Red Hat Virtualization 4.

Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-

hosted engine using the command line

Using the command line to install the Red Hat Virtualization Manager as a virtual
machine running on the same hosts it manages

Last Updated: 2024-02-26

Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted
engine using the command line
Using the command line to install the Red Hat Virtualization Manager as a virtual machine running
on the same hosts it manages

Red Hat Virtualization Documentation Team

Red Hat Customer Content Services
[email protected]
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Abstract
This document describes how to install a self-hosted engine environment – where the Red Hat
Virtualization Manager (or "engine") is installed on a virtual machine that runs on specialized hosts in
the same environment it manages – using the command line to configure and run an automated
installation. If this is not the configuration you want to use, see the other Installation Options in the
Product Guide.
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents
.PREFACE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . . . . . . .
RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION KEY COMPONENTS 5
SELF-HOSTED ENGINE ARCHITECTURE 5

. . . . . . . . . . . 1.. .INSTALLATION
CHAPTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OVERVIEW
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . . . . . . . . .

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 2.
. . REQUIREMENTS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1. RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER REQUIREMENTS 9
2.1.1. Hardware Requirements 9
2.1.2. Browser Requirements 9
2.1.3. Client Requirements 10
2.1.4. Operating System Requirements 10
2.2. HOST REQUIREMENTS 11
2.2.1. CPU Requirements 11
2.2.1.1. Checking if a Processor Supports the Required Flags 11
2.2.2. Memory Requirements 12
2.2.3. Storage Requirements 12
2.2.4. PCI Device Requirements 13
2.2.5. Device Assignment Requirements 13
2.2.6. vGPU Requirements 14
2.3. NETWORKING REQUIREMENTS 14
2.3.1. General requirements 14
2.3.2. Network range for self-hosted engine deployment 14
2.3.3. Firewall Requirements for DNS, NTP, and IPMI Fencing 14
2.3.4. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Firewall Requirements 15
2.3.5. Host Firewall Requirements 19
2.3.6. Database Server Firewall Requirements 24
2.3.7. Maximum Transmission Unit Requirements 24

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 3.
. . PREPARING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .STORAGE
. . . . . . . . . . FOR
. . . . . RED
. . . . . HAT
. . . . . VIRTUALIZATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
..............
3.1. PREPARING NFS STORAGE 26
3.2. PREPARING ISCSI STORAGE 27
3.3. PREPARING FCP STORAGE 28
3.4. PREPARING RED HAT GLUSTER STORAGE 29
3.5. CUSTOMIZING MULTIPATH CONFIGURATIONS FOR SAN VENDORS 29
3.6. RECOMMENDED SETTINGS FOR MULTIPATH.CONF 30

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 4.
. . .INSTALLING
. . . . . . . . . . . . .THE
. . . . .SELF-HOSTED
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ENGINE
. . . . . . . . DEPLOYMENT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HOST
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
..............
4.1. INSTALLING RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION HOSTS 32
4.1.1. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Host Repository 34
4.2. INSTALLING RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX HOSTS 34
4.2.1. Enabling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host Repositories 35

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 5.
. . INSTALLING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .THE
. . . . .RED
. . . . .HAT
. . . . .VIRTUALIZATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MANAGER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
..............
5.1. MANUALLY INSTALLING THE RHV-M APPLIANCE 38
5.2. ENABLING AND CONFIGURING THE FIREWALL 39
5.3. DEPLOYING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE USING THE COMMAND LINE 39
5.4. ENABLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER REPOSITORIES 47
5.5. CONNECTING TO THE ADMINISTRATION PORTAL 49

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 6.
. . .INSTALLING
. . . . . . . . . . . . .HOSTS
. . . . . . . .FOR
. . . . .RED
. . . . .HAT
. . . . .VIRTUALIZATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
..............
6.1. RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION HOSTS 50
6.1.1. Installing Red Hat Virtualization Hosts 50

1
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

6.1.2. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Host Repository 52

6.1.3. Advanced Installation 53
6.1.3.1. Custom Partitioning 53
6.1.3.2. Installing a DUD driver on a host without installer support 54
6.1.3.3. Automating Red Hat Virtualization Host deployment 57
6.1.3.3.1. Preparing the installation environment 58
6.1.3.3.2. Configuring the PXE server and the boot loader 58
6.1.3.3.3. Creating and running a Kickstart file 59
6.2. RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX HOSTS 62
6.2.1. Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts 62
6.2.2. Enabling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host Repositories 62
6.2.3. Installing Cockpit on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts 63
6.3. RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR CONFIGURING HOST NETWORKS 64
6.4. ADDING SELF-HOSTED ENGINE NODES TO THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER 65
6.5. ADDING STANDARD HOSTS TO THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER 66

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 7.
. . ADDING
. . . . . . . . . STORAGE
. . . . . . . . . . . FOR
. . . . . RED
. . . . . HAT
. . . . . VIRTUALIZATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
..............
7.1. ADDING NFS STORAGE 68
7.2. ADDING ISCSI STORAGE 69
7.3. ADDING FCP STORAGE 71
7.4. ADDING RED HAT GLUSTER STORAGE 72

. . . . . . . . . . . .A.
APPENDIX . . TROUBLESHOOTING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A. .SELF-HOSTED
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ENGINE
. . . . . . . . .DEPLOYMENT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
..............
A.1. TROUBLESHOOTING THE MANAGER VIRTUAL MACHINE 73
Engine status: "health": "good", "vm": "up" "detail": "up" 73
Engine status: "reason": "failed liveliness check", "health": "bad", "vm": "up", "detail": "up" 73
Engine status: "vm": "down", "health": "bad", "detail": "unknown", "reason": "vm not running on this host" 74
Engine status: "vm": "unknown", "health": "unknown", "detail": "unknown", "reason": "failed to getVmStats" 74
Engine status: The self-hosted engine’s configuration has not been retrieved from shared storage 75
Additional Troubleshooting Commands 75
A.2. CLEANING UP A FAILED SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT 75

APPENDIX B. CUSTOMIZING THE MANAGER VIRTUAL MACHINE USING AUTOMATION DURING

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
DEPLOYMENT ..............

.APPENDIX
. . . . . . . . . . .C.
. . .MIGRATING
. . . . . . . . . . . . DATABASES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .AND
. . . . .SERVICES
. . . . . . . . . . .TO
. . . .A. .REMOTE
. . . . . . . . . SERVER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
..............
C.1. MIGRATING THE DATA WAREHOUSE TO A SEPARATE MACHINE 78
C.1.1. Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine 78
C.1.1.1. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Repositories 78
C.1.1.2. Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine 80
C.1.2. Migrating the Data Warehouse Service to a Separate Machine 81
C.1.2.1. Setting up the New Data Warehouse Machine 81
C.1.2.2. Stopping the Data Warehouse Service on the Manager Machine 82
C.1.2.3. Configuring the New Data Warehouse Machine 83
C.1.2.4. Disabling the Data Warehouse Service on the Manager Machine 84

. . . . . . . . . . . .D.
APPENDIX . . .CONFIGURING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A. HOST
. . . . . . .FOR
. . . . .PCI
. . . .PASSTHROUGH
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
..............

