Deploying a vNIOS for GCP Instance with High Availability

Starting from NIOS 9.0.4, you can deploy vNIOS for GCP instances in an HA (high availability) setup. Configure the vNIOS instance of each node in the HA pair with three network interfaces, nic0, nic1, and nic2 that are labelled in NIOS as MGMT, LAN1, and HA respectively.

Unlike NIOS that requires the LAN and HA interfaces of an instance to be on the same VPC, GCP, due to a limitation, requires that each of the three interfaces of a node is assigned to subnetworks on different VPCs. Additionally, you must configure an alias IP address on the HA interface of one of the HA nodes. The alias IP address will be used by NIOS to communicate with GCP.

For the settings that you must configure in NIOS to set up HA, refer to HA related topics under Configuring a Grid in the Infoblox NIOS Documentation.

To deploy vNIOS for GCP using VM instances, complete the following steps for each node in an HA pair:

Sign in to your Google Cloud Console using the URL: https://console.cloud.google.com
Navigate to Compute Engine -> VM instances.
In the VM instances panel, click Create Instance.
To ensure that your vNIOS for GCP functions properly, update the instance configuration as required. For specifications, see Supported vNIOS for GCP Models.
In the Create an instance panel, complete the following settings.
Note that GCP automatically populates some field values based on previous configurations. Click a field that you want to make changes to and update the values.
- Name: Enter a name for the instance.
- Region: Choose the Google Cloud region from the drop-down list.
- Zone: Choose a zone where you want your data to be stored.
- Machine configuration: In the table, select the series for the instance type that you need to use. For more information, see Supported vNIOS for GCP Models
- Machine type: Choose the instance type from the drop-down list. For more information, see Supported vNIOS for GCP Models.
- Boot disk: Select an image or a snapshot to create a new boot disk, or attach an existing disk to the instance.
  To select the vNIOS image that you created:
  1. Click CHANGE.
  2. In the Boot disk panel, click CUSTOM IMAGES.
  3. Select the vNIOS for GCP image from the public bucket.
  4. Change the Boot disk type to Standard persistent disk if the vNIOS appliance you are deploying is a Trinzic X5 series model running a version of NIOS that is prior to 9.0.1.
    If you are deploying Trinzic X6 series models that are supported from NIOS 9.0.1 onwards, select SSD persistent disk as the type. For the supported vNIOS models, see Supported vNIOS for GCP Models.
  5. Change the Size based on the model you selected.
  6. Click SELECT.
- Identity and API access: Select the service account that the instance requires to call Google Cloud APIs and define the scope of access to the APIs:
  - Service accounts: From the drop-down list, choose the service account that you created.
  - Access scopes: Select Allow full access to all Cloud APIs.
- Advanced options: Expand the Advanced options menu and complete the following:
  - Networking tab: Set up one interface each for MGMT, LAN1, and HA. Ensure that each of the three network interfaces is assigned to subnets in different VPCs.
    Example: In an HA setup, assign MGMT interfaces on node1 and node2 to a subnet on VPC1, LAN1 interfaces of node1 and node2 to a subnet on VPC2, and HA interfaces on node 1 and node 2 and the alias IP address to a subnet on VPC3.
    When the LAN1 and HA interfaces are assigned to subnets in different VPCs, you must configure VPC network peering to enable the networks in different VPCs to communicate with each other.
    Note that vNIOS instances do not support the GCP Custom Hostname feature.
    
    In the Network interfaces section, complete the following:
    1. By default, the GCP instance has a network interface added and allocated to the MGMT port. Expand the menu and update the default values in the Edit network interface dialog box as follows:
      1. Network: Change the default network to the correct network.
      2. Subnetwork: Select your subnetwork.
      3. Click DONE.
    2. To add a second network interface and allocate it to the LAN1 port, click ADD A NETWORK INTERFACE and configure the following settings in the New network interface dialog box:
      Note: When you need to add or delete a network interface to an existing vNIOS for GCP instance, you must power off the instance, add or delete the interface, and then start the instance. Adding or deleting an interface when the instance is powered on, can result in unexpected behavior.
      1. Network: Choose a network for the LAN1 interface.
      2. Subnetwork: Choose a subnet that is on a VPC, which is different from the VPCs of the MGMT and HA interfaces.
      3. Click DONE.
    3. To add a third network interface and allocate it to the HA port, click ADD A NETWORK INTERFACE and configure the following settings in the New network interface dialog box:
      1. Network: choose a network for the HA interface.
      2. Subnetwork: Choose a subnet that is on a VPC, which is different from the VPCs of the MGMT and LAN1 interfaces.
      3. Alias IP ranges: Configure the Alias IP range on one of the nodes of the HA pair. NIOS uses the alias IP address configured on the active node as the VIP to communicate with the cloud network.
        Click ADD IP RANGE and define ranges for subnet and alias IP addresses.
        Click DONE.
  - Security tab: Add your SSH key string.
  - Identity and API access tab: From the Service account drop-down list, select the service account that has been assigned with role permissions that NIOS requires for authentication. For information about roles, see the Configuring a GCP Service Account section.
  - Management tab: Go to the Metadata section and add the following key-value pair.
    Note that this metadata will install temporary license keys for the selected services.
    1. Add Key: user-data.
    2. Add Value:
      #infoblox-config
      temp_license: nios xx-Vxxxx enterprise dns
      remote_console_enabled: y
    3. Click DONE.
Click Create to deploy the vNIOS for GCP instance.