Professional Documents
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11
August 5, 2019
Contents
Copyright...................................................................................................................32
License......................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Conventions............................................................................................................................................................... 32
Default Cluster Credentials..................................................................................................................................32
Version......................................................................................................................................................................... 33
1
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
In order to get an NX or SX series system up and running, you need to perform the following
steps:
1. Unpack the block and nodes.
2. Mount the block in a rack.
3. Connect each node to the network.
4. If you want to use ESXi or Hyper-V as the hypervisor, download the necessary installation
files to your laptop (or whatever you are using as a workstation). You do not need to
download any files if you intend to use AHV as the hypervisor.
5. Launch the Foundation installer and create a cluster of your new nodes.
This manual guides you through each of these steps. If you encounter a problem at any point,
see What To Do If You Have a Problem on page 29.
Video: Video demonstrations of the documented procedures are included. The following
video covers physically installing the block and connecting the nodes. Additional videos in the
Unpacking the Box on page 4 section provide an animated view of unpacking the box, in
the Creating a Cluster on page 16 section cover how to use Foundation to create a cluster
and how to use the Prism web console to configure the cluster after creating it, and in the What
To Do If You Have a Problem on page 29 section explain how to open a ticket with Nutanix
customer support if you need help.. (The video links appear if you are viewing this in HTML
format; they do not appear if you are viewing this in PDF or EPUB format.)
Note: The following is an SX series training video, but the procedure for installing an NX series
block is similar.
Procedure
1. Take the box to the machine room where the block will be mounted.
• NX or SX series block. The nodes you ordered should already be inserted into the block.
The block chassis varies depending on the model you purchased (see Connecting the
Nodes on page 8).
• Documentation packet (including a "Read Me First" page, welcome letter, global
regulatory compliance document, end user license agreement, warranty document, and
RoHS/REACH declaration)
• C-13/C-14 adapter power cables (two)
• [optional] Network SFP+ cables (one for each data port if ordered)
Note: If you do not order network cables from Nutanix, you must provide your own cables.
Note: The following are generic procedures for each chassis form factor. Your model might vary
slightly from what is described.
Procedure
1. Open a web browser and log on to the Nutanix support portal: http://portal.nutanix.com.
2. Click Downloads > AOS (NOS) from the main menu (at the top).
Note: There are several AOS versions you can download from this page, but choose
the current one (the one you get from clicking the Download <version#> button) unless
instructed to use a different version by Nutanix customer support.
4. Download the desired ESXi or Hyper-V ISO image to any convenient location on your laptop.
Hyper-V and ESXi ISOs are not available from the support portal; you must provide the
hypervisor ISO file. See the "Hypervisor ISO Images" section in the Field Installation Guide for
more information about the supported ISO images.
Note: Only standard ISO images provided by VMware or Microsoft are supported; do not
attempt to use a custom ISO image.
• Connect your laptop (or other workstation device) to the same subnet as the nodes you just
installed.
• Install Java version 8 (1.8.0) or later on your laptop. The applet might not work properly with
an earlier Java version.
• Determine the appropriate parameter values required for installation, which include the
gateway and DNS server IP addresses, the cluster name and (if needed) virtual IP address,
and the Controller VM, hypervisor, and (if needed) IPMI IP address ranges for the nodes.
Note: The following is an Xpress series training video, but the Foundation installation procedure
is the same for the NX series.
1. Open a browser on your laptop, log in to the Nutanix support portal (http://
portal.nutanix.com), and do the following:
Note: A security warning message may appear indicating this is from an unknown source.
Click the accept and run buttons to run the application. In some cases, you might also need
to add a security exception for applets that launch from the local machine. In the Java
security dialog, remove any URLs you have added that begin with "file" and then re-launch
the applet. It might complain that you need to add an exception for "file://". If you see this
message, add an exception for "file:/" (not file://) and then re-launch the applet.
Note: "Discovered nodes" are factory prepared nodes on the same subnet. If your laptop is
not on the same subset as the nodes you installed, the nodes will not be discovered.
