Deploying Communication Manager on ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10) using KVM Cockpit

Last Updated : Jun 06, 2026 |

About this task

Communication Manager Simplex requires two network interfaces and Communication Manager Duplex requires three network interfaces.

Communication Manager provides a KVM OVA that contains two qcow2 files:

  • system.qcow2

  • Var_Disk.qcow2

Note:

  • Disk encryption is currently not supported when installing with cockpit, use CLI script-based deployment methods only.

  • Always follow A1SC output for deployment of applications on the host(s). There should never be more than one instance of a specific application on the same host.

  • Deployment of applications MUST be performed one at a time and delete the artifacts prior to deploying the next application.

    Solution Deployment Manager and Solution Deployment Manager Client does not support KVM on RHEL 8.10 images for a virtualized environment.

Before you begin

  • Install ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10).

    For more information, see Installing the Avaya Solutions Platform 130 Series at https://support.avaya.com/css/public/documents/101091802.

  • Download the Communication Manager KVM image from PLDS to your computer.

  • Login to the ASP R6.0.x CLI with custadm credentials.

  • Ensure that the staging folder exist: sudo ls -ld /var/lib/libvirt/staging

  • Ensure to remove the older images from the staging folder.

  • Ensure sufficient space is available in the staging folder to copy the KVM image.

  • If the staging folder does not exist, create it using the following commands:

    • sudo mkdir /var/lib/libvirt/staging

    • sudo chown custadm:wheel /var/lib/libvirt/staging

  • The chown command now allows custadm to write into the staging directory with sudo. The permissions should look as follows:

    drwxr-x---. 2 custadm wheel 6 Oct 23 14:32 /var/lib/libvirt/staging

  • Copy the Communication Manager KVM image to the ASP R6.0.x host in /var/lib/libvirt/staging using the winscp tool and custadm credentials.

  • Ensure you are logged into the CLI. If not, login to the ASP R6.0.x CLI with custadm credentials.

  • Ensure that the network bridge is configured during the KVM deployment.

    Make sure that you create the required brdges during KVM deployment:

    For example, Management VM Netowrk, OOBM Network.

    Duplex Communication Manager requires Duplication network. For more information, see Creating Duplication Network on ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10) using direct attachment.

Note:
All the following commands must be prefaced with sudo:

  • Run the following command to verify the Communication Manager KVM image available in the staging folder: sudo ls -lr /var/lib/libvirt/staging

  • Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder, and run the following command to extract the ova file: sudo tar -xvf CMKVM-Duplex-010.2.0.0.229-e70-0.ova

    KVM OVA file extracts the following files:

    • CMKVM-Duplex-010.2.0.0.229-e70-0.ovf

    • CMKVM-Duplex-010.2.0.0.229-e70-0.mf

    • CMKVM-Duplex-010.2.0.0.229-e70-0.cert

    • system.qcow2

    • Var_Disk.qcow2

The extracted qcow2 images are in thin provision format. The qcow2 images MUST be converted to thick provision. When running the commands to convert to thick provision, a unique identifier can be added to the new qcow2 image. Avaya recommends to use VM name as a unique identifier. For example:

  • CM10.2[unique identifier]-system.qcow2

  • CM10.2[unique identifier]-Var_Disk.qcow2

The examples in this document will use the following:

  • CM10.2-system.qcow2

  • CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder, and run the following command to convert system.qcow2 (thin) to CM10.2-system.qcow2 (thick) image:

  • sudo qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -o preallocation=full system.qcow2 CM10.2-system.qcow2

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder, and run the following command to convert Var_Disk.qcow2 (thin) to CM10.2Var_Disk.qcow2 (thick):

  • sudo qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -o preallocation=full Var_Disk.qcow2 CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2

To verify that the conversion is successful and verify the disk size, run the following commands:

  • sudo qemu-img info CM10.2-system.qcow2

    Disk size must display as 14 GB

  • sudo qemu-img info CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2

    Disk size must display as 50 GB

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder and run the following command to copy the CM10.2-system.qcow2 and CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2 to the /var/lib/libvirt/images directory:

  • sudo cp CM10.2-system.qcow2 CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/images directory and run the following command to verify the qcow2 images are present:

  • sudo ls –lrt

From the /var/lib/libvirt/images directory, run the following command to change the owner and permissions to 640 on the files:

  • sudo chown qemu:qemu CM10.2-system.qcow2

    sudo chown qemu:qemu CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2

    sudo chmod 640 CM10.2-system.qcow2

    sudo chmod 640 CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging directory and remove all the extracted images and converted images. This is important to ensure that there is sufficient space for future deployments of KVM images. Do NOT remove files from the “images” directory.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the KVM Cockpit web console as custadm in the following format: https://<IP address or FQDN of KVM host>:9090.
  2. For administration actions, on the top-right of the window, click on the Limited access button.
    Figure : 1. Limited access button




    Note:

    You require administrator access in order to view virtual machines. Administrator access is like root access. Ensure that you take care making updates.

