Build an m2 Anvil! - Detailed - Revision history

Digimer: /* Adding An Existing Anvil! To Striker */

2016-12-15T22:16:47Z

Adding An Existing Anvil! To Striker

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:16, 15 December 2016
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	When you're ready, click on '<span class="code">Save</span>' to finish.		When you're ready, click on '<span class="code">Save</span>' to finish.

	If you want to add new alert recipients for this ''Anvil!'', you can click on the link to do so at the top. Otherwise, click on the "<span class="button">Click here</span> to start using it!" link.		{{note\|1=If you want to add new alert recipients for this ''Anvil!'', you can click on the link to do so at the top. Otherwise, click on the "<span class="button">Click here</span> to start using it!" link.}}

			[[image:an-striker01-manual-add-anvil-07.png\|thumb\|center\|1313px\|The new ''Anvil!''’s main menu page.]]

			Voila!

	=== Adding A New ScanCore Database To Nodes ===		=== Adding A New ScanCore Database To Nodes ===
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	The new ''Anvil!'' should now be available!		The new ''Anvil!'' should now be available!

	[[image:an-striker01-~~manual~~-~~add~~-~~anvil~~-07.png\|thumb\|center\|~~1214px~~\|The new ''Anvil!'' ~~main screen~~.]]		[[image:an-striker01-multi-anvil-selection-01.png\|thumb\|center\|823px\|The previous and new ''Anvil!'' are now in the selection list.]]

			At the bottom of the menu will be all configured ''Anvil!'' systems. In this case, we can see '<span class="button">an-anvil-03</span>' and '<span class="button">an-anvil-07</span>'.

			{{note\|1=Now that two ''Anvil!'' systems exist, ''Striker'' will load the selection menu by default from now on instead of automatically loading the previously-alone ''Anvil!''.}}

	~~<span class="highlight_warning"></span>~~		Click on the name of the ''Anvil!'' on the left that you want to manage. If you want to edit (or delete) an ''Anvil!'', click on '<span class="button">Edit</span>' to the right of the given system.
	~~<span class="field"></span>~~
	<span class="button"></span>
	~~<span class="code"></span>~~

	= Building Servers =		= Building Servers =

Digimer: /* Adding An Existing Anvil! To Striker */

2016-12-06T23:12:36Z

Adding An Existing Anvil! To Striker

@@ Line 1,351: / Line 1,351: @@
 We just saw how to add an ''Anvil!'' system to ''Striker'' after a successful install manifest run. Now, lets look at how to add an existing ''Anvil!'' manually.
-[[image:an-striker01-manual-add-anvil-01.png|thumb|center|1024px|The ''Striker'' configuration menu and ''Anvil!'' selection screen.]]
+[[image:an-striker01-manual-add-anvil-01.png|thumb|center|1131px|The ''Striker'' configuration menu and ''Anvil!'' selection screen.]]
 From any page, click on the logo at the top of ''Striker'' to access the main menu.
 = Building Servers =

Digimer: /* Building Servers */

2016-12-03T17:48:29Z

Building Servers

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:48, 3 December 2016
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	That's it, you're done!		That's it, you're done!

			== Adding An Existing Anvil! To Striker ==

			We just saw how to add an ''Anvil!'' system to ''Striker'' after a successful install manifest run. Now, lets look at how to add an existing ''Anvil!'' manually.

			[[image:an-striker01-manual-add-anvil-01.png\|thumb\|center\|1024px\|The ''Striker'' configuration menu and ''Anvil!'' selection screen.]]

			From any page, click on the logo at the top of ''Striker'' to access the main menu.



	= Building Servers =		= Building Servers =

Digimer: /* Provision A RHEL 7 Server */

2016-12-03T16:07:51Z

Provision A RHEL 7 Server

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:07, 3 December 2016
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	With this, you should never have a problem.		With this, you should never have a problem.

			== Provision A Windows 2012 Server ==

			{{note\|1=Please review "[[#Provision_A_RHEL_7_Server\|Provisioning A RHEL 7 Server]] section, particularly the [[#Post_Install_Notes\|Post Install Notes]] section. Steps and information covered there will not be covered here.}}

			The large majority of servers running on ''Anvil!'' systems are one flavour of Microsoft Windows or another. So the second server we will build will use

			The new server form has seven sections;

