcloud show or dcmanager subcloud list command can be used to view subcloud add progress.

At the Central Cloud / System Controller, monitor the progress of the subcloud install, bootstrapping, and deployment by using the deploy status field of the dcmanager subcloud list command.
```
~(keystone_admin)]$ dcmanager subcloud list
+----+-----------+------------+--------------+---------------+---------+
| id | name      | management | availability | deploy status | sync    |
+----+-----------+------------+--------------+---------------+---------+
|  1 | subcloud1 | unmanaged  | online       | installing    | unknown |
+----+-----------+------------+--------------+---------------+---------+
```
The deploy status field has the following values:

Pre-Install
This status indicates that the ISO for the subcloud is being updated by the Central Cloud with the boot menu parameters, and kickstart configuration as specified in the install-values.yaml file.

Installing
This status indicates that the subcloud’s ISO is being installed from the Central Cloud to the subcloud using the Redfish Virtual Media service on the subcloud’s BMC.

Bootstrapping
This status indicates that the Ansible bootstrap of StarlingX software on the subcloud’s controller-0 is in progress.

Complete
This status indicates that subcloud deployment is complete.

The subcloud install, bootstrapping and deployment can take up to 30 minutes.

Caution

If there is an installation failure, or a failure during bootstrapping, you must delete the subcloud before re-adding it, using the dcmanager subcloud add command. For more information on deleting, managing or unmanaging a subcloud, see Managing Subclouds Using the CLI.

If there is a deployment failure, do not delete the subcloud, use the subcloud reconfig command, to reconfigure the subcloud. For more information, see Managing Subclouds Using the CLI.

You can also monitor detailed logging of the subcloud installation, bootstrapping and deployment by monitoring the following log files on the active controller in the Central Cloud.

/var/log/dcmanager/ansible/<subcloud_name>_install.log

/var/log/dcmanager/ansible/<subcloud_name>_bootstrap.log

For example:

controller-0:/home/sysadmin# tail /var/log/dcmanager/ansible/subcloud1_install.log
TASK [wait_for] ****************************************************************
ok: [subcloud1]

controller-0:/home/sysadmin# tail /var/log/dcmanager/ansible/subcloud1_bootstrap.log
k8s.gcr.io: {password: secret, url: null}
quay.io: {password: secret, url: null}
)

TASK [bootstrap/bringup-essential-services : Mark the bootstrap as completed] ***
changed: [subcloud1]

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
subcloud1                  : ok=230  changed=137  unreachable=0    failed=0

Postrequisites

Provision the newly installed and bootstrapped subcloud. For detailed StarlingX deployment procedures for the desired deployment configuration of the subcloud, see the post-bootstrap steps of StarlingX Installation.
Check and update docker registry credentials on the subcloud:
```
REGISTRY="docker-registry"
SECRET_UUID='system service-parameter-list | fgrep
$REGISTRY | fgrep auth-secret | awk '{print $10}''
SECRET_REF='openstack secret list | fgrep $
{SECRET_UUID} | awk '{print $2}''
openstack secret get ${SECRET_REF} --payload -f value
```
The secret payload should be, username: sysinv password:<password>. If the secret payload is, “username: admin password:<password>”, see, Updating Docker Registry Credentials on a Subcloud for more information.
For more information on bootstrapping and deploying, see the procedure Install a subcloud, step 4.

Install a Subcloud Using Redfish Platform Management Service

Install a Subcloud Using Redfish Platform Management Service¶

Increase Subcloud Platform Backup Size using the CLI¶

StarlingX

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