Document toolboxDocument toolbox

OpenStack with KVM Hypervisor Deployment

Owned by Shirly Tsang
Last updated: Sept 16, 2024 by Alex Mandel
5 min read

Infoblox recommends that you dedicate the minimum system requirements to the NIOS-X server you plan to deploy. The dedicated resources cannot be shared with or used for other non-Infoblox applications. Sharing resources will negatively affect the performance of your Infoblox services. For information about the minimum system requirements and port usage, see the following:

Prerequisites

Before deploying a NIOS-X server and enabling Infoblox services, ensure that you prepare the deployment environment according to the requirements for the supported platforms and open all necessary ports for unrestricted outbound access.

Before you start the deployment, consider and complete the following:

  • The recommended resources required for NIOS-X virtual server deployment are 8 vCPU and 16 GB of memory. For details, see NIOS-X Server Connectivity and Service Requirements.
  • Ensure that your deployment environment meets the minimum deployment requirements.
  • Infoblox supports all versions of OpenStack.
  • Open all required ports on the NIOS-X servers, as list in Port Usage for Bare-Metal NIOS-X Servers, in addition to the ports required for firewalls.
  • Ensure that there are no other processes using port 53 on the server system on which your NIOS-X server will be deployed. For example, some Ubuntu systems running local DNS cache (system-resolved) might occupy port 53, and your NIOS-X server might not function properly in this case.

Infoblox supports KVM deployment managed by OpenStack via the OpenStack dashboard or CLI commands.

Known Limitation

  • Network interface configuration is not supported through the Infoblox Portal.

Deploying NIOS-X Servers via OpenStack Dashboard

  1. Log in to the Infoblox Portal.

  2. Go to Administration > Downloads.

  3. On the Downloads page > NIOS-X (BloxOne) Servers section, select Download Package for KVM/QCOW (60 GB Disk) for the regular image or Download Package for KVM/QCOW (750 GB Disk) for the high-capacity image.

  4. Click Download Package.
  5. Open a new browser window and launch the OpenStack dashboard.
  6. Log in to the dashboard using a project user credentials.

  7. Select the appropriate project from the drop down menu at the top left.

  8. On the Project tab, open the Compute tab and click Images category.

  9. Click Create Image, and the Create An Image dialog appears.

  10. Complete following image details, as show in the screenshot:
    • Image Name: Give your image a unique name.
    • Image Source: Select File and browse to the location to which you downloaded the QCOW2 image from the Infoblox Portal.
    • Format: Choose QCOW2-QEMU Emulator from the drop-down menu
      For more information about image details, refer to the OpenStack documentation.

      The screenshot shows the Image Details tab in the Create Image dialog box.
  11. Click Create Image.

  12. Open the Project tab -> Compute tab, and click Instances.

  13. Choose the image you just created, and click Launch Instance.

  14. In the Launch Instance dialog, specify the following:

    • Availability Zone: By default, this value is set to the availability zone given by the cloud provider (for example, us-west or apac-south). For some cases, it could be nova.
    • Instance Name: Specify a name for the NIOS-X server.
    • Flavor: Choose m1.large for the regular image and B1-HC or a flavor that supports 750 GB disk size for the high-capacity image.
    • Instance Count: Enter 1.
    • Instance Boot Source: Choose Boot from image.
    • Image Name: Choose the image name you have given to the image.

  15. Click Access & Security at the top.
  16. Under Security Groups, select default to use the default security groups, or select permissive to open a few default ports.

    The screenshot shows the Launch Instance dialog box with the Access and Security tab open. In the Security Groups section, the checkbox for permissive option is selected.
  17. Click Networking at the top.
  18. Add interfaces by selecting applicable networks from the list. You can choose multiple networks for multiple interfaces.
    The screenshot shows the Networking tab in the Launch Instance dialog box.
  19. Click Post-Creation at the top to add customized scripts, if needed.

  20. Customization Script Source: Choose Direct Input and enter the script in the Script Data field, or you can upload a file that contains scripts such as the join token for a cluster account, as follows. To obtain a join token, see Creating Join Tokens. For information on how to use the userdata file, see YML and JSON Templates.

     #cloud-config
    host_setup:
    jointoken: ECJ0yOZL3WVO7NSLxM7j_w7vLfTAFMRZxxxxx

    The screenshot shows the PostCreation tab in the Launch Instance dialog box.

  21. Optionally, click Advanced Options at the top to specify whether to do disk partition manually or automatically, and then select the Configuration Drive checkbox to write metadata to a configuration drive if cloud_init is not available.
  22. Click Launch to launch the instance.
    The NIOS-X server is displayed on the Instance page. Optionally, c    lick Console at the top of the Instance page to view instance details in the console. You can also assign a floating IP address to the instance, if needed.

    You have now successfully deployed the NIOS-X server. It might take a couple minutes for the server and the Infoblox Portal to connect.

  23. To check the current status of the NIOS-X server, you can go to Configure > Servers in the Infoblox Portal. For more information about the server status see Viewing Host Status.

Deploying KVM NIOS-X Server Using CLI Commands

You must complete the following before you can use the OpenStack CLI:

  • Install the OpenStackClient.
  • Provide your OpenStack a username, password, project, and auth endpoint.

  • Enable DHCP as the default configuration for any private network.

    Important

    You must configure NOVA and to configure network information if you choose to disable DHCP based on this document.


To deploy the KVM NIOS-X server, complete the following:

  1. Log in to the Infoblox Portal.

  2. Go to Administration > Downloads.

  3. On the Downloads page > NIOS-X (BloxOne) Servers section, select Download Package for KVM/QCOW (60 GB Disk) for the regular image or Download Package for KVM/QCOW (750 GB Disk) for the high-capacity image.

  4. Click Download Package.
  5. Open the command-line window and enter the following commands at the prompt to perform specified tasks.
    1. Create an image:
      openstack image create --public --disk-format qcow2 --container-format bare --file downloaded file name
    2. Verify whether your image has been created:
      openstack image list 

    3. Add or configure networks:

      Note

      Verify the required networks have been added.

      openstack network list

    4. Create security group to access the Device UI: 
      openstack security group rule create default --protocol tcp --dst-port 443:443 --remote-ip 0.0.0.0/

      Note

      This requires opening both ports 443 and 80.

    5. Verify the security group you just created:
      openstack security group list
    6. Create Cloud-init file and rename this file to user_data.yaml:
           #cloud-config
         Host_setup:   
           jointoken: <JOINTOKEN>
    7. Launch the VM:
      openstack server create --flavor 4 --image image name \
        --nic net-id=<net-id> \
        --user-data user_data.yaml
        --security-group default bloxoneVM      1 
    8. Verify your VM has been deployed:
      openstack server list