. . . . . . . . . . . .E.
APPENDIX . . PREVENTING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .KERNEL
. . . . . . . . .MODULES
. . . . . . . . . . . FROM
. . . . . . .LOADING
. . . . . . . . . . .AUTOMATICALLY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
..............
E.1. REMOVING A MODULE TEMPORARILY 89

. . . . . . . . . . . .F.
APPENDIX . . SECURING
. . . . . . . . . . . .RED
. . . . .HAT
. . . . .VIRTUALIZATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
..............
F.1. APPLYING THE DISA STIG PROFILE IN RHEL BASED HOSTS AND THE STANDALONE MANAGER 91
F.1.1. Enabling DISA STIG in a self-hosted engine 91
F.2. APPLYING THE PCI-DSS PROFILE IN RHV HOSTS AND THE STANDALONE MANAGER 92

2
 Table of Contents

F.2.1. Enabling PCI-DSS in a self-hosted engine 92

. . . . . . . . . . . .G.
APPENDIX . . .DEFINING
. . . . . . . . . . .ALLOWED
. . . . . . . . . . .CPU
. . . . .TYPES
. . . . . . . IN
. . . SELF-HOSTED
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ENGINE
. . . . . . . . .DEPLOYMENT
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
..............

. . . . . . . . . . . .H.
APPENDIX . . .LEGAL
. . . . . . . NOTICE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
..............

3
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

4
 PREFACE

PREFACE
Self-hosted engine installation is automated using Ansible. The installation script (hosted-engine --
deploy) runs on an initial deployment host, and the Red Hat Virtualization Manager (or "engine") is
installed and configured on a virtual machine that is created on the deployment host. The Manager and
Data Warehouse databases are installed on the Manager virtual machine, but can be migrated to a
separate server post-installation if required.

Hosts that can run the Manager virtual machine are referred to as self-hosted engine nodes. At least
two self-hosted engine nodes are required to support the high availability feature.

A storage domain dedicated to the Manager virtual machine is referred to as the self-hosted engine
storage domain. This storage domain is created by the installation script, so the underlying storage must
be prepared before beginning the installation.

See the Planning and Prerequisites Guide for information on environment options and recommended
configuration. See Self-Hosted Engine Recommendations for configuration specific to a self-hosted
engine environment.

RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION KEY COMPONENTS

Component Name Description

Red Hat Virtualization Manager A service that provides a graphical user interface and
a REST API to manage the resources in the
environment. The Manager is installed on a physical
or virtual machine running Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Hosts Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts (RHEL hosts) and

Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (image-based
hypervisors) are the two supported types of host.
Hosts use Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
technology and provide resources used to run virtual
machines.

Shared Storage A storage service is used to store the data associated

with virtual machines.

Data Warehouse A service that collects configuration information and

statistical data from the Manager.

SELF-HOSTED ENGINE ARCHITECTURE

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager runs as a virtual machine on self-hosted engine nodes (specialized
hosts) in the same environment it manages. A self-hosted engine environment requires one less physical
server, but requires more administrative overhead to deploy and manage. The Manager is highly
available without external HA management.

The minimum setup of a self-hosted engine environment includes:

One Red Hat Virtualization Manager virtual machine that is hosted on the self-hosted engine
nodes. The RHV-M Appliance is used to automate the installation of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 virtual machine, and the Manager on that virtual machine.

A minimum of two self-hosted engine nodes for virtual machine high availability. You can use
5
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

A minimum of two self-hosted engine nodes for virtual machine high availability. You can use
Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts or Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH). VDSM (the host agent)
runs on all hosts to facilitate communication with the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. The HA
services run on all self-hosted engine nodes to manage the high availability of the Manager
virtual machine.

One storage service, which can be hosted locally or on a remote server, depending on the
storage type used. The storage service must be accessible to all hosts.

Figure 1. Self-Hosted Engine Red Hat Virtualization Architecture

6
 CHAPTER 1. INSTALLATION OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 1. INSTALLATION OVERVIEW

The self-hosted engine installation uses Ansible and the RHV-M Appliance (a pre-configured Manager
virtual machine image) to automate the following tasks:

Configuring the first self-hosted engine node

Installing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine on that node

Installing and configuring the Red Hat Virtualization Manager on that virtual machine

Configuring the self-hosted engine storage domain

NOTE

The RHV-M Appliance is only used during installation. It is not used to upgrade the
Manager.

Installing a self-hosted engine environment involves the following steps:

1. Prepare storage to use for the self-hosted engine storage domain and for standard storage
domains. You can use one of the following storage types:

NFS

iSCSI

Fibre Channel (FCP)

Red Hat Gluster Storage

2. Install a deployment host to run the installation on. This host will become the first self-hosted
engine node. You can use either host type:

Red Hat Virtualization Host

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

3. Install and configure the Red Hat Virtualization Manager:

a. Enabling and configuring the firewall

b. Install the self-hosted engine using the hosted-engine --deploy command on the
deployment host.

c. Register the Manager with the Content Delivery Network and enable the Red Hat
Virtualization Manager repositories.

d. Connect to the Administration Portal to add hosts and storage domains.

4. Add more self-hosted engine nodes and standard hosts to the Manager. Self-hosted engine
nodes can run the Manager virtual machine and other virtual machines. Standard hosts can run
all other virtual machines, but not the Manager virtual machine.

a. Use either host type, or both:

Red Hat Virtualization Host

7
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

b. Add hosts to the Manager as self-hosted engine nodes.

c. Add hosts to the Manager as standard hosts.

5. Add more storage domains to the Manager. The self-hosted engine storage domain is not
recommended for use by anything other than the Manager virtual machine.

6. If you want to host any databases or services on a server separate from the Manager, you can
migrate them after the installation is complete.

IMPORTANT

Keep the environment up to date. See How do I update my Red Hat Virtualization
system? for more information. Since bug fixes for known issues are frequently released,
use scheduled tasks to update the hosts and the Manager.

8
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

2.1. RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER REQUIREMENTS

2.1.1. Hardware Requirements

The minimum and recommended hardware requirements outlined here are based on a typical small to
medium-sized installation. The exact requirements vary between deployments based on sizing and load.

Hardware certification for Red Hat Virtualization is covered by the hardware certification for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux. For more information, see Does Red Hat Virtualization also have hardware
certification?. To confirm whether specific hardware items are certified for use with Red Hat Enterprise
Linux, see Red Hat certified hardware .

