Platform Installation

Installation Checklist

Before proceeding with the installation, gather the following information and files:

1. Determine the following:

   1. What subnet Platform manages

   2. Which network interface on the server is connected to that subnet

2. Use the following Linux command to find the interface name:

   ifconfig

3. Document any IP addresses not to be leased by Platform (reserved range).
   For example, for HSRP ranges: x.x.x.1-x.x.x.3 or x.x.x.252-x.x.x.254

4. Determine the number of nodes (chassis) anticipated for this cluster and select a subnet range for the IP addresses (dynamic range).
   For a cluster of 10 chassis, the subnet range may be: x.x.x.240 - x.x.x.249

5. Download the latest bundle from the Downloads section on the DataCore Support Portal: Swarm-VERSION-DATE.zip

6. Transfer the Swarm components (ZIP files) to the Platform server:

   • Platform Server (non-OVA install) — caringo-platform-VERSION.zip

   • Service Proxy (To host the Swarm Storage UI if Content Gateway is not available) — serviceproxy-VERSION.zip

   • Swarm Storage — storage-VERSION.zip

Offline Installation

The Platform server normally requires Internet access for 3 main reasons:

1. Downloading software during initial installation

2. Downloading ephemeral boot images used during chassis enlistment and commissioning

3. Downloading additional software packages used for hardware interrogation during commissioning

There are some scenarios in which these actions can be blocked:

• The Platform server has no access to the internet.

• The Platform server may have internet access restricted through various means, like proxies or secure gateways

• The Internet connectivity may be inconsistent or inadequate for large downloads.

If you are installing the Platform server under these conditions, verify offline (-o) flag is added when installing the software or running reinit.sh. (v10.0). When installing via the OVA and running the re_init.sh script, while reason #1 above does not apply, the offline (-o) flag configures the Platform server to operate without Internet connectivity for reason #2 and #3 above.

Install from OVA

1. Import the OVA file into your ESXi/vSphere environment. During the import process, add any network interfaces and configure as necessary.

   Private subnet

   To support a private subnet for Storage and Elasticsearch nodes, the Platform server needs both public and private network interfaces (like the dual-network CSN).
   

   Important: With nodes on a private subnet, you must complete Deploying a Proxy to provide access to the health report server and other network resources, such as replication feed targets, NTP servers, and DNS. Without an interface into that private network, the Swarm UI cannot be accessed by an external browser.
   

2. Once the OVA is imported and booted for the first time, configure the networking as necessary within the OS. You can ssh into the Platform server using the following username/password: caringoadmin/caringo

3. Once the networking configuration completes and validates, run the following command where STORAGE_NIC_IP is the static IP of the NIC connected to the storage network:

   sudo /opt/reinit.sh -i STORAGE_NIC_IP 

   Offline mode

   If the server cannot access the Internet, use Offline mode by adding the -o flag when running reinit.sh.

   Important

   If you enter the wrong IP address in the above command, the bootstrap command will be caught waiting and not return. See "Bootstrap Command Hangs" in Platform Troubleshooting.

4. When the reinit.sh script has finished, reboot the Platform Server.

Install from ZIP

1. SSH into the Platform server.

2. If the system is missing unzip capability, install it before proceeding: 

   sudo apt-get install unzip

3. Unzip the package into an empty non-temporary directory and change directories into it:

   unzip caringo-platform-VERSION.zip
   cd caringo-platform-VERSION

4. Run the self-extracting installation script as a user with root privileges. For the following commands, use the interface name (such as ens192) found in step 2 of the Installation Checklist, above.
   Run as follows for physical hardware or within a container:

   sudo ./installplatform.sh -i INTERFACE_NAME

   Add the -e flag for VMware ESXi virtual machines:

   sudo ./installplatform.sh -i INTERFACE_NAME -e

   Offline mode

   If the server cannot access the Internet, use Offline mode by adding the -o flag when running installplatform.sh.

   For the complete command help, run the script without arguments: ./installplatform.sh 

   Usage: installplatform.sh [-v|b|e|s] -i INTERFACE
   
   Install the Caringo Platform server software.
   
      -h   display help and exit
      -i   the interface to manage for the storage network
      -v   this server is a VMWare Desktop/Fusion VM
      -b   this server is running in VirtualBox VM
      -e   this server is running in ESXi
      -s   this server is running on bare metal on in a container (default)
      -r   install as rack server pointing to region controller
      -o   offline installation

5. Once installation completes, the CLI binary is installed, and it can be run from anywhere.

Initialize the Platform Server

1. Unless installing in offline mode, verify there is at least 300 MB space available to run the bootstrap command, which downloads updates from the Internet.

2. Once you have the interface name, list all available CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing, or supernetting) network addresses:

   platform list subnets --all

3. Run the bootstrap command for the Swarm Platform environment, which includes preparing Swarm Storage for deployment to managed nodes. 

   platform bootstrap -i PATH_TO_STORAGE_ZIP -v VERSION
    -t DHCP_SUBNET -a STARTING_IP_RANGE -z ENDING_IP_RANGE

   • Path — The Swarm Storage ZIP file for this command is located in the \Storage folder within the Swarm-VERSION-DATE.zip download. The filename has this form: storage-VERSION-x86_64.zip. You may change the version of Swarm Storage at any point after the bootstrap completes.

   • Version — Version of Swarm Storage, in the form #.#.#.

   • DHCP Subnet — The DHCP subnet CIDR calculated above. The platform list subnets command provides the proper format:

     Example

     $ platform list subnets --all
     Subnet: 10.1.1.0/24
     Subnet: 172.17.0.0/16
     Subnet: 192.168.68.0/24

     If the storage subnet is 192.168.68.x, then use 192.168.68.0/24

   • Dynamic Range — Use the dynamic range IPs you found in step 4 of the Installation Checklist, above.

     Caution

     The Dynamic Range specified in the bootstrap command must contain at least 10 IP addresses and also cover less than 25% of the total address space for the subnet. Taking up more than 25% of the addresses could result in too few IP addresses to boot Storage chassis. You can use a --force flag to force use of a range that violates these rules, but do so with caution.

     Caution

     The DHCP range is necessarily contiguous based on the STARTING_IP_RANGE and ENDING_IP_RANGE. The IP ranges allocated for Storage nodes can be non-contiguous by reserving IPs with the "platform add iprange" command as shown below.   Be careful not to define a DHCP range that includes your Platform server's Swarm-managed network interface.

4. Create a reserved IP range so the IP addresses cannot be allocated for Storage nodes if there are other IP addresses on the same network not managed by Swarm Platform:

   platform add iprange -a STARTING_IP_RESERVED -z ENDING_IP_RESERVED 

5. Upload a valid license in order for Swarm to boot successfully before deploying Swarm.

platform upload license -f PATH_TO_LICENSE_TXT