Build Your Own Oracle Infrastructure: Part 4 – Configure Oracle VM Server.

Config-OVM


Configuring Oracle VM Server using Oracle VM Manager can be a little tricky.

However, once you know just a handful of concepts and some terminology, you’ll wonder what the fuss was all about.

In Part 4, we’ll show you the steps to configure OVM Server in readiness to create VMs.

Part of the reason Oracle VM is tricky is due to a lack of decent resources explaining it. The official Getting Started guide is OK, but it doesn’t do a great job of explaining what you’re doing or why. It can also be misleading. For example, the Discover Storage section says this:

Your storage can be any of the following:

  • iSCSI: Abstracted LUNs or raw disks accessible over existing Ethernet infrastructure (SAN Servers).
  • FCP: Abstracted LUNs or raw disks accessible over Fibre Channel host bus adapters (SAN Servers).
  • NFS: File-based storage over existing Ethernet infrastructure (NAS or File Servers).

On that basis you’d be forgiven for thinking you need some form of network storage with which to create your VMs. Not true. We’ll be using internal OVM Server storage for the VMs as you’ll see shortly. Hopefully this installment of the Build Your Own Oracle Infrastructure series will set you straight.

Before we launch into OVM Manager, just a cautionary note to pay close attention to the Job Summary section at the foot of the OVM Manager console screen.

When working with OVM Manager it is advisable to do one thing at a time and let it run to completion before starting the next task.


If you allow multiple tasks to overlap, bad things happen. So have patience, Grasshopper!

Quick links to all the tasks:

Task #1: Discover the OVM Server.

The OVM Server is already up and runnning as a result of following the steps to install OVM Server. To make it easier for the OVM Manager to discover the OVM Server, add the appropriate entry to the local /etc/hosts file on the OVM Manager server:

200.200.10.7     ovmsvr.mynet.com     ovmsvr         # Oracle VM Server

Login to OVM Manager and ensure you are on the Servers and VMs tab. From here, right click Server Pools and select the option, Discover Servers. You could also click the Discover Servers icon. In the Discover Servers dialog box, enter the Oracle VM Agent Password and the name of the Oracle VM Server, which in our example is ovmsvr. The screen should now look similar to this:

Click OK to discover the server. Once the server is discovered, the screen should look similar to this:

ovmsvr.mynet.com should be listed underneath Unassigned Servers. It is unassigned because it does not yet belong to a Server Pool. Also, note the Job Summary section. The Discover Server job completed with a status of Success. Keep an eye on this section and make sure each task completes successfully.

Task #2: Create a Server Pool.

Every OVM Server must belong to a Server Pool. A Server Pool can contain one or more OVM Servers. So the next task is to create a Server Pool and allocate ovmsvr.mynet.com to that Server Pool.

In the Server and VMs tab, right click Server Pools and select the option, Create Server Pool. You could also click the Create Server Pool icon. The Create a Server Pool dialog box will appear. Use the following values:

Field Value
Server Pool Name ServerPool1
Virtual IP Address for the Pool 200.200.10.19
VM Console Keymap Leave the default
VM Start Policy Leave the default
Secure VM Migrate Leave blank
Clustered Server Pool Leave blank
Timeout for Cluster Leave the default
Storage for Server Pool Leave blank
Storage Location Leave blank
Description Default server pool

The screen should look similar to this:

Click Next to continue. Then move the ovmsvr.mynet.com server from the Available Server(s) pane to the Selected Server(s) pane using the arrow icons. The screen should now look similar to this:

Click the Finish button and you’re done. ServerPool1 is now created and contains the server, ovmsvr.mynet.com. The screen should look similar to this:

Task #3: Create Storage Repositories.

Oracle VM Storage Repositories are simply disk resources used by VMs and they need to be created before a VM can reference them. We’ll create two different Storage Repositories. The first will be used to store the Oracle Linux 6 Update 6 ISO which will be used to boot a VM and install the operating system. The second Storage Repository will be used to provide actual disk storage for VM filesystems.

