DMF Controllers in Google Cloud VMware Engine

The DANZ Monitoring Fabric (DMF) Controller in Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE) supports the operation of the Arista Networks DMF Controller on the GCVE platform and uses the vCenter portal to launch the Virtual Machine (VM) running the DMF Controller.

The DMF Controller in GCVE enables the registration of VM deployments in the vCenter environment and supports auto-firstboot when deployed using the Deploy OVF Template wizard in the vCenter.

Configuration

GCVE portal provides the vCenter server IP address with the credential details. Log in to the vCenter using these credentials to deploy the Controller VM using the Deploy OVF Template wizard in the vCenter.

The following describes using the wizard to deploy the Controller VM.

  1. In VMware vCenter, navigate to the Actions menu and select Deploy OVF Template.
    Figure 1. Deploy OVF Template
  2. The Deploy OVF Template wizard appears.
    Figure 2. Deploy OVF Template Wizard
  3. Enter the URL for the OVA file. If the OVA file is available locally on the machine, choose the Local file option and select Upload Files.
    Figure 3. Enter URL or Local File
  4. Provide the Virtual machine name and select its location.
    Figure 4. Virtual Machine Name
  5. Select the destination compute resource.
    Figure 5. Compute Resource
  6. Review details summarize the OVA file details.
    Figure 6. Review Details
  7. Provide the storage details for the VM.
    Figure 7. Storage Details
  8. As illustrated in the following Customize template sections, autofirstboot parameters appear. Use these parameters to configure the VM to make it ready after the OVF deployment. There are 19 settings; however, some are mandatory, while others are optional.
    Figure 8. Customize Template Auto First Boot – 19 Settings

     

    Figure 9. Customize Template Auto First Boot

     

    Figure 10. Customize Template Auto First Boot

     

    Figure 11. Customize Template Auto First Boot
  9. Review the Ready to complete firstboot parameters and select Finish to enter the configuration. If changes are required, select Back and make those changes.
    Figure 12. Ready To Complete

Firstboot Parameters

The following table lists the firstboot parameters for the auto-firstboot configuration.

Required Parameters

Key Description Valid Values
admin_password This is the password to set for the admin user. When joining an existing cluster node this will be the admin-password for the existing cluster node. string
recovery_password This is the password to set for the recovery user. string

Additional Parameters

Key Description Required Valid Values Default Value
hostname This is the hostname to set for the appliance. no string  
cluster_name This is the name to set for the cluster. no string  
cluster_to_join This is the IP which firstboot will use to join an existing cluster. Omitting this parameter implies that the firstboot will create a new cluster. Note: If this parameter is present ntp-servers, cluster-name, and cluster-description will be ignored. The existing cluster node will provide these values after joining. no IP Address String  
cluster_description This is the description to set for the cluster. no string  

Networking Parameters

Key Description Required? Valid Values Default Value
ip_stack What IP protocols should be set up for the appliance management NIC. no enum: ipv4, ipv6, dual-stack ipv4
ipv4_method How to setup IPv4 for the appliance management NIC. no enum: auto, manual auto
ipv4_address The static IPv4 address used for the appliance management NIC. only if ipv4-method is set to manual IPv4 Address String  
ipv4_prefix_length The prefix length for the IPv4 address subnet to use for the appliance management NIC. only if ipv4-method is set to manual 0..32  
ipv4_gateway The static IPv4 gateway to use for the appliance management NIC. no IPv4 Address String  
ipv6_method How to set up IPv6 for the appliance management NIC. no enum: auto, manual auto
ipv6_address The static IPv6 address to use for the appliance management NIC. only if ipv6-method is set to manual IPv6 Address String  
ipv6_prefix_length The prefix length for the IPv6 address subnet to use for the appliance management NIC. only if ipv6-method is set to manual 0..128  
ipv6_gateway The static IPv6 gateway to use for the appliance management NIC. no IPv6 Address String  
dns_servers The DNS servers for the cluster to use no List of IP address strings  
dns_search_domains The DNS search domains for the cluster to use. no List of the hostnames or FQDN strings  
ntp_servers The NTP servers for the cluster to use. no List of the hostnames of FQDN strings:

0.bigswitch.pool.ntp.org

1.bigswitch.pool.ntp.org

2.bigswitch.pool.ntp.org

3.bigswitch.pool.ntp.org

Post Installation Verification

  1. Access a DMF Controller VM using an SSH login session.
  2. Verify the Controller clusters have formed using the show controller command. 
    GCVE-DMF-860-1# ​​show controller
Cluster Name : GCVE-DMF-860-1
Cluster Description: GCVE DMF CONTROLLER
Cluster Virtual IP : 10.100.189.231
Redundancy Status: redundant
Last Role Change Time: 2024-05-21 14:23:38.917000 PDT
Failover Reason: Changed connection state: connected to node 21773
Device deployment mode : pre-configured
Cluster Uptime : 1 day, 3 hours
# Hostname @ State Uptime
-|--------------|-|-------|-------------------|
1 GCVE-DMF-860-1 * active5 hours, 6 minutes
2 GCVE-DMF-860-2 standby 15 minutes, 11 secs
GCVE-DMF-860-1#
  3. Use the show version command to verify the installed version is correct. 
    GCVE-DMF-860-1# show version
Controller Version : DANZ Monitoring Fabric 8.6.0 (bmf/dmf-8.6.0 #10)
GCVE-DMF-860-1#

Troubleshooting

The following are possible failure modes:
  • auto-firstboot fails due to a transient error or bug.
  • auto-firstboot parameter validation fails.
To debug these failures, connect to the VM using the console, log in as user recovery, and use the following command to review the firstboot logs. 
recovery@dmf-controller-0-vm:~$ less /var/log/floodlight/firstboot/firstboot.log
To debug parameter validation errors, access the parameter validation results using the following command. 
recovery@dmf-controller-0-vm:~$ less /var/lib/floodlight/firstboot/validation-results.json

Limitations

  • There is no support for capture interfaces in GCVE.