Table 2.1. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Hardware Requirements

Resource Minimum Recommended

CPU A dual core x86_64 CPU. A quad core x86_64 CPU or

multiple dual core x86_64 CPUs.

Memory 4 GB of available system RAM if 16 GB of system RAM.

Data Warehouse is not installed
and if memory is not being
consumed by existing processes.

Hard Disk 25 GB of locally accessible, 50 GB of locally accessible,

writable disk space. writable disk space.

You can use the RHV Manager

History Database Size Calculator
to calculate the appropriate disk
space for the Manager history
database size.

Network Interface 1 Network Interface Card (NIC) 1 Network Interface Card (NIC)
with bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps. with bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps.

2.1.2. Browser Requirements

The following browser versions and operating systems can be used to access the Administration Portal
and the VM Portal.

Browser support is divided into tiers:

Tier 1: Browser and operating system combinations that are fully tested and fully supported. Red
Hat Engineering is committed to fixing issues with browsers on this tier.

Tier 2: Browser and operating system combinations that are partially tested, and are likely to
work. Limited support is provided for this tier. Red Hat Engineering will attempt to fix issues with
browsers on this tier.

Tier 3: Browser and operating system combinations that are not tested, but may work. Minimal
9
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

Tier 3: Browser and operating system combinations that are not tested, but may work. Minimal
support is provided for this tier. Red Hat Engineering will attempt to fix only minor issues with
browsers on this tier.

Table 2.2. Browser Requirements

Support Tier Operating System Family Browser

Tier 1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Mozilla Firefox Extended Support

Release (ESR) version

Any Most recent version of Google

Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or
Microsoft Edge

Tier 2

Tier 3 Any Earlier versions of Google

Chrome or Mozilla Firefox

Any Other browsers

2.1.3. Client Requirements

Virtual machine consoles can only be accessed using supported Remote Viewer (virt-viewer) clients on
Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows. To install virt-viewer, see Installing Supporting Components on
Client Machines in the Virtual Machine Management Guide . Installing virt-viewer requires Administrator
privileges.

You can access virtual machine consoles using the SPICE, VNC, or RDP (Windows only) protocols. You
can install the QXLDOD graphical driver in the guest operating system to improve the functionality of
SPICE. SPICE currently supports a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 pixels.

Client Operating System SPICE Support

Supported QXLDOD drivers are available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2 and later, and Windows 10.

NOTE

SPICE may work with Windows 8 or 8.1 using QXLDOD drivers, but it is neither certified
nor tested.

2.1.4. Operating System Requirements

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager must be installed on a base installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8.6.

Do not install any additional packages after the base installation, as they may cause dependency issues
when attempting to install the packages required by the Manager.

Do not enable additional repositories other than those required for the Manager installation.

10
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

2.2. HOST REQUIREMENTS

Hardware certification for Red Hat Virtualization is covered by the hardware certification for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux. For more information, see Does Red Hat Virtualization also have hardware
certification?. To confirm whether specific hardware items are certified for use with Red Hat Enterprise
Linux, see Find a certified solution .

For more information on the requirements and limitations that apply to guests see Red Hat Enterprise
Linux Technology Capabilities and Limits and Supported Limits for Red Hat Virtualization .

2.2.1. CPU Requirements

All CPUs must have support for the Intel® 64 or AMD64 CPU extensions, and the AMD-V™ or Intel VT®
hardware virtualization extensions enabled. Support for the No eXecute flag (NX) is also required.

The following CPU models are supported:

AMD

Opteron G4

Opteron G5

EPYC

Intel

Nehalem

Westmere

SandyBridge

IvyBridge

Haswell

Broadwell

Skylake Client

Skylake Server

Cascadelake Server

For each CPU model with security updates, the CPU Type lists a basic type and a secure type. For
example:

Intel Cascadelake Server Family

Secure Intel Cascadelake Server Family

The Secure CPU type contains the latest updates. For details, see BZ#1731395

2.2.1.1. Checking if a Processor Supports the Required Flags

You must enable virtualization in the BIOS. Power off and reboot the host after this change to ensure
11
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

You must enable virtualization in the BIOS. Power off and reboot the host after this change to ensure
that the change is applied.

Procedure

1. At the Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat Virtualization Host boot screen, press any key and
select the Boot or Boot with serial console entry from the list.

2. Press Tab to edit the kernel parameters for the selected option.

3. Ensure there is a space after the last kernel parameter listed, and append the parameter
rescue.

4. Press Enter to boot into rescue mode.

5. At the prompt, determine that your processor has the required extensions and that they are
enabled by running this command:

# grep -E 'svm|vmx' /proc/cpuinfo | grep nx

If any output is shown, the processor is hardware virtualization capable. If no output is shown, your
processor may still support hardware virtualization; in some circumstances manufacturers disable the
virtualization extensions in the BIOS. If you believe this to be the case, consult the system’s BIOS and
the motherboard manual provided by the manufacturer.

2.2.2. Memory Requirements

The minimum required RAM is 2 GB. For cluster levels 4.2 to 4.5, the maximum supported RAM per VM
in Red Hat Virtualization Host is 6 TB. For cluster levels 4.6 to 4.7, the maximum supported RAM per VM
in Red Hat Virtualization Host is 16 TB.

However, the amount of RAM required varies depending on guest operating system requirements, guest
application requirements, and guest memory activity and usage. KVM can also overcommit physical RAM
for virtualized guests, allowing you to provision guests with RAM requirements greater than what is
physically present, on the assumption that the guests are not all working concurrently at peak load. KVM
does this by only allocating RAM for guests as required and shifting underutilized guests into swap.

2.2.3. Storage Requirements

Hosts require storage to store configuration, logs, kernel dumps, and for use as swap space. Storage can
be local or network-based. Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) can boot with one, some, or all of its
default allocations in network storage. Booting from network storage can result in a freeze if there is a
network disconnect. Adding a drop-in multipath configuration file can help address losses in network
connectivity. If RHVH boots from SAN storage and loses connectivity, the files become read-only until
network connectivity restores. Using network storage might result in a performance downgrade.

The minimum storage requirements of RHVH are documented in this section. The storage requirements
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts vary based on the amount of disk space used by their existing
configuration but are expected to be greater than those of RHVH.

The minimum storage requirements for host installation are listed below. However, use the default
allocations, which use more storage space.

/ (root) - 6 GB

/home - 1 GB

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 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

/tmp - 1 GB

/boot - 1 GB

/var - 5 GB

/var/crash - 10 GB

/var/log - 8 GB

/var/log/audit - 2 GB

/var/tmp - 10 GB

swap - 1 GB. See What is the recommended swap size for Red Hat platforms? for details.

