Install a NetQ Cloud Appliance Cluster

This topic describes how to prepare your cluster of NetQ Cloud Appliances for installation of the NetQ Collector software.

Inside each box that was shipped to you, you’ll find:

A Cumulus NetQ Cloud Appliance (a Supermicro SuperServer E300-9D)
Hardware accessories, such as power cables and rack mounting gear (note that network cables and optics ship separately)
Information regarding your order

For more detail about hardware specifications (including LED layouts and FRUs like the power supply or fans and accessories like included cables) or safety and environmental information, refer to the user manual.

Install Each Appliance

After you unbox the appliance:

Mount the appliance in the rack.
Connect it to power following the procedures described in your appliance's user manual.
Connect the Ethernet cable to the 1G management port (eno1).
Power on the appliance.

If your network runs DHCP, you can configure NetQ over the network. If DHCP is not enabled, then you configure the appliance using the console cable provided.

Configure the Password, Hostname and IP Address

Change the password and specify the hostname and IP address for each appliance before installing the NetQ software.

Change the password using the passwd command:

cumulus@hostname:~$ passwd
Changing password for cumulus.
(current) UNIX password: cumulus
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

The default hostname for the NetQ Cloud Appliance is netq-appliance. Change the hostname to fit your naming conventions while meeting Internet and Kubernetes naming standards.

Kubernetes requires that hostnames are composed of a sequence of labels concatenated with dots. For example, “en.wikipedia.org” is a hostname. Each label must be from 1 to 63 characters long. The entire hostname, including the delimiting dots, has a maximum of 253 ASCII characters.

The Internet standards (RFCs) for protocols specify that labels may contain only the ASCII letters a through z (in lower case), the digits 0 through 9, and the hyphen-minus character ('-').

Use the following command:
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ sudo hostnamectl set-hostname NEW_HOSTNAME
```
Identify the IP address.

The appliance contains two Ethernet ports. Port eno1, is dedicated for out-of-band management. This is where NetQ Agents should send the telemetry data collected from your monitored switches and hosts. By default, eno1 uses DHCPv4 to get its IP address. You can view the assigned IP address using the following command:
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ ip -4 -brief addr show eno1
eno1             UP             10.20.16.248/24
```
Alternately, you can configure the interface with a static IP address by editing the /etc/netplan/01-ethernet.yaml Ubuntu Netplan configuration file.

For example, to set your network interface eno1 to a static IP address of 192.168.1.222 with gateway 192.168.1.1 and DNS server as 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4:
```
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# For more information, see netplan(5).
network:
    version: 2
    renderer: networkd
    ethernets:
        eno1:
            dhcp4: no
            addresses: [192.168.1.222/24]
            gateway4: 192.168.1.1
            nameservers:
                addresses: [8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4]
```
Apply the settings.
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ sudo netplan apply
```
Repeat these steps for each of the worker node appliances.

Verify NetQ Software and Appliance Readiness

Now that the appliances are up and running, verify that the software is available and each appliance is ready for installation.

On the master NetQ Cloud Appliance, verify that the needed packages are present and of the correct release, version 3.2.1 and update 31.

cumulus@hostname:~$ dpkg -l | grep netq
ii  netq-agent   3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Telemetry Agent for Ubuntu
ii  netq-apps    3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Fabric Validation Application for Ubuntu

Verify the installation images are present and of the correct release, version 3.2.1.

cumulus@hostname:~$ cd /mnt/installables/
cumulus@hostname:/mnt/installables$ ls
NetQ-3.2.1-opta.tgz  netq-bootstrap-3.2.1.tgz

Verify the master NetQ Cloud Appliance is ready for installation. Fix any errors indicated before installing the NetQ software.
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ sudo opta-check-cloud
```
Run the Bootstrap CLI. Be sure to replace the eno1 interface used in this example with the interface or IP address on the appliance used to listen for NetQ Agents.
```
cumulus@:~$ netq bootstrap master interface eno1 tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-3.2.1.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 Appliance after this step, you need to re-register this address with NetQ as follows:

Reset the appliance.
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ netq bootstrap reset
```
Re-run the Bootstrap CLI on the appliance. This example uses interface eno1. Replace this with your updated IP address, hostname or interface using the interface or ip-addr option.
```
cumulus@:~$ netq bootstrap master interface eno1 tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-3.2.1.tgz
```

On one of your worker NetQ Cloud Appliances, verify that the needed packages are present and of the correct release, version 3.2.1 and update 31.

cumulus@hostname:~$ dpkg -l | grep netq
ii  netq-agent   3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Telemetry Agent for Ubuntu
ii  netq-apps    3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Fabric Validation Application for Ubuntu

Configure the IP address, hostname, and password using the same steps as as for the master node. Refer to Configure the Password, Hostname, and IP Address.

Make a note of the private IP addresses you assign to the master and worker nodes. They are needed for later installation steps.

Verify that the needed packages are present and of the correct release, version 3.2.1 and update 31 or later.

cumulus@hostname:~$ dpkg -l | grep netq
ii  netq-agent   3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Telemetry Agent for Ubuntu
ii  netq-apps    3.2.1-ub18.04u31~1603789872.6f62fad_amd64   Cumulus NetQ Fabric Validation Application for Ubuntu

Verify that the needed files are present and of the correct release.

cumulus@hostname:~$ cd /mnt/installables/
cumulus@hostname:/mnt/installables$ ls
NetQ-3.2.1-opta.tgz  netq-bootstrap-3.2.1.tgz

Verify the appliance is ready for installation. Fix any errors indicated before installing the NetQ software.
```
cumulus@hostname:~$ sudo opta-check-cloud
```
Run the Bootstrap CLI on the worker node.
```
cumulus@:~$ netq bootstrap worker tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-3.2.1.tgz master-ip <master-ip>
```
Provide a password using the password option if required. 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 on the new worker node and then try again.
Repeat Steps 5-10 for each additional worker NetQ Cloud Appliance.

Considerations for Container Environments

Flannel Virtual Networks

If you are using Flannel with a container environment on your network, you may need to change its default IP address ranges if they conflict with other addresses on your network. This can only be done one time during the first installation.

The address range is 10.244.0.0/16. NetQ overrides the original Flannel default, which is 10.1.0.0/16.

To change the default address range, use the CLI with the pod-ip-range option. For example:

cumulus@hostname:~$ netq bootstrap master interface eth0 tarball /mnt/installables/netq-bootstrap-3.2.0.tgz pod-ip-range 10.255.0.0/16

Docker Default Bridge Interface

The default Docker bridge interface is disabled in NetQ. If you need to reenable the interface, contact support.

Install and Activate the NetQ Software

The final step is to install and activate the Cumulus NetQ software on each appliance in your cluster. You can do this using the Admin UI or the CLI.

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

Use the Admin UI (recommended)
Use the CLI