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Non-Appliance Mode Only

The steps below are only applicable for installation in Non-Appliance mode, and should be performed by your Linux administrator.your Linux administrator.

Tip

This video demonstrates how to prepare a RHEL 7.8 operating system for DPOD Non-Appliance mode installation. Use it just as a demonstration, as it is not kept up-to-date with every change in the requirements. When preparing the operating system, you should follow the procedure provided below.

Network card

Subject

Action

Supported operating system

Verify that your operation system is one of the supported operating systems described in System Requirements.

Architecture

Ensure to select the correct architecture type and that all resources listed in System Requirements are made available.

Install an operating system that is supported by DPOD as described in Hardware and Software Requirements. Verify the installed OS using the following command:

Code Block
 cat /etc/redhat-release

Resources allocation

Allocate resources according to the chosen deployment profile as listed in Hardware and Software Requirements. Verify the allocated resources using the following commands:

Code Block
free -h
lscpu

Network requirements

Ensure you have at least one network

card

interface installed and configured with full access to network services, such as DNS and NTP

(the same as your Gateways) - see Network Preparation.

Prepare Admin access

Installation must be

.
Some configurations, such as the Cell environment, require 2 network interfaces.
See Firewall Requirements for more details.

Root access

The installation must be performed by a root user.

You can NOT run it with sudo.
You can run it after running the command: su -

Prepare disk, mount points / file systems and logical volume

Info

Tuning requirement - define 3 Disks with LVM and with size and mount points as defined below

For both Production and Non Production installations, the Standard Edition requires

 You cannot use sudo instead.

  • Do not override the PATH variable with a fixed value during login sequence, as this will override the value set by DPOD installation in .bash_profile and will cause various scripts to fail.

  • Do not use script command during the login sequence to make a typescript of the terminal session for audit, as this will cause various scripts to hang.

  • Do not use trap command to clear the terminal on session close, as this will cause various scripts to get extra characters as their input and fail.

  • Do not print a disclaimer in .bashrc, as this will cause various scripts to get the disclaimer as their input and fail.

Disks

DPOD requires at least 3 disks (LUNs / physical / virtual)

to support throughput.You will need to allocate the following

:

  • 1 disk for the operating system

  • 1 disk for the application/logs

  • At least 1 disk for the data

Some configurations, such as the Cell environment, require multiple disks for the data.

You may verify the existence of the disks using the following command (e.g: look for sda, sdb and sdc):

Code Block
lsblk

Mount points, file systems and logical volumes

See Table 1 below for the required mount points / file systems on the different disks

as described in table 1 below

.
It is strongly recommended to use logical volume manager (LVM) - particularly for

data disks.

This can be done during RHEL installation by choosing Installation Destination option. You will then need to select all Local Standard drives and choose option "I will configure partitioning" under the "Other Storage Options" section.

You should follow table 2 and add all mount points with required definitions using the "+" button.

to create a volume group (sys, app, data) open the "Volume Group" list box and choose "create new volume group ..."

This way you can partition your 3 (logical) drive exactly as stated in table 2.

The minimum file system sizes for the different installation types are described in table 2 below

After configuring the required mount points you can use the command "df -h" to make sure all free space requirements are met.

Your mount point configuration should resemble the following :

Image Removed

Prepare

the data disk(s). See Example: Creating File Systems using LVM.
Once configured, you may verify the configuration using the following command:

Code Block
lsblk

Tip: To use LVM in AWS EC2 instances with RHEL 8.x and EBS disks, first execute dnf install lvm2 to install the LVM package, and use gdisk to create a partition. For more information, see https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/create-lv-on-ebs-partition/.

Store service dedicated OS user and group

The Store service requires a dedicated OS user and group to run.

User can use

Consider executing the following command:

Code Block
groupadd storeadms && useradd -g storeadms -md /home/storeadm -s /bin/bash storeadm
Configure

OS locale

The supported OS locale is en_US.UTF-8.

Use the following procedure to check the supported locale configuration

Check the OS Locale Configuration and change it if necessary

Prepare your installation file and environment

Ensure your /tmp directory has at least 1GB of free space

Installation from a different directory is possible. If you opt to run the install from a directory other than /tmp, ensure that this directory:

    • Has at least 1GB of free space
    • Is NOT one of these folders:
      • /app
      • /logs
      • /data
      • /shared
      • /installs

Download the CEF file and transfer it to the /tmp directory on the pre-installed OS server.

Execute the following command from the pre-installed OS server terminal: chmod 755 ./<File Name>

Setup your network (consult your network admin)

Setup

.

SELinux configuration

Changes in SELinux configuration might be needed. Check if SELinux is enabled using the following command:

Code Block
sestatus

If SELinux is enforced on the DPOD server, please review possible required configuration changes.

Setup DNS

It is highly recommended to setup DNS - your network admin may need to assist you with this action.

Using yum on RedHat

For RedHat only: Your system might need to be registered and subscribed to the Red Hat Customer Portal to be able to install all prerequisites using yum.
Registration and subscription may differ between organizations and RHEL version, so consider the following commands just as an example:

Code Block
subscription-manager register
subscription-manager attach --auto

  • For RHEL 7.x

    Code Block
    subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rh-common-rpms
subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-optional-rpms

  • For RHEL 8.x

    Code Block
    subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms
subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms

Setup NTP

It is highly recommended to setup NTP - it has to be the same

used for

one configured in your IBM DataPower Gateways.

  • Consult your Linux and network admin about the proper way to configure this service.

Ensure

  • For RHEL 7.x, ensure the NTP RPM is installed. Consider executing the following

command

  • commands:

    Code Block
    yum install ntp
  • 
ntpdate <ntp server hostname>
  • 
systemctl enable ntpd.service
systemctl start ntpd.service

  • For RHEL 8.x, ensure the Chrony RPM is installed. Consider executing the following commands:

    Code Block
    yum install chrony
chronyd -q 'server {ntp_server_name} iburst'
systemctl
start ntpd.service 
  •  enable chronyd.service
systemctl start chronyd.service

Setup hosts file

Verify that the /etc/hosts file includes an entry with your server name mapped to your external server IP.
To

find Verify all required RPMs are installed

display your server name, you may execute the command

: hostnameIf this command can not find the package on account of it not being included in the repository, you will need to add the containing repository or manually download the RPMs

hostname.
To display your server’s IP address, you may execute the command ip a.

Required RPMs

Verify the existence of the following RPMs from the official RedHat/CentOS yum repositories:

  • httpd version 2.4.6-67 and above (together with the following dependencies: mailcap, apr, httpd_tools)

  • mod_ssl

  • mod_proxy_html

  • curl

  • wget

  • unzip

  • iptables

  • iptables-services

  • bc

  • fontconfig

  • squashfs-tools

  • numactl

  • pciutils

  • nvme-cli

The installation is usually performed by executing

: yum install httpd mod_ssl curl wget unzip iptables iptables-services bc fontconfig

Table 2 - Prepare your file system

Directory / Mount point

Recommended

Disk

Standard Edition - Minimal/Low/Medium/High

free space in Mib

Device

Type

File

System

/sys4096LVMXFSswapsys8192swapXFS/varsys4096LVMXFS/tmpsys2048 (recommended 16384)LVMXFS/bootsys

2048

Standard

Partition

XFS/sharedapp512LVMXFS/appapp8192

yum. If the command fails to find the packages, you should manually download the RPM files and install them.

RedHat Only - Execute the following command: subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rh-common-rpms

Ensure the httpd service is enabled by executing the command: systemctl enable httpd.service

Ensure the httpd service is started by executing the command: systemctl start httpd.service

Install mod_proxy_html
  • This RPM is not always accessible from existing repositories. Try first to install it by executing the command: yum install mod_proxy_html
    If you get the error "No package mod_proxy_html available. Error: Nothing to do", you will need to download the RPM yourself, using one of the following methods:
  • Method 1 - download the RPM
    • Find your httpd version by executing the command: rpm -qa | grep httpd
    • The system will print something resembling httpd-2.4.6-67.el7_2.4.x86_64. This is the mod_proxy version you need to download
    • RedHat Only - Download the mod_proxy with the correct version from the following url:
      https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/mod_proxy_html/2.4.6-45.el7/x86_64/f21541eb/package (change the version part of the url
      to match the httpd version you found above). Use wget or any other mechanism to download, and ensure to place the RPM inside the /tmp directory of the pre-installed OS server.
    • Install the RPM by executing the command:  rpm -Uvh mod_proxy_html-2.4.6-67.el7_2.4.x86_64.rpm (Note: your version may vary, as described above)
  • Method 2 - add a repository and install it from the repository using the commands (RedHat Only)

    • subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-optional-rpms

    • yum install mod_proxy_html

OPTIONAL - Install kibana OSS (kibana-oss-6.6.1)

This RPM is required only if you would like to manually query the Big Data store.