Anaconda reserves 20% of the thin pool size within the volume group for future metadata
expansion. This is to prevent an out-of-the-box configuration from running out of space under
normal usage conditions. Overprovisioning of thin pools during installation is also not supported.

Minimum Total - 64 GiB

If you are also installing the RHV-M Appliance for self-hosted engine installation, /var/tmp must be at
least 10 GB.

If you plan to use memory overcommitment, add enough swap space to provide virtual memory for all of
virtual machines. See Memory Optimization .

2.2.4. PCI Device Requirements

Hosts must have at least one network interface with a minimum bandwidth of 1 Gbps. Each host should
have two network interfaces, with one dedicated to supporting network-intensive activities, such as
virtual machine migration. The performance of such operations is limited by the bandwidth available.

For information about how to use PCI Express and conventional PCI devices with Intel Q35-based
virtual machines, see Using PCI Express and Conventional PCI Devices with the Q35 Virtual Machine .

2.2.5. Device Assignment Requirements

If you plan to implement device assignment and PCI passthrough so that a virtual machine can use a
specific PCIe device from a host, ensure the following requirements are met:

CPU must support IOMMU (for example, VT-d or AMD-Vi). IBM POWER8 supports IOMMU by
default.

Firmware must support IOMMU.

CPU root ports used must support ACS or ACS-equivalent capability.

PCIe devices must support ACS or ACS-equivalent capability.

All PCIe switches and bridges between the PCIe device and the root port should support ACS.
For example, if a switch does not support ACS, all devices behind that switch share the same
IOMMU group, and can only be assigned to the same virtual machine.

For GPU support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 supports PCI device assignment of PCIe-based
NVIDIA K-Series Quadro (model 2000 series or higher), GRID, and Tesla as non-VGA graphics

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

devices. Currently up to two GPUs may be attached to a virtual machine in addition to one of
the standard, emulated VGA interfaces. The emulated VGA is used for pre-boot and installation
and the NVIDIA GPU takes over when the NVIDIA graphics drivers are loaded. Note that the
NVIDIA Quadro 2000 is not supported, nor is the Quadro K420 card.

Check vendor specification and datasheets to confirm that your hardware meets these requirements.
The lspci -v command can be used to print information for PCI devices already installed on a system.

2.2.6. vGPU Requirements

A host must meet the following requirements in order for virtual machines on that host to use a vGPU:

vGPU-compatible GPU

GPU-enabled host kernel

Installed GPU with correct drivers

Select a vGPU type and the number of instances that you would like to use with this virtual
machine using the Manage vGPU dialog in the Administration Portal Host Devices tab of the
virtual machine.

vGPU-capable drivers installed on each host in the cluster

vGPU-supported virtual machine operating system with vGPU drivers installed

2.3. NETWORKING REQUIREMENTS

2.3.1. General requirements

Red Hat Virtualization requires IPv6 to remain enabled on the physical or virtual machine running the
Manager. Do not disable IPv6 on the Manager machine, even if your systems do not use it.

2.3.2. Network range for self-hosted engine deployment

The self-hosted engine deployment process temporarily uses a /24 network address under 192.168. It
defaults to 192.168.222.0/24, and if this address is in use, it tries other /24 addresses under 192.168 until
it finds one that is not in use. If it does not find an unused network address in this range, deployment fails.

When installing the self-hosted engine using the command line, you can set the deployment script to use
an alternate /24 network range with the option --ansible-extra-vars=he_ipv4_subnet_prefix=PREFIX,
where PREFIX is the prefix for the default range. For example:

# hosted-engine --deploy --ansible-extra-vars=he_ipv4_subnet_prefix=192.168.222

NOTE

You can only set another range by installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted
engine using the command line.

2.3.3. Firewall Requirements for DNS, NTP, and IPMI Fencing

The firewall requirements for all of the following topics are special cases that require individual
14
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

The firewall requirements for all of the following topics are special cases that require individual
consideration.

DNS and NTP

Red Hat Virtualization does not create a DNS or NTP server, so the firewall does not need to have open
ports for incoming traffic.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on any destination
address. If you disable outgoing traffic, define exceptions for requests that are sent to DNS and NTP
servers.

IMPORTANT

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager and all hosts (Red Hat Virtualization Host
and Red Hat Enterprise Linux host) must have a fully qualified domain name and
full, perfectly-aligned forward and reverse name resolution.

Running a DNS service as a virtual machine in the Red Hat Virtualization

environment is not supported. All DNS services the Red Hat Virtualization
environment uses must be hosted outside of the environment.

Use DNS instead of the /etc/hosts file for name resolution. Using a hosts file
typically requires more work and has a greater chance for errors.

IPMI and Other Fencing Mechanisms (optional)

For IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) and other fencing mechanisms, the firewall does
not need to have open ports for incoming traffic.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound IPMI traffic to ports on any destination address. If
you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for requests being sent to your IPMI or fencing servers.

Each Red Hat Virtualization Host and Red Hat Enterprise Linux host in the cluster must be able to
connect to the fencing devices of all other hosts in the cluster. If the cluster hosts are experiencing an
error (network error, storage error…​) and cannot function as hosts, they must be able to connect to
other hosts in the data center.

The specific port number depends on the type of the fence agent you are using and how it is configured.

The firewall requirement tables in the following sections do not represent this option.

2.3.4. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Firewall Requirements

The Red Hat Virtualization Manager requires that a number of ports be opened to allow network traffic
through the system’s firewall.

The engine-setup script can configure the firewall automatically.

The firewall configuration documented here assumes a default configuration.

NOTE

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at

https://access.redhat.com/articles/3932211. You can use the IDs in the table to look up
connections in the diagram.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

Table 2.3. Red Hat Virtualization Manager Firewall Requirements

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted by

default

M1 - ICMP Red Hat Red Hat Optional. No

Virtualization Virtualization
Hosts Manager May help in
diagnosis.
Red Hat
Enterprise
Linux hosts

M2 22 TCP System(s) Red Hat Secure Shell Yes

used for Virtualization (SSH) access.
maintenance Manager
of the Optional.
Manager
including
backend
configuration,
and software
upgrades.

M3 2222 TCP Clients Red Hat Secure Shell Yes

accessing Virtualization (SSH) access
virtual Manager to enable
machine serial connection to
consoles. virtual
machine serial
consoles.

M4 80, 443 TCP Administration Red Hat Provides Yes

Portal clients Virtualization HTTP (port
Manager 80, not
VM Portal encrypted)
clients and HTTPS
(port 443,
Red Hat encrypted)
Virtualization access to the
Hosts Manager.
HTTP
Red Hat
redirects
Enterprise
connections
Linux hosts
to HTTPS.