In OVM Manager, click on the Repositories tab, then click the green + sign to open the Create a Repository dialog box. Use these values:

Field Value
Repository Name OL6_Repo
Repository Location Physical Disk
Server Pool ServerPool1
Description Repository to hold the Oracle Linux 6.6 ISO image

The screen should look similar to this:

Click the magnifying glass icon next to the Physical Disk field. The screen should now look similar to this:

Select the physical disk OVM_SYS_REPO_PART_360… and click OK. This piece of disk is the unused 4th partition of the OVM Server installation drive we previously referred to here. The screen should now look similar to this:

Click Next. OVM Manager takes a moment or several to create the repository. You are then presented with a 2 pane dialog box with Available Server(s) on the left and Present to Server(s) on the right. Use the arrow icons to move ovmsvr.mynet.com over to the Present to Server(s) pane. The screen should then look similar to this:

Click Finish to complete the creation of OL6_Repo Storage Repository which will be visible to the ovmsvr.mynet.com OVM Server.

Next, we’ll create the VM_Filesystems_Repo Storage Repository. Still within the Repositories tab in OVM Manager, click the green + sign to open the Create a Repository dialog box. Use these values:

Field Value
Repository Name VM_Filesystems_Repo
Repository Location Physical Disk
Server Pool ServerPool1
Description Repository for VM filesystems

The screen should look similar to this:

Click the magnifying glass icon next to the Physical Disk field. The screen should now look similar to this:

Select the physical disk starting with 3600… and click OK. The name you see will be slightly different. The screen should now look similar to this:

Just as we did with the OL6_Repo Storage Repository, click Next and use the arrow icons to move ovmsvr.mynet.com from the Available Server(s) pane on the left to the Present to Server(s) pane on the right. Click Finish. The screen should now show both Storage Repositories similar to this:

In the left most pane underneath Repositories, click on OL6_Repo. The screen should look similar to this:

Note the ID of the OL6_Repo Storage Repository. In my case, it is 0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a. YMMV. Open up a Putty session on the Oracle VM Server and run these commands:

[root@ovmsvr /]# cd /OVS/Repositories
[root@ovmsvr Repositories]# ls -l
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:37 0004fb000003000059416081b6e25e36
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a

Note the second directory has the same name as the ID of the OL6_Repo Storage Repository. Oracle VM tends to use these very long numbers to uniquely identify everything. Get used to seeing that convention. Now run these commands:

[root@ovmsvr Repositories]# cd 0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a
[root@ovmsvr 0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a]# ls -l
drwx------ 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 Assemblies
drwx------ 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 15:18 ISOs
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 lost+found
drwx------ 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 Templates
drwx------ 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 VirtualDisks
drwx------ 2 root root 3896 Nov 26 14:33 VirtualMachines

At this point the ISOs directory is empty, but we need to populate it with the Oracle Linux 6 Update 6 ISO we downloaded from Oracle earlier (V52218-01.iso). The simplest way to do that is to use FileZilla.

Fire up FileZilla, login to ovmsvr.mynet.com and navigate to /OVS/Repositories/0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a/ISOs. Then locate your copy of V52218-01.iso and copy it to the ISOs directory on ovmsvr.mynet.com. The screen should look similar to this:

When the copy is complete, you can verify it’s there using these commands:

[root@ovmsvr 0004fb0000030000cc1495b85b9bd08a]# cd ISOs
[root@ovmsvr ISOs]# ls -l
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3853516800 Nov 26 15:21 V52218-01.iso

You can also verify using OVM Manager. Expand the OL6_Repo Storage Repository in the left pane, then click on the ISOs folder. The right pane will show the OL6.6 ISO is now present.

Et voila! ?

Task #4: Create VM Networks.