			{\|class="wikitable"
			!Entry
			!Description
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Server Name
			\|This is a free-form field you can use to give the server. Keeping it short an unique among all your ''Anvil!'' systems is ideal. This way, you can migrate the server to other ''Anvil!'' systems at a later date and not worry about name collisions.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Optimize for
			\|This is a drop-down list of common operating system types. It alters how the emulated hardware is configured to help get better compatibility and performance with various systems.
			{{note\|1=If you don't find your exact operating system, don't worry, just pick something close. In a ping, you can leave it at the default and you will be OK in most all cases.}}
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Install From
			\|This will be the disc image that the new server will boot off of. This is a drop-down list of all '<span class="code">*.iso</span>' files in the media library.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Driver Disc
			\|When needed, this is an ''optional'' disc image, like a second DVD drive, with a second disc. This is usually used for drivers, as we will see later when we build a windows server. It could also be a "Disc 2", if your operating system spans install media.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Memory
			\|This is where you tell the ''Anvil!'' how much [[RAM]] to allocate to the new server. This can be changed later as needed. The maximum available is shown just to the left of the field.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|CPUs
			\|This is how many CPU cores to allocate to this server. It is a select box ranging based on how many cores are on the node. You can change this later, if you need.
			{{note\|1=It is usually good to start with two cores, and increase the number later if performance dictates it.}}
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Storage
			\|This is how much (replicated) disk space to allocate to the new server. The amount free is listed on the left of the input form. On the right are the units to use; [[MiB]], [[GiB]], [[TiB]] or a percentage.
			{{note\|1=It is fairly easy to grow space in modern operating systems, but it is very hard to take it away. So it is always recommended to allocate a lower amount at first and add space later as needed.}}
			\|}


			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-provision_server-win2012-01.png\|thumb\|center\|997px\|The new server form.]]

Digimer: /* Post Install Notes */

2016-12-03T02:43:26Z

Post Install Notes

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:43, 3 December 2016
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	=== Post Install Notes ===		=== Post Install Notes ===

			There are a few things to know about running servers on ''Anvil!'' systems.

			==== Powering Down Gracefully ====

			The ''Anvil!'' makes no attempt to "reach inside" your servers. There are no agents that are needed and you can even use full disk encryption without any issue. To the ''Anvil!'', network and storage is simply bit streams that we pass to and from hardware.

			The down-side to this, however, is that the system has limited ability to control your servers. Specifically with regard to emergency or planned shut downs.

			To shut down a server, we send an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Configuration_and_Power_Interface ACPI] "power button" event to your server. For this to be useful, you need to ensure that your operating system will react to this by gracefully shutting down applications and the operating system itself.

			{{note\|1=How exactly you configure your server to handle power button events will depend entirely on your operating system and version. Please consult your operating system documentation, or search the web for '<span class="code">ACPI <os name></span>'.}}

			Please be sure to test graceful shutdowns using the ''Striker'' interface ''BEFORE'' going into production.

			==== When Will Servers Be Powered Off? ====

			There are only two times when the ''Anvil!'' will shut down your servers;

			#. When you ask it to, by clicking on '<span class="button">Graceful Shut Down</span>' in ''Striker''
			#. When [[ScanCore]] determines that a power off is imminent. This is the case if UPSes are almost depleted or if both nodes are approaching critical temperatures.

			{{note\|1=You can disable hardware-related graceful shutdowns in '<span class="code">/etc/striker/striker.conf</span>' by setting '<span class="code">scancore::disable::power_shutdown</span>' and/or '<span class="code">scancore::disable::thermal_shutdown</span>' to '<span class="code">1</span>' on each node.}}

			==== What If I Want To Shut Down The Server? ====

			The ''Anvil!'' platform treats any unexpected shutdown of a server like a failure and turn the server back on. So trying to shut down a server using your operating system's normal power off command will result in a reboot.

			To shut down the server and leave it off, be you must first click on '<span class="button">Graceful Shut Down</span>' from ''Striker''. This will the ''Anvil!'' that you ''want'' the server to be off, and send the ACPI power button event to your server to start the shutdown process for you.

			==== A Warning On Automatic Operating System Updates and Windows ====

			Many Microsoft Windows versions will perform operating system shut downs when the operating system has is shutting down. In an emergency shut down, this can significantly delay the shut down process and could result in a hard power off in the middle of an update being installed. This could happen as UPS batteries are draining in a power outage, for example.

			Also, because the ''Anvil!'' can't look inside your server, if the server hasn't powered off two minutes after being asked to, it has to assume that the server has crashed or hung, so the server will be forced off.

			To deal with this;

			# Disable automatic updates and manually install operating system updates on a schedule and ensure that you reboot to ensure updates are fully installed.
			# Check to see if any updates are pending before gracefully shutting down a server. If there are, use your operating system's reboot command to install the updates before clicking on '<span class="button">Graceful Shut Down</span>' in ''Striker''.

