VPMA-49

Introduction

ESXi 8.0 compatibility (VM 20) to assure maximum compatibility with customers’s VM infrastructure. ESXi 8.0 is the first version that is compatible with Oracle Linux 9.

This virtual machine meets all necessary requirements to run the nGenius software installer successfully. VPMA-49 is available as an OVF template and QCOW files. It is stored at CRT-SRV-A-NAS

The template VPMA-49 uses UEK. The template is based on Oracle Linux 9.5.

Previous versions of VPMA came with a dedicated datadisk. The VPMA-49 is equipped with 2 small datadisks. Depending on its purpose the disks can be resized easily during deployment.

Solution

Virtual Machine

Resources
CPU	8
Memory	64GB
Disk 1	72GB
Disk 2	8GB
Disk 3	8GB

Note: nGeniusONE installation requires a minimum of 8 CPU, 64GB RAM and a system disk of 72GB. After installation the resources can be re-configured. The disks are provisioned as Thick Provision.

ISO

Start from the Oracle Linux 9.5 ISO (OracleLinux-R9-U5-x86_64-boot-uek.iso). nGeniusONE supports all subversions of Oracle Linux 9. Be aware, a "sudo dnf update" might cause the sytem to become a more recent version.

Installing operating system

General

Power on the VM and open Remote Console in vCenter Web Client. No need to check the installation media on a VM. The graphical installer is launched. Navigate using the mouse.

• Language Support: English (United States)
• Keyboard: English (US)
• Network & Host Name: ens33, vpma-49, no domain, DHCP enabled
• Time & Date: Etc, Greenwich Mean Time, Network Time on
• Installation destination: Select all virtual disks to install to and click the Custom Storage Configuration radio button. Click Done
• Security Policy: No profile selected
• KDUMP: Kdump is enabled
• Installation Source: https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/baseos/latest/x86_64.
• Software Selection: Minimal Install

LVM System

Add the following mount points:

Mount Point	Size	Volume Group
/boot/efi	50MB	Standard Partition
/boot	1000MB	Standard Partition
swap	16GB	appliancesys
/home	12GB	appliancesys
/tmp	12GB	appliancesys
/var	8GB	appliancesys
/	<rest = leave size blank>	appliancesys
/var/lib	8GB	appliancedata
/opt	8GB	applianceapp

Name of the Volume Groups:

1. appliancesys (/dev/xda, 72GB)
2. appliancedata (/dev/xdb, 8GB)
3. applianceapp (/dev/xdc, 8GB)

Select Size Policy "Automatic".

Accept the changes to the partition table.

Users

Add root password <BJAhigh> and create administrator with full name Comcert BV (comcert/<BJAhigh>). Do not disable the root user, we need this account to administrate nGeniusONE.

Installation

Start the installation process.

Reboot the server when the installation has finished.

First boot

Log in using the VMware console, run "ip a" and record the appliance's IP address.

Connect to the server with ssh.

This is what df -h should output:

Filesystem	Size	Mounted on
/dev/mapper/appliancesys-root	22G	/
/dev/sda2	1000M	/boot
/dev/sda1	50M	/boot/efi
/dev/mapper/appliancesys-tmp	12G	/tmp
/dev/mapper/appliancesys-home	12G	/home
/dev/mapper/applianceapp-opt	8G	/opt
/dev/mapper/appliancesys-var	8G	/var
/dev/mapper/appliancedata-var_lib	8G	/var/lib

Update OS packages

$ sudo dnf update

Install additional utilities

$ sudo dnf install lsof tar chrony rsync

--STOP, THIS IS THE VPMA-49 APPLIANCE. THIS SERVER CAN BE USED TO ACCOMODATE NGENIUSONE.--

Install additional software

Install vm-tools or qemu-guest-agent

$ sudo dnf install qemu-guest-agent

$ sudo dnf install vm-tools

--Second stop

Continue as nGeniusONE server

Resize applicationdisk

Use the Proxmox GUI to resize the disk sdc. This disk holds the /opt partition in which nGeniusONE is installed.

Proceed with resizing the partition

$ sudo -i
# parted -l
# parted /dev/sdc1
(parted) resizepart 1
End?  [8590MB]? 100%
(parted) print

Now, resize the LVM part:

$ sudo -i
# pvdisplay
# pvresize /dev/sdc1
# pvdisplay
# lvdisplay
# lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/applianceapp/opt
# lvdisplay

Extend the filesystem

# xfs_growfs /dev/mapper/applianceapp-opt

Becoming superuser

In Linux, usernames and passwords are case senstive.

Create user Administrator.

Allow user Administrator and the already existing user comcert to run sudo without password by adding:

# adduser Administrator
# passwd Administrator
netscout1
# visudo

Append the following lines to the file:

Administrator ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

comcert ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Network interface

Leave the name of the ethernet interface as it is. There is no need to change the name of the NIC towards eth0.

nGeniusONE software installer

Copy the most recent nGenius software and the corresponding checksum to the installation directory /opt. Do not start the installation!

# ls /opt | grep pm
nG1-6340-2309-lin.bin
nG1-6340-2309-lin.sha256

bla

bla

bla