  3. In the Switch to administrative access window, enter the password for custadm.
    Figure : 2. Switch to administrative access




    The Limited access button on the top-right of the window changes to Administrative access.

    Figure : 3. Administrative access button




  4. Navigate to System > Virtual Machines > Import VM.
  5. In the Import a virtual machine window, do the following:
    1. In the Name field, enter a name for the Communication Manager virtual machine.
    2. In the Disk Image field, select the CM10.2-system.qcow2 image of the Communication Manager on the KVM Cockpit host under /var/lib/libvirt/images/ directory.
    3. In the Operating System field, select RHEL 8 Unknown version.
    4. In the Memory field, select the required memory in MiB format.
      Note:

      Based on the required footprint, enter a value in the Memory field.

      For more information on footprints, see Supported footprints of Communication Manager OVA on ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10)

    5. Click Import and edit.

      Virtual Machine details page appears.

      Under the Disks section, verify the cm10.2-system.qcow2 disk image size is correctly displayed in the Capacity field.

      Note:

      Communication Manager requires a total of 64 GB hard disk. In which, 14 GB is used for CM10.2-system.qcow2 and 50 GB is used for CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2.

      By default, virtio is selected under the Bus field, and this needs to be modified.

  6. Under the Disks section, click Edit.
  7. In the Edit <attributes name> window, do the following:
    1. in the Bus field, select scsi.
    2. In the Cache field, select directsync.
    3. click Save.

      In the Disks section, ensure that scsi appears under the Bus field and directsync appears under the Additional Cache field.

  8. Click Add disk to add CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2 disk image, and do the following:
    1. In the Source field, select Custom path.
    2. In the Custom path field, select CM10.2-Var_Disk.qcow2 image on the KVM host location path /var/lib/libvirt/images
    3. In the Device field, select Disk image file.
    4. Expand the Show additional options field.
    5. In the Cache field, select directsync.
    6. In the Bus field, select SCSI bus type.
    7. Click Add.

    In the Disks section, verify that the two disk images are assigned correctly. The newly added disk must have the 50 GiB assigned under the Capacity and Used fields, scsi assigned under the Bus field, and directsync under the Cache field.

  9. In the Overview section, in the Firmware field, select UEFI and click Save.
  10. In the Overview section, in the CPU field, click edit.

    CPU Details window opens.

  11. In the CPU details window, based on the required footprint, enter a value in the vCPU Maximum and vCPU Count fields.

    For more information on footprints, see Supported footprints of Communication Manager OVA on ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10).

  12. In the Mode field, keep the default host-model as is. Do Not change it.
  13. Click Apply.
  14. In the Network interfaces section, click Edit and select the Network Bridge, and click Save.
    Note:

    • Simplex Communication Manager requires two NICs:

      • NIC1 is for the Public IP address

      • NIC2 is for the Out of Band Management (OOBM)

    • Duplex Communication Manager requires three NICs. Ensure that NIC1 and NIC2 must be in two different networks.

      • NIC1 is for the Public IP address

      • NIC2 is for the Duplication Network

      • NIC3 is for the Out of Band Management (OOBM)

    Ensure that two network interfaces are added for Communication Manager Simplex and three network interfaces are added for Communication Manager Duplex.

    For Duplex Communication Manager, add Duplication Network and OOBM Network.

    Note:

    For Duplication Network, value in the Interface type must be Direct attachment.

    For Simplex Communication Manager, add OOBM Network.

  15. To configure the duplication network interface, or OOBM network interface, or both, under the Network interfaces section, click Add network interface and do the following:
    1. In the Interface type field, select Bridge to LAN.
    2. From the Source field, select the required network bridge.

      For Duplex Communication Manager configuration, select the required source for eth1 and duplicated ethernet interface.

  16. Click Add.

    For Duplex Communication Manager, ensure that three NICs are added. The three NICs must appear in the Network interfaces window.

    For Simplex Communication Manager, ensure that two NICs are added. Two NICs must appear in the Network interfaces window.

  17. On the virtual machine, click Run to start the Communication Manager virtual machine.

Next Steps

On first boot of the Communication Manager virtual machine, login to the virtual console using the craft/craft01 and provide the configuration and networking parameters.

Follow the Configuration steps described in the Configuring the Communication Manager chapter. These steps are the same regardless of the underlying hypervisor. For more information, see Configuration and administration checklist

Application of Communication Manager Feature Packs, Service Packs, SSPs, Patches should then be performed. Note that these will need to be done using the Communication Manager CLI or Communication Manager SMI.

Existing instructions for installation of these artifacts using the CLI and UI are applicable. Note that the “snapshot” functionality present in ASP R5.1.x and earlier is replaced with an equivalent feature, titled Virtual Machine Backup. For more information about installing Service Packs or SSPs, and Virtual Machine Backup (clone), see the Upgrading Avaya Aura® Communication Manager