IBM DataPower Operations Dashboard v1.0.12.0

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Prepare Pre-Installed Operating System

Non-Appliance Mode Only

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


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.


SubjectAction
Supported operating system

Verify that the operation system is supported by DPOD as described in System Requirements. After the server OS is installed, this can be verified using the following command:

cat /etc/redhat-release

Resources allocation

Allocate resources according to the chosen architecture type as listed in System Requirements. After the server OS is installed, this can be verified using the following commands:

free -h
lscpu

Network card

Ensure you have at least one network card installed and configured with full access to network services, such as DNS and NTP (the same as your Gateways). Some configurations, such as the Cell environment, require 2 network cards. See Network Preparation for more details.

Root access

Installation must be performed by a root user. You cannot use sudo instead. However, you may run it after running the command: su -

Disks, mount points / file systems and logical volumes

DPOD requires at least 3 disks (LUNs / physical / virtual) for the operating system, for the application and for the data. Some configurations, such as the Cell environment, require additional disks.

Please allocate the 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 the data disks.

Once configured, you may verify there are at least 3 disks using the following command:

lsblk

Tip: to create the mount points / file systems during RHEL installation:

  • Choose Installation Destination option.
  • Select all Local Standard drives and choose option "I will configure partitioning" under the "Other Storage Options" section.
  • Follow the table below and add all mount points with required definitions using the "+" button.
  • To create a volume group (sys, app, data), when applicable, open the "Volume Group" listbox and choose "create new volume group ...".
Store service dedicated OS user and group

The Store service requires a dedicated OS user and group to run. Consider executing the following command:

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

OS locale

The supported OS locale is en_US.UTF-8. Check the OS Locale Configuration and change it if necessary.

Setup DNS

Setup DNS - your network admin may need to assist you with this action. Make sure you can ping to your LDAP, Mail/SMTP Server, NTP Server.

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, so use the following commands just as a demonstration:

subscription-manager register
subscription-manager attach --auto
subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rh-common-rpms
subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-optional-rpms

Setup NTP

Setup NTP - it has to be the same one configured in your IBM DataPower Gateways.

  • Consult your Linux and network admin about the proper way to configure this service.
  • Ensure the NTP RPM is installed. Consider executing the following commands:

    yum install ntp
    ntpdate <ntp server hostname>
    systemctl enable ntpd.service
    systemctl start ntpd.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 your server name, you may execute the command:

hostname

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

The installation is usually performed by executing yum:

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

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


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

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


Optional: Install Kibana OSS (please read Kibana access limitations):

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 command:

yum clean all

Firewall access to DPOD server

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

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

You should open port access for the DNS Server, your DataPower Gateways, your SMTP server and others as described in Firewall Requirements.

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

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

Table 1 - Prepare your file system

Directory / Mount Point

Disk

Space in Mib

Device Type

File System

biosbootsys2Standard PartitionBIOS BOOT
swapsys8192LVMswap
/bootsys

2048

Standard Partition

XFS
/boot/efisys

200
(for UEFI installations for GPT partition)

Standard Partition

EFI System Partition

/sys8192LVMXFS
/varsys8192LVMXFS
/tmpsys4096
(recommended 16384)
LVMXFS
/sharedapp512LVMXFS
/appapp8192LVMXFS
/app/tmpapp4096LVMXFS
/installsapp11264LVMXFS
/logsapp

12,288
(can be on other fast disk - preferred locally)

LVMXFS
/datadata

As described in Hardware and Software Requirements
minimum of 100GB

LVMXFS

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 such 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.





IBM DataPower Operations Dashboard (DPOD) v1.0.12.0