			With this, you should never have a problem.

Digimer: /* Installing The CentOS 7 Operating System */

2016-12-03T01:47:51Z

Installing The CentOS 7 Operating System

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:47, 3 December 2016
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	[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_05.png\|thumb\|center\|1280px\|Connected to '<span class="code">srv01-centos7</span>'!]]		[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_05.png\|thumb\|center\|1280px\|Connected to '<span class="code">srv01-centos7</span>'!]]

			From here, you proceed as you would doing a normal OS install on normal hardware.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_06.png\|thumb\|center\|817px\|The screen isn't big enough...]]

			The window won't auto resize, so if you find that the full screen isn't visible, you can resize it easily.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_07.png\|thumb\|center\|817px\|Resize to VM.]]

			click on '<span class="field">View</span>' -> '<span class="field">Resize to VM</span>'.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_08.png\|thumb\|center\|1028px\|There, now you can see the full screen.]]

			That's better!

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_09.png\|thumb\|center\|1028px\|Proceed with the install.]]

			Now you can proceed with the OS install normally.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_10.png\|thumb\|center\|1028px\|Install is done.]]

			When the install is done, the install will ask you to reboot. On some OSes, it will reboot on its own.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_11.png\|thumb\|center\|912px\|The server disappears on reboot.]]

			When a server shuts off (or reboots), it will vanish from virtual machine manager. This is by design. The standard virtualization tools are not cluster-aware, so the ''Anvil!'' hides them to prevent accidental manipulation and to ensure split-brains can't happen.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_12.png\|thumb\|center\|912px\|The server is back.]]

			Within a few seconds, the server will start back up again.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-srv01-centos7_13.png\|thumb\|center\|1028px\|The server is ready for use!]]

			Done!

			At this point, you can switch to connecting to the server using [[SSH]], [[RDP]] or any other remote access technology that you prefer. You should only ever have to use Virtual Machine Manager again if you lose remote access for some reason. These rare cases would be similar to having to go sit at a bare iron server after losing access for some reason.

			With Virtual Machine Manager, because it is effectively a monitor plugged into a machine, you can monitor the full boot process, shutdown, boot off of rescue media and so on.

			=== Post Install Notes ===

Digimer: /* Provision A RHEL 7 Server */

2016-12-02T08:00:07Z

Provision A RHEL 7 Server

@@ Line 1,527: / Line 1,527: @@
 [[image:an-striker01-v2.0-provision_server-rhel7-02.png|thumb|center|997px|The new server form.]]
 The new server form has seven sections;
@@ Line 1,558: / Line 1,560: @@
 {{note|1=It is fairly easy to grow space in modern operating systems, but it is very hard to take it away. So it is always recommended to allocate a lower amount at first and add space later as needed.}}
 |}

Digimer: /* Provision A RHEL 7 Server */

2016-11-30T02:33:04Z

Provision A RHEL 7 Server

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:33, 30 November 2016
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	Off of the main page, click on '<span class="button">Build a New Server</span>' at the bottom-left of the page.		Off of the main page, click on '<span class="button">Build a New Server</span>' at the bottom-left of the page.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-provision_server-rhel7-02.png\|thumb\|center\|997px\|The new server form.]]

			The new server form has seven sections;

			{\|class="wikitable"
			!Entry
			!Description
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Server Name
			\|This is a free-form field you can use to give the server. Keeping it short an unique among all your ''Anvil!'' systems is ideal. This way, you can migrate the server to other ''Anvil!'' systems at a later date and not worry about name collisions.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Optimize for
			\|This is a drop-down list of common operating system types. It alters how the emulated hardware is configured to help get better compatibility and performance with various systems.
			{{note\|1=If you don't find your exact operating system, don't worry, just pick something close. In a ping, you can leave it at the default and you will be OK in most all cases.}}
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Install From
			\|This will be the disc image that the new server will boot off of. This is a drop-down list of all '<span class="code">*.iso</span>' files in the media library.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Driver Disc
			\|When needed, this is an ''optional'' disc image, like a second DVD drive, with a second disc. This is usually used for drivers, as we will see later when we build a windows server. It could also be a "Disc 2", if your operating system spans install media.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Memory
			\|This is where you tell the ''Anvil!'' how much [[RAM]] to allocate to the new server. This can be changed later as needed. The maximum available is shown just to the left of the field.
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|CPUs
			\|This is how many CPU cores to allocate to this server. It is a select box ranging based on how many cores are on the node. You can change this later, if you need.
			{{note\|1=It is usually good to start with two cores, and increase the number later if performance dictates it.}}
			\|-
			\|class="field" style="white-space: nowrap;"\|Storage
			\|This is how much (replicated) disk space to allocate to the new server. The amount free is listed on the left of the input form. On the right are the units to use; [[MiB]], [[GiB]], [[TiB]] or a percentage.
			{{note\|1=It is fairly easy to grow space in modern operating systems, but it is very hard to take it away. So it is always recommended to allocate a lower amount at first and add space later as needed.}}
			\|}

