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

Last Updated : Dec 06, 2024 |

About this task

You can deploy System Manager on ASP R6.0.x (KVM on RHEL 8.10) using Cockpit. System Manager provides a KVM OVA that contains a qcow2 file.

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 System 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: /var/lib/libvirt/staging.

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

  • Copy the System 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.

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

  • Run the following command to verify the System 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 SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E.ova

    KVM OVA file extracts the following files:

    • SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E.ovf

    • SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E.mf

    • README.txt

    • SMGR-installer.sh

    • SMGR-installer.py

    • SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-disk.qcow2

The extracted qcow2 images are in thin provision format. The qcow2 images MUST be converted to thick provision.

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder, and run the following command to convert SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-disk.qcow2 (thin) to SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 (thick) image:

  • sudo qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -o preallocation=full SMGR- 10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-disk.qcow2 SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2

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

  • sudo qemu-img info SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 should show disk size 170 GB

    Based on the profile, the disk file changes

    • P2 = 170GB

    • P3 = 270GB

    • P4 = 850GB

Go to /var/lib/libvirt/staging folder and run the following command to copy the SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 to the /var/lib/libvirt/images directory:

  • sudo cp SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images

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

  • cd /var/lib/libvirt/images

    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 SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2

    sudo chmod 640 SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.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.

    • cd /var/lib/libvirt/staging

      sudo ls -lr

      sudo rm *SMGR*

      sudo rm *README*

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 System Manager virtual machine.
    2. In the Disk Image field, select the SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 image of the System 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.

    5. Click Import and edit.

      Virtual Machine details page appears.

      Under the Disks section, verify the SMGR-10.2.0.0.439670-KVM-4E-THICKdisk.qcow2 disk image size is correctly displayed in the Capacity field.

      Note:

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

    CPU Details window opens.

  10. In the CPU details window, based on the required footprint, enter a value in the vCPU Maximum and vCPU Count fields.
  11. In the Mode field, keep the default host-model as is. Do Not change it.
  12. Click Apply.
  13. In the Network interfaces section, click Edit and select the Network Bridge, and click Save.
  14. On the virtual machine, click Run to start the System Manager virtual machine.

Next Steps

On first boot of the System Manager virtual machine, configure the System Manager network parameters.