If there are additional Nutanix nodes on the subnet (as in the following figure), they also
appear in the list. Just make sure you select one of the new nodes you just installed.
3. In the Discovered Nodes screen, select the nodes you installed and then click the Next
button (bottom right).
Clicking an unchecked box for a node selects that node (and adds a check mark) and vice
versa. If the only nodes on the subnet are the ones in the new block you installed, those are
the only nodes that appear on this screen, and all of them should be checked. However,
if there are additional Nutanix nodes (as in the following figure), all the available blocks
and nodes are displayed. In this case make sure only the nodes you want in the cluster are
selected. An exclamation mark icon is displayed for unavailable (already in a cluster) nodes.
If a discovered node has a VLAN tag, that tag is displayed.
Note: This document goes through a basic installation that should be appropriate in most
cases. However, there are options on this (and subsequent) screens, for example changing the
a. Hypervisor Hostname: Enter a base host name for the set of nodes. Host names should
contain only digits, letters, and hyphens.
The base name with a suffix of "-1" is assigned as the host name of the first node, and the
base name with "-2", "-3" and so on are assigned automatically as the host names of the
remaining nodes.
b. CVM IP: Enter the starting IP address for the set of Controller VMs across the nodes.
Enter a starting IP address in the FROM/TO line of the CVM IP column. The entered
address is assigned to the Controller VM of the first node, and consecutive IP addresses
(sequentially from the entered address) are assigned automatically to the remaining
nodes.
CAUTION: The use of a DHCP server is not supported for Controller VMs, so make sure to
assign static IP addresses to Controller VMs.
CAUTION: The Nutanix high availability features require that both hypervisor and
Controller VM be in the same subnet. Putting them in different subnets reduces the failure
d. IPMI IP (when enabled): Repeat the previous step for this field.
This sets the IPMI port IP addresses for all the nodes. This column appears only when IPMI
is enabled on the previous cluster setup screen.
e. In the Manual Input section, review the assigned host names and IP addresses. If any
of the names or addresses are not correct, enter the desired name or IP address in the
appropriate field.
There is a section for each block with a line for each node in the block. The letter
designation (A, B, C, and D) indicates the position of that node in the block.
f. When all the host names and IP addresses are correct, click the Validate Network button
at the bottom of the screen.
This does a ping test to each of the assigned IP addresses to check whether any of those
addresses are being used currently.
• If there are no conflicts (none of the addresses return a ping), the process continues.
• If there is a conflict (one or more addresses returned a ping), this screen reappears
with the conflicting addresses highlighted in red. Installation will not continue until the
conflict is resolved.
• If AHV is the hypervisor, you do not need to enter any information in this screen, so go
to step (d).
• If ESXi or Hyper-V is the hypervisor, click the Upload Tarball button in the Acropolis
column (left), and then click the Choose File button. In the file search window, find
and select the AOS installation bundle you downloaded earlier (see Downloading Files
(ESXi or Hyper-V) on page 14) and then click the Upload button. Uploading an AOS or
hypervisor image file may take some time (possibly a few minutes).
Note: The hypervisor field is not active until the AOS installation bundle is selected
(uploaded) in the previous step.
Only approved hypervisor versions are permitted. To verify your version is on the
approved list, click the See Whitelist link and select the appropriate hypervisor tab in the
pop-up window.
c. [Hyper-V only] Click the option in the SKU (right) column for the Hyper-V version to use.
Five Hyper-V versions are supported: Free, Standard, Datacenter, Standard with GUI,
Datacenter with GUI. This column appears only when you select Hyper-V.
d. Do one of the following:
• If the hypervisor is AHV, click the Skip button. This creates the new cluster without
imaging the nodes.
• If the hypervisor is ESXi or Hyper-V, click the Create button at the bottom of the
screen. This images the nodes and then creates the new cluster.
• Progress bar at the top (blue during normal processing or red when there is a problem).
• Cluster Creation Status section with a line for the cluster being created (status indicator,
cluster name, progress message, and log link).