Digimer: /* Provision A RHEL 7 Server */

2016-11-29T20:54:08Z

Provision A RHEL 7 Server

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:54, 29 November 2016
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	{{note\|1=If you don't plan to build a RHEL 7 server, please read this section just the same. We will go into more detail on this install, then mainly focus on operating-specific differences in subsequent guest installs.}}		{{note\|1=If you don't plan to build a RHEL 7 server, please read this section just the same. We will go into more detail on this install, then mainly focus on operating-specific differences in subsequent guest installs.}}

	We will start by provisioning a RHEL 7 based guest.		We will start by provisioning a RHEL 7 based guest as the operating system install is simple, allowing us to focus on the ''Striker'' and ''Anvil!'' portion of the process.

			[[image:an-striker01-v2.0-provision_server-rhel7-01.png\|thumb\|center\|997px\|The '<span class="button">Build a New Server</span>' main menu button.]]

			Off of the main page, click on '<span class="button">Build a New Server</span>' at the bottom-left of the page.

Digimer: /* Building The First Server */

2016-11-29T20:38:11Z

Building The First Server

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:38, 29 November 2016
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	That's it, you're done!		That's it, you're done!

	= Building ~~The First Server~~ =		= Building Servers =

	{{note\|1=If only one ''Anvil!'' exists, then connecting to ''Striker'' will automatically load that ''Anvil!''. If two or more exist, the first screen you see will be the configuration menu with the available ''Anvil!'' systems listed at the bottom. If you are in an ''Anvil!'' main page, click on the title logo at the top of the page to access the ''Striker'' menu.}}		{{note\|1=If only one ''Anvil!'' exists, then connecting to ''Striker'' will automatically load that ''Anvil!''. If two or more exist, the first screen you see will be the configuration menu with the available ''Anvil!'' systems listed at the bottom. If you are in an ''Anvil!'' main page, click on the title logo at the top of the page to access the ''Striker'' menu.}}
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	Striker uses a library to upload and store install media, driver discs or any other "CD" or "DVD" you might want to use. It is called the 'Media Library", and the library is specific to each ''Anvil!'' pair. So to access the library, first load the ''Anvil!'' main page.		Striker uses a library to upload and store install media, driver discs or any other "CD" or "DVD" you might want to use. It is called the 'Media Library", and the library is specific to each ''Anvil!'' pair. So to access the library, first load the ''Anvil!'' main page.

			== Add Disc Images To The Media Library ==

	[[image:an-striker01-media-library-02.png\|thumb\|center\|1024px\|Main menu for the new ''Anvil!''.]]		[[image:an-striker01-media-library-02.png\|thumb\|center\|1024px\|Main menu for the new ''Anvil!''.]]
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	Done!		Done!

	== Directly Download An ISO ==		=== Directly Download An ISO ===

	The most common way to add a disc image to the media library is to pass a URL to ''Striker''. It will connect to one of the ''Anvil!'' nodes and directly download the target URL to the library. You can use [[ftp]], [[http]] or [[https]] addresses.		The most common way to add a disc image to the media library is to pass a URL to ''Striker''. It will connect to one of the ''Anvil!'' nodes and directly download the target URL to the library. You can use [[ftp]], [[http]] or [[https]] addresses.
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	Done!		Done!

	== Upload An ISO From Your Computer ==		=== Upload An ISO From Your Computer ===

	The final option for loading a disc image is to upload an ISO image f from your computer to the media library. This will cause the ISO to be uploaded to the ''Striker'' dashboard, and the ''Striker'' will push the ISO to the ''Anvil!'' directly.		The final option for loading a disc image is to upload an ISO image f from your computer to the media library. This will cause the ISO to be uploaded to the ''Striker'' dashboard, and the ''Striker'' will push the ISO to the ''Anvil!'' directly.
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	With this, we have everything we need to start provisioning servers!		With this, we have everything we need to start provisioning servers!

			== Provision A RHEL 7 Server ==

			{{note\|1=If you don't plan to build a RHEL 7 server, please read this section just the same. We will go into more detail on this install, then mainly focus on operating-specific differences in subsequent guest installs.}}

			We will start by provisioning a RHEL 7 based guest.