REST API
clients

16
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted by

default

M5 6100 TCP Administration Red Hat Provides No

Portal clients Virtualization websocket
Manager proxy access
VM Portal for a web-
clients based console
client,
noVNC ,
when the
websocket
proxy is
running on
the Manager.

M6 7410 UDP Red Hat Red Hat If Kdump is No

Virtualization Virtualization enabled on
Hosts Manager the hosts,
open this port
Red Hat for the
Enterprise fence_kdump
Linux hosts listener on the
Manager. See
fence_kdump
Advanced
Configuration.
fence_kdum
p doesn’t
provide a way
to encrypt the
connection.
However, you
can manually
configure this
port to block
access from
hosts that are
not eligible.

M7 54323 TCP Administration Red Hat Required for Yes

Portal clients Virtualization communicatio
Manager n with the
(ovirt- ovirt-
imageio imageo
service) service.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted by

default

M8 6642 TCP Red Hat Open Virtual Connect to Yes

Virtualization Network Open Virtual
Hosts (OVN) Network
southbound (OVN)
Red Hat database database
Enterprise
Linux hosts

M9 9696 TCP Clients of External OpenStack Yes, with

external network Networking configuration
network provider for API generated by
provider for OVN engine-setup.
OVN

M10 35357 TCP Clients of External OpenStack Yes, with

external network Identity API configuration
network provider for generated by
provider for OVN engine-setup.
OVN

M11 53 TCP, Red Hat DNS Server DNS lookup No

UDP Virtualization requests from
Manager ports above
1023 to port
53, and
responses.
Open by
default.

M12 123 UDP Red Hat NTP Server NTP requests No

Virtualization from ports
Manager above 1023 to
port 123, and
responses.
Open by
default.

NOTE

A port for the OVN northbound database (6641) is not listed because, in the
default configuration, the only client for the OVN northbound database (6641) is
ovirt-provider-ovn. Because they both run on the same host, their
communication is not visible to the network.

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on
any destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for the
Manager to send requests to DNS and NTP servers. Other nodes may also
require DNS and NTP. In that case, consult the requirements for those nodes and
configure the firewall accordingly.

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 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

2.3.5. Host Firewall Requirements

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts and Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH) require a number of ports to
be opened to allow network traffic through the system’s firewall. The firewall rules are automatically
configured by default when adding a new host to the Manager, overwriting any pre-existing firewall
configuration.

To disable automatic firewall configuration when adding a new host, clear the Automatically configure
host firewall check box under Advanced Parameters.

To customize the host firewall rules, see RHV: How to customize the Host’s firewall rules? .

NOTE

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at Red Hat Virtualization: Firewall

Requirements Diagram. You can use the IDs in the table to look up connections in the
diagram.

Table 2.4. Virtualization Host Firewall Requirements

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

by default

H1 22 TCP Red Hat Red Hat Secure Shell Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio (SSH)
n Manager n Hosts access.

Red Hat Optional.

Enterprise
Linux hosts

H2 2223 TCP Red Hat Red Hat Secure Shell Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio (SSH)
n Manager n Hosts access to
enable
Red Hat connection
Enterprise to virtual
Linux hosts machine
serial
consoles.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

by default

H3 161 UDP Red Hat Red Hat Simple No

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio network
n Hosts n Manager managemen
t protocol
Red Hat (SNMP).
Enterprise Only
Linux hosts required if
you want
Simple
Network
Manageme
nt Protocol
traps sent
from the
host to one
or more
external
SNMP
managers.

Optional.

H4 111 TCP NFS Red Hat NFS No

storage Virtualizatio connections
server n Hosts .

Red Hat Optional.

Enterprise
Linux hosts

H5 5900 - TCP Administrati Red Hat Remote Yes

6923 on Portal Virtualizatio guest (optional)
clients n Hosts console
access via
VM Portal Red Hat VNC and
clients Enterprise SPICE.
Linux hosts These ports
must be
open to
facilitate
client
access to
virtual
machines.

20
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

by default

H6 5989 TCP, UDP Common Red Hat Used by No

Information Virtualizatio Common
Model n Hosts Information
Object Model
Manager Red Hat Object
(CIMOM) Enterprise Managers
Linux hosts (CIMOM) to
monitor
virtual
machines
running on
the host.
Only
required if
you want to
use a
CIMOM to
monitor the
virtual
machines in
your
virtualizatio
n
environmen
t.

Optional.

H7 9090 TCP Red Hat Red Hat Required to Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio access the
n Manager n Hosts Cockpit
web
Client Red Hat interface, if
machines Enterprise installed.
Linux hosts

H8 16514 TCP Red Hat Red Hat Virtual Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio machine
n Hosts n Hosts migration
using libvirt.
Red Hat Red Hat
Enterprise Enterprise
Linux hosts Linux hosts

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

by default

H9 49152 - TCP Red Hat Red Hat Virtual Yes.

49215 Virtualizatio Virtualizatio machine Depending
n Hosts n Hosts migration on agent for
and fencing fencing,
Red Hat Red Hat using migration is
Enterprise Enterprise VDSM. done
Linux hosts Linux hosts These ports through
must be libvirt.
open to
facilitate
both
automated
and manual
migration of
virtual
machines.

H10 54321 TCP Red Hat Red Hat VDSM Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio communicat
n Manager n Hosts ions with
the
Red Hat Red Hat Manager
Virtualizatio Enterprise and other
n Hosts Linux hosts virtualizatio
n hosts.
Red Hat
Enterprise
Linux hosts

H11 54322 TCP Red Hat Red Hat Required for Yes
Virtualizatio Virtualizatio communicat
n Manager n Hosts ion with the
ovirt- ovirt-
imageio Red Hat imageo
service Enterprise service.
Linux hosts

H12 6081 UDP Red Hat Red Hat Required, No

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio when Open
n Hosts n Hosts Virtual
Network
Red Hat Red Hat (OVN) is
Enterprise Enterprise used as a
Linux hosts Linux hosts network
provider, to
allow OVN
to create
tunnels
between
hosts.

22
 CHAPTER 2. REQUIREMENTS

ID Port(s) Protocol Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

by default

H13 53 TCP, UDP Red Hat DNS Server DNS lookup No

Virtualizatio requests
n Hosts from ports
above 1023
Red Hat to port 53,
Enterprise and
Linux hosts responses.
This port is
required
and open by
default.

H14 123 UDP Red Hat NTP Server NTP

Virtualizatio requests
n Hosts from ports
above 1023
Red Hat to port 123,
Enterprise and
Linux hosts responses.
This port is
required
and open by
default.

