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Set Up Your KVM Virtual Machine for a Single Cloud Server

Follow these steps to setup and configure your VM on a single server in a cloud deployment:

  1. Verify that your system meets the VM requirements.

    Resource Minimum Requirements
    Processor Four (4) virtual CPUs
    Memory8 GB RAM
    Local disk storage 64 GB
    Network interface speed 1 Gb NIC
    HypervisorKVM/QCOW (QEMU Copy on Write) image for servers running CentOS, Ubuntu, and RedHat operating systems
  2. Confirm that the needed ports are open for communications.

    You must open the following ports on your NetQ on-premises server:
    Port or Protocol Number Protocol Component Access
    4 IP Protocol Calico networking (IP-in-IP Protocol)
    22 TCP SSH
    80 TCP Nginx
    179 TCP Calico networking (BGP)
    443 TCP NetQ UI
    2379 TCP etcd datastore
    4789 UDP Calico networking (VxLAN)
    5000 TCP Docker registry
    6443 TCP kube-apiserver
    30001 TCP DPU communication
    31980 TCP NetQ Agent communication
    31982 TCP NetQ Agent SSL communication
    32708 TCP API Gateway
  3. Download the NetQ Platform image.

    1. On the MyMellanox Downloads page, select NetQ from the Software -> Cumulus Software list.
    2. Click 2.4 from the Version list, and then select 2.4.1 from the submenu.
    3. Select KVM (Cloud) from the HyperVisor/Platform list.

    4. Scroll down to view the image, and click Download.

  4. Setup and configure your VM.

    KVM Example Configuration

    This example shows the VM setup process for a system with Libvirt and KVM/QEMU installed.

    1. Confirm that the SHA256 checksum matches the one posted on the NVIDIA Application Hub to ensure the image download has not been corrupted.

      $ sha256sum ./Downloads/cumulus-netq-server-2.4.1-ts-amd64-qemu.qcow2
      $ 383E976F1A0572B9556B3A93FC790222C3A278CA04D96360AC9F3878704F4371 ./Downloads/cumulus-netq-server-2.4.1-ts-amd64-qemu.qcow2
    2. Copy the QCOW2 image to a directory where you want to run it.

      Tip: Copy, instead of moving, the original QCOW2 image that was downloaded to avoid re-downloading it again later should you need to perform this process again.

      $ sudo mkdir /vms
      $ sudo cp ./Downloads/cumulus-netq-server-2.4.1-ts-amd64-qemu.qcow2 /vms/ts.qcow2
    3. Create the VM.

      For a Direct VM, where the VM uses a MACVLAN interface to sit on the host interface for its connectivity:

      $ virt-install --name=netq_ts --vcpus=4 --memory=8192 --os-type=linux --os-variant=generic --disk path=/vms/ts.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=virtio,cache=none --network=type=direct,source=eth0,model=virtio --import --noautoconsole

      Replace the disk path value with the location where the QCOW2 image is to reside. Replace network model value (eth0 in the above example) with the name of the interface where the VM is connected to the external network.

      Or, for a Bridged VM, where the VM attaches to a bridge which has already been setup to allow for external access:

      $ virt-install --name=netq_ts --vcpus=4 --memory=8192 --os-type=linux --os-variant=generic \ --disk path=/vms/ts.qcow2,format=qcow2,bus=virtio,cache=none --network=bridge=br0,model=virtio --import --noautoconsole

      Replace network bridge value (br0 in the above example) with the name of the (pre-existing) bridge interface where the VM is connected to the external network.

      Make note of the name used during install as this is needed in a later step.

    4. Watch the boot process in another terminal window.
      $ virsh console netq_ts
  5. Verify the platform is ready for installation. Fix any errors indicated before installing the NetQ software.

    cumulus@hostname:~$ sudo opta-check-cloud
  6. Run the Bootstrap CLI. Be sure to replace the eth0 interface used in this example with the interface on the server used to listen for NetQ Agents.

    cumulus@:~$ netq bootstrap master interface eth0 tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-2.4.1.tgz

    Allow about five to ten minutes for this to complete, and only then continue to the next step.

    If this step fails for any reason, you can run netq bootstrap reset and then try again.

    If you have changed the IP address or hostname of the NetQ Cloud VM after this step, you need to re-register this address with NetQ as follows:

    Reset the VM.

    cumulus@hostname:~$ netq bootstrap reset

    Re-run the Bootstrap CLI. This example uses interface eth0. Replace this with your updated IP address, hostname or interface using the interface or ip-addr option.

    cumulus@:~$ netq bootstrap master interface eth0 tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-2.4.1.tgz

The final step is to install and activate the Cumulus NetQ software. You can do this using the Admin UI or the CLI.

Click the installation and activation method you want to use to complete installation: