Planning for the procedure
Background knowledge
This procedure assumes that:
-
You are installing into an existing VMware vSphere deployment which has pre-configured networks and VLANs; this procedure does not cover setting up a VMware vSphere deployment from scratch.
-
You know the IP networking information (IP address, subnet mask in CIDR notation, and default gateway) for the custom nodes.
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You have read the installation guidelines at Initial Setup and have everything you need to carry out the installation.
Reserve maintenance period
This procedure does not require a maintenance period. However if you are integrating into a live network then it is recommended to implement measures to mitigate any unforeseen events.
Tools and access
This document references an external document: the SIMPL VM Documentation. Ensure you have a copy available before proceeding.
Installation Questions
Question |
More information |
Do you have the correct custom CSAR? |
All custom virtual appliances use the naming convention - |
Do you have a list of the IP addresses that you intend to give to each node? |
Each node requires an IP address for each interface. You can find a list of the VM’s interfaces on the Network Interfaces page. |
Do you have DNS and NTP Server information? |
It is expected that the deployed nodes will integrate with the IMS Core NTP and DNS servers. |
Method of procedure
Step 1 - Extract the CSAR
This can either be done on your local machine or on a SIMPL VM.
Option A - Running on a local machine
Docker must be installed on your local machine to run the rvtconfig tool. |
Run the following command to extract the CSAR: unzip <path-to-csar> -d <new-directory-to-extract-csar-to>
.
Option B - Running on an existing SIMPL VM
For this step, the SIMPL VM does not need to be running on the VMware vSphere where the deployment takes place. It is sufficient to use a SIMPL VM on a lab system to prepare for a production deployment.
Transfer the CSAR onto the SIMPL VM and run
csar unpack <path to CSAR>
, where <path to CSAR>
is the full path to the transferred CSAR.
This will unpack the CSAR to ~/.local/share/csar/
.
Step 2 - Write the SDF
The Solution Definition File (SDF) contains all the information required to set up your custom node cluster. It is therefore crucial to ensure all information in the SDF is correct before beginning the deployment.
Documentation on how to write an SDF is available in the 'Write an SDF' section of the SIMPL VM Documentation.
The format of the SDF is common to all Metaswitch products, so information can be reused as necessary. There are some RVT specific configuration settings in the SDF.
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cds-addresses
: Required by all Rhino TAS node types. This element lists all the Config Data Store addresses. Must be set to all the signaling IPs of the nodes serving as CDS. These are the TSN nodes in the deployment. -
secrets-private-key
: Required by all node types. Contains the private key to encrypt/decrypt passwords generated for configuration. The rvtconfig tool should be used to generate this key. More details can be found in the rvtconfig page.
It is recommended to start from a template SDF and edit it as desired instead of writing an SDF from scratch.
An example SDF is included in the CSAR, or can be found here.