H15 4500 TCP, UDP Red Hat Red Hat Internet Yes
Virtualizatio Virtualizatio Security
n Hosts n Hosts Protocol
(IPSec)

H16 500 UDP Red Hat Red Hat Internet Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio Security
n Hosts n Hosts Protocol
(IPSec)

H17 - AH, ESP Red Hat Red Hat Internet Yes

Virtualizatio Virtualizatio Security
n Hosts n Hosts Protocol
(IPSec)

NOTE

By default, Red Hat Enterprise Linux allows outbound traffic to DNS and NTP on any
destination address. If you disable outgoing traffic, make exceptions for the Red Hat
Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts to send requests to DNS and NTP servers. Other nodes
may also require DNS and NTP. In that case, consult the requirements for those nodes
and configure the firewall accordingly.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

2.3.6. Database Server Firewall Requirements

Red Hat Virtualization supports the use of a remote database server for the Manager database
(engine) and the Data Warehouse database (ovirt-engine-history). If you plan to use a remote
database server, it must allow connections from the Manager and the Data Warehouse service (which
can be separate from the Manager).

Similarly, if you plan to access a local or remote Data Warehouse database from an external system, the
database must allow connections from that system.

IMPORTANT

Accessing the Manager database from external systems is not supported.

NOTE

A diagram of these firewall requirements is available at

https://access.redhat.com/articles/3932211. You can use the IDs in the table to look up
connections in the diagram.

Table 2.5. Database Server Firewall Requirements

ID Port( Prot Source Destination Purpose Encrypted

s) ocol by default

D1 5432 TCP, Red Hat Manager (engine) Default port for No, but
UDP Virtualization database server PostgreSQL can be
Manager database enabled.
Data Warehouse connections.
Data Warehouse (ovirt-engine-
service history ) database
server

D2 5432 TCP, External systems Data Warehouse Default port for Disabled
UDP (ovirt-engine- PostgreSQL by default.
history ) database database No, but
server connections. can be
enabled.

2.3.7. Maximum Transmission Unit Requirements

The recommended Maximum Transmission Units (MTU) setting for Hosts during deployment is 1500. It
is possible to update this setting after the environment is set up to a different MTU. For more
information on changing the MTU setting, see How to change the Hosted Engine VM network MTU .

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 CHAPTER 3. PREPARING STORAGE FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

CHAPTER 3. PREPARING STORAGE FOR RED HAT

VIRTUALIZATION
You need to prepare storage to be used for storage domains in the new environment. A Red Hat
Virtualization environment must have at least one data storage domain, but adding more is
recommended.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

A data domain holds the virtual hard disks and OVF files of all the virtual machines and templates in a
data center, and cannot be shared across data centers while active (but can be migrated between data
centers). Data domains of multiple storage types can be added to the same data center, provided they
are all shared, rather than local, domains.

You can use one of the following storage types:

NFS

iSCSI

Fibre Channel (FCP)

Red Hat Gluster Storage

Prerequisites

Self-hosted engines must have an additional data domain with at least 74 GiB dedicated to the
Manager virtual machine. The self-hosted engine installer creates this domain. Prepare the
storage for this domain before installation.


WARNING

Extending or otherwise changing the self-hosted engine storage domain

after deployment of the self-hosted engine is not supported. Any such
change might prevent the self-hosted engine from booting.

When using a block storage domain, either FCP or iSCSI, a single target LUN is the only
supported setup for a self-hosted engine.

If you use iSCSI storage, the self-hosted engine storage domain must use a dedicated iSCSI

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

If you use iSCSI storage, the self-hosted engine storage domain must use a dedicated iSCSI
target. Any additional storage domains must use a different iSCSI target.

It is strongly recommended to create additional data storage domains in the same data center
as the self-hosted engine storage domain. If you deploy the self-hosted engine in a data center
with only one active data storage domain, and that storage domain is corrupted, you cannot add
new storage domains or remove the corrupted storage domain. You must redeploy the self-
hosted engine.

3.1. PREPARING NFS STORAGE

Set up NFS shares on your file storage or remote server to serve as storage domains on Red Hat
Enterprise Virtualization Host systems. After exporting the shares on the remote storage and
configuring them in the Red Hat Virtualization Manager, the shares will be automatically imported on the
Red Hat Virtualization hosts.

For information on setting up, configuring, mounting and exporting NFS, see Managing file systems for
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Specific system user accounts and system user groups are required by Red Hat Virtualization so the
Manager can store data in the storage domains represented by the exported directories. The following
procedure sets the permissions for one directory. You must repeat the chown and chmod steps for all
of the directories you intend to use as storage domains in Red Hat Virtualization.

Prerequisites

1. Install the NFS utils package.

# dnf install nfs-utils -y

2. To check the enabled versions:

# cat /proc/fs/nfsd/versions

3. Enable the following services:

# systemctl enable nfs-server

# systemctl enable rpcbind

Procedure

1. Create the group kvm:

# groupadd kvm -g 36

2. Create the user vdsm in the group kvm:

# useradd vdsm -u 36 -g kvm

3. Create the storage directory and modify the access rights.

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 CHAPTER 3. PREPARING STORAGE FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

# mkdir /storage
# chmod 0755 /storage
# chown 36:36 /storage/

4. Add the storage directory to /etc/exports with the relevant permissions.

# vi /etc/exports
# cat /etc/exports
/storage *(rw)

5. Restart the following services:

# systemctl restart rpcbind

# systemctl restart nfs-server

6. To see which export are available for a specific IP address:

# exportfs
/nfs_server/srv
10.46.11.3/24
/nfs_server <world>

NOTE

If changes in /etc/exports have been made after starting the services, the exportfs -ra
command can be used to reload the changes. After performing all the above stages, the
exports directory should be ready and can be tested on a different host to check that it is
usable.

3.2. PREPARING ISCSI STORAGE

Red Hat Virtualization supports iSCSI storage, which is a storage domain created from a volume group
made up of LUNs. Volume groups and LUNs cannot be attached to more than one storage domain at a
time.

For information on setting up and configuring iSCSI storage, see Configuring an iSCSI target in
Managing storage devices for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

IMPORTANT

If you are using block storage and intend to deploy virtual machines on raw devices or
direct LUNs and manage them with the Logical Volume Manager (LVM), you must create
a filter to hide guest logical volumes. This will prevent guest logical volumes from being
activated when the host is booted, a situation that could lead to stale logical volumes and
cause data corruption. Use the vdsm-tool config-lvm-filter command to create filters
for the LVM. See Creating an LVM filter

IMPORTANT

Red Hat Virtualization currently does not support block storage with a block size of 4K.
You must configure block storage in legacy (512b block) mode.

IMPORTANT
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

IMPORTANT

If your host is booting from SAN storage and loses connectivity to the storage, the
storage file systems become read-only and remain in this state after connectivity is
restored.

