Prepare a RHEL Server

This article describes how prepare a RHEL Linux server to be added as a host to Platform9 Managed OpenStack (PMO).

For a description of PMO networking concepts, refer to the Networking Basic Concepts tutorial. Refer to PMO prerequisites for Linux/KVM for systems requirements and supported Ubuntu Operating System versions.

Supported Operating System Version

Platform9 Managed OpenStack supports RHEL versions 7.x and above.

Step 1 - Install RHEL Operating System

Make sure that your server is configured appropriately with access to storage and physical networking. Download and install RHEL 7.6 on your physical server. You can download RHEL distributions from here: RedHat Software

We recommend installing the minimal RHEL operating system. Platform9 agents are prepared to pull in any required package dependencies and get them installed on your server to prepare it to be part of OpenStack. This includes any libvirt/KVM package dependencies.

It’s usually a good practice to get your system up to date with regard to the latest patches and updates.

Bash
Copy

Step 2 - Register the RHEL server and Subscribe to Red Hat Customer Portal

Run the following commands to register and attach the RHEL server to the Red Hat Customer Portal for updates, and enable the “server-optional” RPM repository.

Bash
Copy

Step 3 - Ensure Virtualization is Enabled

Ensure that virtualization is enabled for your server by checking your server’s BIOS settings. If disabled, enable virtualization for the server to be able to act as a hypervisor within Platform9 Managed OpenStack.

Step 4 - Install, Enable And Start the NTP Daemon.

This is required for all components to have their time synchronized.

Bash
Copy

Step 5 - Configure Networking

PMO supports configuring your networking in two ways:

  • Setup one or more dedicated networking servers to handle your networking.
  • Setup Distributed Virtual Networking (DVR) and make each host a network host.
Figure 1.  Neutron Network Configuration Example

Figure 1. Neutron Network Configuration Example

Step 6 - Set SELinux to permissive

This is required for Open vSwitch (OVS) to be able to manage networking

Bash
Copy

Step 7 - Disable Firewalld and NetworkManager

This is required for KVM and OVS to be able to create iptables rules directly without Firewalld getting in the way.

Bash
Copy
Bash
Copy

Step 8 - Enable Network

Bash
Copy

Step 9 - Load the modules needed for Neutron

Bash
Copy

Step 10 - Add sysctl options

Bash
Copy

Step 11 - Add the Platform9 YUM Repo

Run the following command to install the Platform9 YUM repository.

For Platform9 releases up to and including 4.4:

Bash
Copy

For Platform9 releases from 4.5 onwards:

Bash
Copy

Step 12 - Install Open vSwitch

Bash
Copy

Step 13 - Enable and start Open vSwitch

Bash
Copy

Step 14 - Install QEMU KVM RHV

Bash
Copy

Step 15 - Install Router Advertisement Daemon

Bash
Copy

Step 16 - Configure physical interfaces

We are assuming eth0 and eth1. Please substitute your correct interface names. We are assuming an MTU of 9000 (VXLAN requires an MTU of at least 1600) Make sure all physical switches are configured to handle this MTU or you will have problems.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

Bash
Copy

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1

Bash
Copy

Step 17 - Setup the Bond interface

We are assuming bonding type=4 (LACP) refer to Bonding Types to learn more.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0

Bash
Copy

Step 18 - Setup the VLAN trunk Bridge

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-br-vlan

Bash
Copy

Step 19 - Setup the Management interface

We are assuming VLAN 101 for the Management network. Please use your correct VLAN ID for your environment. We are assuming subnet 192.0.2.0/24 for Management. Please use your correct subnet.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0.101

Bash
Copy

Step 20 - Setup the VXLAN/GRE tunneling interface (Optional)

We are assuming VLAN 102 for VXLAN/GRE tunneling. Please use your correct VLAN We are assuming subnet 198.51.100.0/24 for VXLAN/GRE tunneling. Please use your correct subnet.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0.102

Bash
Copy

Step 21 - Setup the External Interface and External Bridge

We are assuming VLAN 103 for the external network. Please use your correct VLAN.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0.103

Bash
Copy

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-br-ext

Bash
Copy

Step 22 - Setup the Storage interface (Optional)

We are assuming VLAN 104 for the storage network. Please use your correct VLAN. We are assuming subnet 203.0.113.0/24 for the storage network. Please use your correct subnet.

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0.104

Bash
Copy

Step 23 - Restart Networking

Make sure you have console access to your host. You will be disconnected if the configuration is incorrect.

Bash
Copy

Step 24 - Add tag to external bridge (to enable bridge monitoring)

Bash
Copy

At this point, your RHEL server is ready to be prepared with rest of storage and networking pre-requisites to be added to Platform9 Managed OpenStack.

Type to search, ESC to discard
Type to search, ESC to discard
Type to search, ESC to discard