This is a little misleading in the sense we’re not actually creating networks per se. It’s more akin to creating a network resource which may be allocated to a VM, after which it becomes a network interface. Allocating a network resource to a VM just means that VM will be created with a virtual NIC which could be active on a specific network. In the Linux world, if you allocate 2 VM Networks to a VM, the VM will be created with 2 network interfaces, eth0 and eth1. This makes more sense when you create the VM Networks and then allocate them to VMs which we’ll do in Part 5. Bear with me.

By installing OVM Server, you get a VM Network created by default. Its name defaults to an IP address made up of the first two octets of the network it’s on, followed by 0.0. In our case, the default name is 200.200.0.0. You can see this VM Network by clicking on the Networking tab in OVM Manager, then by clicking Networks. The screen should look similar to this:

Note, this VM Network has 3 default uses or Channels. Server Management, Cluster Heartbeat and Live Migrate. Click on the pencil icon so we can change the name of this network to something more meaningful and give it another channel. Change the Name to Management_Public and check the box for Virtual Machine. The screen should look similar to this:

Click on the Ports tab. This is where things get a little weird. If you’re following along using the network addressing described in this series, you should see these values on a screen similar to this:

Parameter Value
Port Name bond0 on ovmsvr.mynet.com
Server ovmsvr.mynet.com
IP Address 200.200.10.7
Bonding Yes

When we installed OVM Server, we picked the HP ProLiant DL380’s eth0 for the network interface and assigned it the IP address 200.200.10.7. Rather miraculously, OVM Server has created a network interface bond (bond0) with a single network interface. Hence the reason you see bond0 as the port for the default network. So, addresses on the public network will be of the form, 200.200.10.x.

We need to create two more VM Networks. One for the shared storage which will be coming from the Openfiler server. Another for the private interconnect so the Oracle RAC nodes can chat.

Click OK to return to the Networking tab, then click the green + sign to start the Create Nework dialog. Select the option, Create a Network with Ports/Bond Ports/VLAN interfaces. The screen should look similar to this:

Click Next. In the Name field, enter Shared_Storage_Public and check the box next to Virtual Machine. This signifies that this network will be used as a regular network by a VM. We happen to know it’ll be for the shared storage, but OVM Server doesn’t know that and doesn’t need to care. The screen should now look similar to this:

Note, as tempting as it might seem to check Storage instead, don’t do it. Even the Oracle VM documentation tells you to stay away from it. This from the Create New Network documentation:

Storage: Reserved for future use and currently has no practical function or application.”

Now, we could have a debate at this point about why this option is even here, but my coffee’s getting cold so let’s move on.

Click Next. This shows the Add Ports to Network dialog. There are 3 more network interfaces available on the DL380 running ovmsvr.mynet.com. Select eth1. The screen should now look similar to this:

Click OK. Then click the green + sign to open the Create Network dialog again. This time select the option, Create a Local Network on a single server. Instead of mapping this VM Network to a physical network interface on the DL380, we will create a virtual network resource that doesn’t use any additional networking hardware. Spooky! We still have 2 spare network interfaces on the DL380 (eth2 & eth3), but we’re not going to use them for now. The great thing about this virtual network resource is that it operates at bus speed which is pretty handy for the interconnect. The screen should now look similar to this:

Click Next. Give the network the name, GI_Interconnect_Private and add a suitable description. The screen now looks similar to this:

Click Next. Select ovmsvr.mynet.com for the Server. The screen should look similar to this:

Click Finish. Your screen should look similar to this:

Just one more change to make. We need to add an IP address to the eth1 network interface on the OVM Server. Click the Shared_Storage_Public network, then click the pencil icon to open the Edit Network dialog:

Click the Ports tab, highlight the eth1 entry then click the pencil icon to open the Edit Port(s) dialog. Use these values to complete this screen:

Field Value
Addressing Static
IP Address 200.200.20.7
Mask 255.255.255.0

The screen should look like this:

Click OK and your work is done!

OVM Server is now configured and ready for you to create VMs.
See you in Part 5 for that. We having fun yet? ?

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