To prevent this situation, add a drop-in multipath configuration file on the root file
system of the SAN for the boot LUN to ensure that it is queued when there is a
connection:

# cat /etc/multipath/conf.d/host.conf
multipaths {
multipath {
wwid boot_LUN_wwid
no_path_retry queue
}

3.3. PREPARING FCP STORAGE

Red Hat Virtualization supports SAN storage by creating a storage domain from a volume group made
of pre-existing LUNs. Neither volume groups nor LUNs can be attached to more than one storage
domain at a time.

Red Hat Virtualization system administrators need a working knowledge of Storage Area Networks
(SAN) concepts. SAN usually uses Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) for traffic between hosts and shared
external storage. For this reason, SAN may occasionally be referred to as FCP storage.

For information on setting up and configuring FCP or multipathing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see the
Storage Administration Guide and DM Multipath Guide.

IMPORTANT

If you are using block storage and intend to deploy virtual machines on raw devices or
direct LUNs and manage them with the Logical Volume Manager (LVM), you must create
a filter to hide guest logical volumes. This will prevent guest logical volumes from being
activated when the host is booted, a situation that could lead to stale logical volumes and
cause data corruption. Use the vdsm-tool config-lvm-filter command to create filters
for the LVM. See Creating an LVM filter

IMPORTANT

Red Hat Virtualization currently does not support block storage with a block size of 4K.
You must configure block storage in legacy (512b block) mode.

IMPORTANT
28
 CHAPTER 3. PREPARING STORAGE FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

IMPORTANT

If your host is booting from SAN storage and loses connectivity to the storage, the
storage file systems become read-only and remain in this state after connectivity is
restored.

To prevent this situation, add a drop-in multipath configuration file on the root file
system of the SAN for the boot LUN to ensure that it is queued when there is a
connection:

# cat /etc/multipath/conf.d/host.conf
multipaths {
multipath {
wwid boot_LUN_wwid
no_path_retry queue
}
}

3.4. PREPARING RED HAT GLUSTER STORAGE

For information on setting up and configuring Red Hat Gluster Storage, see the Red Hat Gluster Storage
Installation Guide.

For the Red Hat Gluster Storage versions that are supported with Red Hat Virtualization, see Red Hat
Gluster Storage Version Compatibility and Support.

3.5. CUSTOMIZING MULTIPATH CONFIGURATIONS FOR SAN

VENDORS
If your RHV environment is configured to use multipath connections with SANs, you can customize the
multipath configuration settings to meet requirements specified by your storage vendor. These
customizations can override both the default settings and settings that are specified in
/etc/multipath.conf.

To override the multipath settings, do not customize /etc/multipath.conf. Because VDSM owns
/etc/multipath.conf, installing or upgrading VDSM or Red Hat Virtualization can overwrite this file
including any customizations it contains. This overwriting can cause severe storage failures.

Instead, you create a file in the /etc/multipath/conf.d directory that contains the settings you want to
customize or override.

VDSM executes the files in /etc/multipath/conf.d in alphabetical order. So, to control the order of
execution, you begin the filename with a number that makes it come last. For example,
/etc/multipath/conf.d/90-myfile.conf.

To avoid causing severe storage failures, follow these guidelines:

Do not modify /etc/multipath.conf. If the file contains user modifications, and the file is
overwritten, it can cause unexpected storage problems.

Do not override the user_friendly_names and find_multipaths settings. For details, see
Recommended Settings for Multipath.conf.

Avoid overriding the no_path_retry and polling_interval settings unless a storage vendor
specifically requires you to do so. For details, see Recommended Settings for Multipath.conf.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line


WARNING

Not following these guidelines can cause catastrophic storage errors.

Prerequisites

VDSM is configured to use the multipath module. To verify this, enter:

# vdsm-tool is-configured --module multipath

Procedure

1. Create a new configuration file in the /etc/multipath/conf.d directory.

2. Copy the individual setting you want to override from /etc/multipath.conf to the new
configuration file in /etc/multipath/conf.d/<my_device>.conf. Remove any comment marks,
edit the setting values, and save your changes.

3. Apply the new configuration settings by entering:

# systemctl reload multipathd

NOTE

Do not restart the multipathd service. Doing so generates errors in the VDSM
logs.

Verification steps

1. Test that the new configuration performs as expected on a non-production cluster in a variety
of failure scenarios. For example, disable all of the storage connections.

2. Enable one connection at a time and verify that doing so makes the storage domain reachable.

Additional resources

Recommended Settings for Multipath.conf

Red Hat Enterprise Linux DM Multipath

Configuring iSCSI Multipathing

How do I customize /etc/multipath.conf on my RHVH hypervisors? What values must not

change and why?

3.6. RECOMMENDED SETTINGS FOR MULTIPATH.CONF

Do not override the following settings:

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 CHAPTER 3. PREPARING STORAGE FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

user_friendly_names no
Device names must be consistent across all hypervisors. For example, /dev/mapper/{WWID}. The
default value of this setting, no, prevents the assignment of arbitrary and inconsistent device names
such as /dev/mapper/mpath{N} on various hypervisors, which can lead to unpredictable system
behavior.


WARNING

Do not change this setting to user_friendly_names yes. User-friendly names

are likely to cause unpredictable system behavior or failures, and are not
supported.

find_multipaths no
This setting controls whether RHVH tries to access devices through multipath only if more than one
path is available. The current value, no, allows RHV to access devices through multipath even if only
one path is available.


WARNING

Do not override this setting.

Avoid overriding the following settings unless required by the storage system vendor:

no_path_retry 4
This setting controls the number of polling attempts to retry when no paths are available. Before RHV
version 4.2, the value of no_path_retry was fail because QEMU had trouble with the I/O queuing
when no paths were available. The fail value made it fail quickly and paused the virtual machine. RHV
version 4.2 changed this value to 4 so when multipathd detects the last path has failed, it checks all of
the paths four more times. Assuming the default 5-second polling interval, checking the paths takes
20 seconds. If no path is up, multipathd tells the kernel to stop queuing and fails all outstanding and
future I/O until a path is restored. When a path is restored, the 20-second delay is reset for the next
time all paths fail. For more details, see the commit that changed this setting .
polling_interval 5
This setting determines the number of seconds between polling attempts to detect whether a path is
open or has failed. Unless the vendor provides a clear reason for increasing the value, keep the
VDSM-generated default so the system responds to path failures sooner.

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CHAPTER 4. INSTALLING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE

DEPLOYMENT HOST
A self-hosted engine can be deployed from a Red Hat Virtualization Host or a Red Hat Enterprise Linux
host.

IMPORTANT

If you plan to use bonded interfaces for high availability or VLANs to separate different
types of traffic (for example, for storage or management connections), you should
configure them on the host before beginning the self-hosted engine deployment. See
Networking Recommendations in the Planning and Prerequisites Guide .