• Node Status section with a line for each node being imaged (status indicator, hypervisor
IP address, progress message, and log link).
The status message for each node (in the Node Status section) displays the imaging
percentage complete and current step. When installation moves to cluster creation, the
status message displays the percentage complete and current step. The full process
(imaging the nodes, creating the cluster, and running the NCC tests) takes about an hour
depending on the hypervisor. You can monitor overall progress by clicking the Log link at
the top, which displays the foundation.out contents in a separate tab or window. Click the
Log link for a node or the cluster to display that log file in a separate tab or window.
Note: If processing does not complete successfully, see the "Troubleshooting" section in the
Field Installation Guide. For more information about logging in to Prism, See the "Logging Into
the Web Console" section of the Prism Web Console Guide.
9. In the Home dashboard of Prism (opening screen), check the cluster status in the Health
section of the dashboard.
A green heart indicates the cluster is healthy. A yellow (warning) or red (critical) heart
indicates a potential problem that should be investigated. Click the heart icon to display the
Health dashboard, which provides more information about any potential problems. (You can
What to do next
After verifying that the cluster is healthy, you can being configuring it. Cluster configuration
steps done soon after creating a cluster typically include specifying an outgoing SMTP server,
enabling the remote support tunnel, enabling Pulse which sends cluster status information
automatically to Nutanix customer support, adding a list of alert email recipients, and creating
a storage pool and one or more storage containers. (If AHV is the hypervisor, a storage pool
and one storage container are created automatically when the cluster is created.) See the Prism
Web Console Guide for instructions on how to do these and other configuration tasks. If you
need to reset the timezone, see the nCLI cluster set-timezone command in the Acropolis
Command Reference.
Note: The following is an Xpress series training video, but the procedure for configuring a cluster
through Prism is the same for the NX series.
Hardware Issues
• If you have a hardware-related issue, see the NX and SX Series Hardware Administration and
Reference for detailed information about your NX series platform.
• If any part of the shipment is missing or damaged, contact Nutanix customer support for
assistance (see "Contacting Nutanix Customer Support" at the end of this section).
Network Issues
• If the Foundation installer cannot find the nodes or other network-related issues occur, see
the "Network Requirements" section in the Field Installation Guide. (Connecting the IPMI
port, which is described in that section, is not necessary in this case.)
• If you have trouble logging on to the Nutanix support portal, see the "Logging Into the Web
Console" section in the Prism Web Console Guide.
• If you have trouble downloading a file from the Nutanix support portal, see the
"Downloading Installation Files" section in the Field Installation Guide.
• If you are not sure what ESXi and Hyper-V ISOs are supported or where to get them, see the
"Hypervisor ISO Images" section in the Field Installation Guide.
• If you want more information about any of the fields in the Foundation installer screens,
see the appropriate section for each screen in the "Creating a Cluster" chapter in the Field
Installation Guide.
• If you run into a problem when trying to image the nodes or create the cluster, see the
"Troubleshooting" chapter in the Field Installation Guide.
• If you want more information about the cluster health checks, see the "Health Dashboard"
and "Alerts/Health Checks" sections in the Prism Web Console Guide.
1. Open a browser and log on to the Nutanix customer support portal (https://
portal.nutanix.com).
Note: You need a login account to open a case on the Nutanix customer support portal.
Follow the instructions on the login screen if you do not have a login account.
2. Click the Open Case (+) button (or select Support & Forums > Open Case from the main
menu).
License
The provision of this software to you does not grant any licenses or other rights under any
Microsoft patents with respect to anything other than the file server implementation portion of
the binaries for this software, including no licenses or any other rights in any hardware or any
devices or software that are used to communicate with or in connection with this software.
Conventions
Convention Description
root@host# command The commands are executed as the root user in the vSphere or
Acropolis host shell.
> command The commands are executed in the Hyper-V host shell.
AOS |
Interface Target Username Password
Version
Last modified: August 5, 2019 (2019-08-05T14:15:11+05:30)
AOS |