Prepare the OVF template¶

To deploy Mirantis Container Cloud on a vSphere-based environment, the OVF template for cluster machines must be prepared according to the following requirements:

The VMware Tools package is installed.
The cloud-init utility is installed and configured with the specific VMwareGuestInfo data source.
For RHEL deployments, the virt-who service is enabled and configured to connect to the VMware vCenter Server to properly apply the RHEL subscriptions on the nodes. The virt-who service can run on a standalone machine or can be integrated into a VM template.

The following procedures describe how to meet the requirements above either using the Container Cloud script or manually.

To prepare the OVF template using the Container Cloud script:

Prepare the Container Cloud bootstrap and modify templates/vsphere/vsphere-config.yaml.template and templates/vsphere/cluster.yaml.template as described in Bootstrap a management cluster, steps 1-9.
Download the ISO image depending on the target OS:
- RHEL 7.8 or 7.9 DVD ISO from the RedHat Customer Portal
- Technology Preview: CentOS 7.9 DVD ISO from the CentOS mirrors

Export the following variables:

The path to the downloaded ISO file.
The vSphere cluster name.
The OS name: rhel or centos.
The OS version: 7.8 or 7.9 for RHEL, 7.9 for CentOS.
Optional. The virt-who user name and password for RHEL deployments.

For example, for RHEL:

export KAAS_VSPHERE_ENABLED=true
export VSPHERE_RO_USER=virt-who-user
export VSPHERE_RO_PASSWORD=virt-who-user-password
export VSPHERE_PACKER_ISO_FILE=$(pwd)/iso-file.dvd.iso
export VSPHERE_CLUSTER_NAME=vsphere-cluster-name
export VSPHERE_PACKER_IMAGE_OS_NAME=rhel
export VSPHERE_PACKER_IMAGE_OS_VERSION=7.9

Optional variables¶
Variable	Description
`VSPHERE_VM_NETWORK_DEVICE`	Network interface name in a virtual machine. Defaults to `eth0`.
`VSPHERE_VM_TIMEZONE`	Time zone for virtual machines. Defaults to `America/New_York`.

Optional. If you require all Internet access to go through a proxy server, in bootstrap.env, add the following environment variables:

HTTP_PROXY
HTTPS_PROXY
NO_PROXY

Example snippet:

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:3128
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:3128
export NO_PROXY=172.18.10.0,registry.internal.lan

The following variables formats are accepted:

Proxy configuration data¶
Variable	Format
`HTTP_PROXY` `HTTPS_PROXY`	`http://proxy.example.com:port` - for anonymous access `http://user:password@proxy.example.com:port` - for restricted access
`NO_PROXY`	Comma-separated list of IP addresses or domain names

For the list of Mirantis resources and IP addresses to be accessible from the Container Cloud clusters, see Requirements for a VMware vSphere-based cluster.

Prepare the OVF template:
```
./bootstrap.sh vsphere_template
```
After the template is prepared, set the SET_VSPHERE_TEMPLATE_PATH parameter in templates/vsphere/machines.yaml.template as described in Bootstrap a management cluster.

To prepare the OVF template manually:

Run a virtual machine on the vSphere data center with the DVD ISO mounted to it. Specify the amount of resources that will be used in the Container Cloud setup. A minimal resources configuration must match the Requirements for a VMware vSphere-based cluster for a vSphere-based Container Cloud cluster.
Bootstrap the OS using vSphere Web Console. Select a minimal setup in the VM installation configuration. Create a user with root or sudo permissions to access the machine.
Log in to the VM when it starts.

Optional. If you require all Internet access to go through a proxy server, in bootstrap.env, add the following environment variables:

HTTP_PROXY
HTTPS_PROXY
NO_PROXY

Example snippet:

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:3128
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:3128
export NO_PROXY=172.18.10.0,registry.internal.lan

The following variables formats are accepted:

Proxy configuration data¶
Variable	Format
`HTTP_PROXY` `HTTPS_PROXY`	`http://proxy.example.com:port` - for anonymous access `http://user:password@proxy.example.com:port` - for restricted access
`NO_PROXY`	Comma-separated list of IP addresses or domain names

For the list of Mirantis resources and IP addresses to be accessible from the Container Cloud clusters, see Requirements for a VMware vSphere-based cluster.