Download the RPM from: https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/kibana/kibana-oss-6.6.1-x86_64.rpm

Please follow instructions on https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/6.6/rpm.html#install-rpm

Configure kibana (kibana.yml): 

  • server.port: 5601
  • server.host: "montier-es-http"
  • server.basePath: "/op/kibana"
  • elasticsearch.hosts: "http://montier-es-http:9200"
  • elasticsearch.shardTimeout: 300000
Open your firewall to access to DPOD server

To configure your firewall for open access to the DPOD server for port 443, execute the following commands:

Note

These commands may not be applicable if your system has no builtin firewall.

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=443/tcp --permanent

firewall-cmd --reload

iptables-save | grep 443

If, for any reason, you need to remove this access (close the port) - execute the following commands:

firewall-cmd --zone=public --remove-port=443/tcp --permanent

firewall-cmd --reload

iptables-save | grep 443

Note

You should open port access for the DNS Server, your DataPower devices, your SMTP server and others as described in firewall rules.

Please assist your network admin and Linux admin to enable access on these ports.

Table 1 - Prepare your disk and mount points

...

File system / Mount point

...

Disk Name

...

Code Block
yum install -y httpd
yum install -y mod_ssl
yum install -y mod_proxy_html
yum install -y curl
yum install -y wget
yum install -y unzip
yum install -y iptables
yum install -y iptables-services
yum install -y bc
yum install -y fontconfig
yum install -y squashfs-tools
yum install -y numactl
yum install -y pciutils
yum install -y nvme-cli

The following RPMs are recommended for system maintenance and troubleshooting, and are optional: telnet client, net-tools, iftop, tcpdump

Ensure squashfs module is loaded - see more at https://access.redhat.com/solutions/5477831.
Ensure squashfs is not disabled in /etc/modprobe.d (by running the command grep -ri squashfs /etc/modprobe.d).


Ensure the httpd service is enabled and started by executing the command:

Code Block
systemctl enable httpd.service && systemctl start httpd.service && systemctl status httpd.service

Cleanup

In case you are using yum, it is recommended to clean its cache to make sure there is enough space in /var (yum cache can take a lot of the space there). To clean yum cache, execute the following command:

Code Block
yum clean all


Table 1 - File Systems / Mount Points

...

File System / Mount Point

Minimum Size

Device Type

File System

Disk 1: Operating System (e.g.: sda)

biosboot

2MB

Standard Partition

BIOS BOOT

swap

8GB

LVM

swap

/boot

2GB

Standard Partition

XFS

/boot/efi

200MB
(for UEFI installations for GPT partition)

Standard Partition

EFI System Partition

/

8GB

LVM

XFS

/var

8GB

LVM

XFS

/tmp

16GB

LVM

XFS

Disk 2: Application/logs (e.g.: sdb)

/shared

1GB

LVM

XFS

/app

30GB

LVM

XFS

/app/tmp

app

8GB

4096

LVM

XFS

/installs

app8192XFS

30GB

LVM

XFS

/logs

app12,288 (can be on other fast disk - preferred locally)LVM

15GB

LVM

XFS

Data Disk(s) (e.g.: sdc, sdd, sde...)

/data

data

As described in Hardware and Software Requirements

minimum

or according to the sizing spreadsheet in case one was provided by the DPOD support team. Minimum of 100GB.

LVM

XFS

/boot/efidata

For UEFI installations for GPT partition

200

Standard

Partition

EFI System

Partition

Installation Compatibility Checks

There are two types of checks: Critical and Informational.

The critical checks are mandatory in order to install the system. The informational checks are highly recommended for system optimization.

Please take time to review the results of these checks after installation, and perform all applicable optimizations. The compatibility checks report can be found in /installs/logs/appliance_checks-<date time>.log

Supported programs

The only supported programs for installation on the DPOD server are infrastructure / system tools like Antivirus agents, Monitor Agents, Backup Agents etc.

Note that these system tools may affect DPOD's functionality and performance.

[Required only for cell members]
/data2, /data22, /data222, /data3, /data33, /data333, /data4, /data44, /data444

Only for cell members, according to the sizing spreadsheet provided by DPOD support team. See Setup a Cell Environment for information about these disks/mount points.

LVM

XFS

Third-Party Software

Third-party software such as antivirus, cybersecurity, monitoring, APM, endpoint protection, backup, etc. might significantly decrease the performance of DPOD and impact its functionality.

In case of functionality or performance issues, try first to disable these system toolssuch software.

During the resolution of issues, DPOD support will ask the customer to disable any 3rd party software in order to isolate the issues and verify their source. Support cannot be provided if the 3rd party tools are not disabled.