Installing Stratus Cloud Availability Services on KVM Compute Nodes

Install Stratus Cloud Availability Services after you have prepared your OpenStack environment (KVM-FT Hardware and Software Requirements) and connected the Ethernet cables between the two compute nodes on which you will install the software (Connecting Ethernet Cables Between KVM-FT Compute Nodes).

To install Availability Services on KVM compute nodes:

1. Perform a clean installation of CentOS 6.6 on a compute node.
2. Log on to the console of the compute node as the root user, or be prepared to use sudo to run commands as root.

3. Run the yum utility to update CentOS components including the kernel to the latest available release level, as follows:

   # yum upgrade

4. After the upgrade, verify that the CentOS kernel level is 2.6.32-504.8.1 by executing the uname command, as follows:

   Note: If yum installs a later kernel version than shown, contact your service representative to verify if the kernel is compatible with Availability Services.
   

   # uname -r
   2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64

5. Install the additional kernel packages that are required for Availability Services. For example, execute the following command:

   Note: Each kernel package must match the currently installed kernel. As in the following example, if you have installed kernel-2.6.32-504.8.1, the correct packages to install are kernel-package-2.6.32-504.8.1. It is normal if the yum utility reports that one or more of these packages is already installed as a result of the yum upgrade.

   # yum install kernel-headers-2.6.32-504.8.1 \
   kernel-devel-2.6.32-504.8.1 \
   kernel-firmware-2.6.32-504.8.1

6. Verify that the correct kernel packages are now installed. For example:

   # rpm -qa | grep kernel
   kernel-devel-2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64
   dracut-kernel-004-356.el6.noarch
   kernel-headers-2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64
   libreport-plugin-kerneloops-2.0.9-21.el6.centos.x86_64
   kernel-firmware-2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.noarch
   abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.0.8-26.el6.centos.x86_64
   kernel-devel-2.6.32-504.el6.x86_64
   kernel-2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64
   kernel-2.6.32-504.el6.x86_64

7. Install the GNU Compiler Collection (gcc), as follows:

   # yum --exclude=*.i686 install gcc

8. Add the RPMforge repository to your yum configuration, as follows:

   # yum install http://pkgs.repoforge.org/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.5.3-1.el6.rf.x86_64.rpm

9. Install the yum-utils package for access to additional yum commands:

   # yum install yum-utils

10. Verify that there are no unfinished yum transactions by entering the following yum command:

    # yum-complete-transaction --cleanup-only
    Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
    Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
    * base: mirror.sanctuaryhost.com
    * epel: mirror.cogentco.com
    * extras: centos.mirror.nac.net
    * updates: mirror.wiredtree.com
    No unfinished transactions left.

    If there are unfinished transactions, resolve them before continuing with the installation.

11. To prevent the ip6tables firewall service from interfering with KVM-FT hypervisor operations, disable the ip6tables service by entering the following commands:

    # chkconfig ip6tables off
    # service ip6tables stop

12. In the /opt directory, create a directory called Release:

    # mkdir /opt/Release

13. Download the Availability Services installation script from the Stratus Cloud Solution Downloads and Support page at http://www.stratus.com/services-support/downloads to a local management PC.
14. Transfer the installation script to the /opt/Release directory. For example, use a secure copy (SCP) utility to copy the file from the local management PC to the compute node.

15. On the compute node, switch to the /opt/Release directory:

    # cd /opt/Release

16. Run the following command to make the installation script an executable file, where script is the name of the script:

    # chmod a+x script.sh

17. Run the installation script in the following format, where the axlinkethdev1 and axlinkethdev2 arguments represent the Ethernet devices to which the KVM-FT A-link cables are connected and detectedLink represents the network (adapter, virtual LAN, or channel bond) that handles data traffic for the instances:

    # ./kvm-ax-n.n.n.n.n install axlinkethdev1 axlinketdev2 detectedLink

    The detectedLink network is monitored for link up/down state transitions. A link down state indicates that KVM-FT instances may have lost network connectivity for this hypervisor. The KVM-FT software uses the state transitions to determine possible actions.

18. The installation script begins to install the Availability Services software. When prompted, restart the KVM-FT node to apply the changes.

19. After the node restarts, log on and run the kvmax-healthcheck script to confirm that the installation was successful. Verify the installed version numbers and examine each section of the output for any failures. If you need assistance correcting any problems, contact your service representative.

    Run the script as follows:

    # /opt/stratus/scripts/kvmax-healthcheck.sh
    - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -
    KVM-AX Installer Verification Output
    KVM-AX Version : n.n.n.n.n
    FTCore Version : n.n.n.n-n.n
    - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -
    .
    .
    .
    

20. To prevent the yum utility from applying future version upgrades that are incompatible with Availability Services, edit the /etc/yum.conf file and ensure that the exclude line includes the following entries:

    exclude=kernel* redhat-release* centos-release* rdo-release*

    These entries have the following effects:

    • kernel* — prevents any kernel package or kernel extension package from being installed
    • Redhat-release* — prevents Red Hat from upgrading your operating system version
    • Centos-release* — prevents the CentOS release from upgrading your operating system version
    • Rdo-release* — controls which version of OpenStack to install
21. Save the changes to the yum.conf file.
22. Repeat the previous steps to install the KVM-FT software on the second compute node. If you plan to install the software on more than two compute nodes, you can install the software on all of the compute nodes now, or continue with installing the quorum servers and configuring your first FT pair group so you can test an application.
23. Install the quorum servers, as described in Installing Quorum Servers for Stratus Cloud Availability Services.