For RHEL, attach your RHEL license for Virtual Datacenters to the VM:

subscription-manager register
# automatic subscription selection:
subscription-manager attach --auto
# or specify pool id:
subscription-manager attach --pool=<POOL_ID>
# verify subscription status
subscription-manager status

Select from the following options:

Prepare the operating system automatically:

Download the automation script:

curl https://gerrit.mcp.mirantis.com/plugins/gitiles/kubernetes/vmware-guestinfo/+/refs/tags/v1.1.3/install.sh?format=TEXT | \
base64 -d > install.sh
chmod +x install.sh

Optional. For RHEL, export the vCenter Server credentials of the read-only user. For example:

export VC_SERVER='vcenter1.example.com'
export VC_USER='domain\vmware_read_only_username'
export VC_PASSWORD='password!23'
# optional parameters:
export VC_HYPERVISOR_ID=hostname
export VC_FILTER_HOSTS="esx1.example.com, esx2.example.com"
export VCENTER_CONFIG_PATH="/etc/virt-who.d/vcenter.conf"

Run the installation script:
```
./install.sh
```

Prepare the operating system manually:

Install the open-vm-tools package version 11.0.5 or later with dependencies and verify its version:
```
yum install open-vm-tools net-tools perl -y
vmtoolsd --version
vmware-toolbox-cmd --version
```

Install and configure cloud-init:

Install the cloud-init package version 19.4 or later and verify its version:
```
yum install cloud-init -y
cloud-init --version
```

Download the VMwareGuestInfo data source files:

curl https://gerrit.mcp.mirantis.com/plugins/gitiles/kubernetes/vmware-guestinfo/+/refs/tags/v1.1.3/DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.py?format=TEXT | \
base64 -d > DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.py
curl https://gerrit.mcp.mirantis.com/plugins/gitiles/kubernetes/vmware-guestinfo/+/refs/tags/v1.1.3/99-DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.cfg?format=TEXT | \
base64 -d > 99-DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.cfg

Add 99-DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.cfg to /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/.
Depending on the Python version on the VM operating system, add DataSourceVMwareGuestInfo.py to the cloud-init sources folder. Obtain the cloud-init folder on the OS:
```
python -c 'import os; from cloudinit import sources; print(os.path.dirname(sources.__file__));'
```

Prepare the virt-who user configuration:

Note

For details about the virt-who user creation, see Prepare the VMware deployment user setup and permissions.

Install virt-who:

yum install virt-who -y
cp /etc/virt-who.d/template.conf /etc/virt-who.d/vcenter.conf

Set up the file content using the following example:

[vcenter]
type=esx
server=vcenter1.example.com
username=domain\vmware_read_only_username
encrypted_password=bd257f93d@482B76e6390cc54aec1a4d
owner=1234567
hypervisor_id=hostname
filter_hosts=esx1.example.com, esx2.example.com

virt-who configuration parameters¶
Parameter	Description
`[vcenter]`	Name of the vCenter data center.
`type=esx`	Specifies the connection of the defined `virt-who` user to the vCenter Server.
`server`	The FQDN of the vCenter Server.
`username`	The `virt-who` user name on the vCenter Server with the read-only access.
`encrypted_password`	The `virt-who` password encrypted by the `virt-who-password` utility using the virt-who-password -p <password> command.
`owner`	The organization that the hypervisors belong to.
`hypervisor_id`	Specifies how to identify the hypervisors. Use a host name to provide meaningful host names to the Subscription Management. Alternatively, use `uuid` or `hwuuid` to avoid duplication in case of hypervisor renaming.
`filter_hosts`	List of hypervisors that never run RHEL VMs. Such hypervisors do not have to be reported by `virt-who`.

For CentOS, verify that .yum mirrors are set to use only the *.centos.org URLs. Otherwise, access to other mirrors may be blocked by squid-proxy on managed clusters. For details, see Configure squid-proxy.

For RHEL, remove the RHEL subscription from the node.

subscription-manager remove --all
subscription-manager unregister
subscription-manager clean

Shut down the VM.
Create an OVF template from the VM.

Now, proceed to Bootstrap a management cluster.