4.1. INSTALLING RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION HOSTS

Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) is a minimal operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
that is designed to provide a simple method for setting up a physical machine to act as a hypervisor in a
Red Hat Virtualization environment. The minimal operating system contains only the packages required
for the machine to act as a hypervisor, and features a Cockpit web interface for monitoring the host and
performing administrative tasks. See Running Cockpit for the minimum browser requirements.

RHVH supports NIST 800-53 partitioning requirements to improve security. RHVH uses a NIST 800-53
partition layout by default.

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

Procedure

1. Go to the Get Started with Red Hat Virtualization on the Red Hat Customer Portal and log in.

2. Click Download Latest to access the product download page.

3. Choose the appropriate Hypervisor Image for RHV from the list and click Download Now.

4. Start the machine on which you are installing RHVH, booting from the prepared installation
media.

5. From the boot menu, select Install RHVH 4.4 and press Enter.

NOTE
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 CHAPTER 4. INSTALLING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT HOST

NOTE

You can also press the Tab key to edit the kernel parameters. Kernel parameters
must be separated by a space, and you can boot the system using the specified
kernel parameters by pressing the Enter key. Press the Esc key to clear any
changes to the kernel parameters and return to the boot menu.

6. Select a language, and click Continue.

7. Select a keyboard layout from the Keyboard Layout screen and click Done.

8. Select the device on which to install RHVH from the Installation Destination screen. Optionally,
enable encryption. Click Done.

IMPORTANT

Use the Automatically configure partitioning option.

9. Select a time zone from the Time & Date screen and click Done.

10. Select a network from the Network & Host Name screen and click Configure…​ to configure the
connection details.

NOTE

To use the connection every time the system boots, select the Connect
automatically with priority check box. For more information, see Configuring
network and host name options in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Installation
Guide.

Enter a host name in the Host Name field, and click Done.

11. Optional: Configure Security Policy and Kdump. See Customizing your RHEL installation using
the GUI in Performing a standard RHEL installation for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for more
information on each of the sections in the Installation Summary screen.

12. Click Begin Installation.

13. Set a root password and, optionally, create an additional user while RHVH installs.


WARNING

Do not create untrusted users on RHVH, as this can lead to exploitation of

local security vulnerabilities.

14. Click Reboot to complete the installation.

NOTE
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

NOTE

When RHVH restarts, nodectl check performs a health check on the host and
displays the result when you log in on the command line. The message node
status: OK or node status: DEGRADED indicates the health status. Run
nodectl check to get more information.

NOTE

If necessary, you can prevent kernel modules from loading automatically.

4.1.1. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Host Repository

Register the system to receive updates. Red Hat Virtualization Host only requires one repository. This
section provides instructions for registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network , or with Red Hat
Satellite 6.

Registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

2. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host 8 repository to allow later updates to the Red Hat
Virtualization Host:

# subscription-manager repos --enable=rhvh-4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

Registering RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6

1. Log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.

2. Click Terminal.

3. Register RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6:

# rpm -Uvh http://satellite.example.com/pub/katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm

# subscription-manager register --org="org_id"
# subscription-manager list --available
# subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhvh-4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

NOTE

You can also configure virtual machine subscriptions in Red Hat Satellite using virt-who.
See Using virt-who to manage host-based subscriptions .

4.2. INSTALLING RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX HOSTS

A Red Hat Enterprise Linux host is based on a standard basic installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
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 CHAPTER 4. INSTALLING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT HOST

A Red Hat Enterprise Linux host is based on a standard basic installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
on a physical server, with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization
subscriptions attached.

For detailed installation instructions, see the Performing a standard RHEL installation .

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

IMPORTANT

Virtualization must be enabled in your host’s BIOS settings. For information on changing
your host’s BIOS settings, refer to your host’s hardware documentation.

IMPORTANT

Do not install third-party watchdogs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts. They can
interfere with the watchdog daemon provided by VDSM.

4.2.1. Enabling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host Repositories

To use a Red Hat Enterprise Linux machine as a host, you must register the system with the Content
Delivery Network, attach the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization
subscriptions, and enable the host repositories.

Procedure

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

2. Find the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscription pools and
record the pool IDs:

# subscription-manager list --available

3. Use the pool IDs to attach the subscriptions to the system:

# subscription-manager attach --pool=poolid

NOTE
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

NOTE

To view currently attached subscriptions:

# subscription-manager list --consumed

To list all enabled repositories:

# dnf repolist

4. Configure the repositories:

# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhv-4-mgmt-agent-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=fast-datapath-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=advanced-virt-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=openstack-16.2-cinderlib-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhceph-4-tools-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-tus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-tus-rpms

5. Set the RHEL version to 8.6:

# subscription-manager release --set=8.6

6. Reset the virt module:

# dnf module reset virt

NOTE

If this module is already enabled in the Advanced Virtualization stream, this step
is not necessary, but it has no negative impact.

You can see the value of the stream by entering:

# dnf module list virt

7. Enable the virt module in the Advanced Virtualization stream with the following command:

For RHV 4.4.2:

# dnf module enable virt:8.2

For RHV 4.4.3 to 4.4.5:

# dnf module enable virt:8.3

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 CHAPTER 4. INSTALLING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT HOST

For RHV 4.4.6 to 4.4.10:

# dnf module enable virt:av

For RHV 4.4 and later:

# dnf module enable virt:rhel

NOTE

Starting with RHEL 8.6 the Advanced virtualization packages will use the
standard virt:rhel module. For RHEL 8.4 and 8.5, only one Advanced
Virtualization stream is used, rhel:av.

1. Ensure that all packages currently installed are up to date:

# dnf upgrade --nobest

2. Reboot the machine.

NOTE

If necessary, you can prevent kernel modules from loading automatically.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

MANAGER

5.1. MANUALLY INSTALLING THE RHV-M APPLIANCE

When you deploy the self-hosted engine, the following sequence of events takes place:

1. The installer installs the RHV-M Appliance to the deployment host.

2. The appliance installs the Manager virtual machine.

3. The appliance installs the Manager on the Manager virtual machine.

However, you can install the appliance manually on the deployment host beforehand if you need to. The
appliance is large and network connectivity issues might cause the appliance installation to take a long
time, or possibly fail.

Procedure

1. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts:

a. Reset the virt module:

# dnf module reset virt

NOTE

If this module is already enabled in the Advanced Virtualization stream, this

step is not necessary, but it has no negative impact.

You can see the value of the stream by entering:

# dnf module list virt

b. Enable the virt module in the Advanced Virtualization stream with the following command:

For RHV 4.4.2:

# dnf module enable virt:8.2

For RHV 4.4.3 to 4.4.5:

# dnf module enable virt:8.3

For RHV 4.4.6 to 4.4.10:

# dnf module enable virt:av

For RHV 4.4 and later:

# dnf module enable virt:rhel

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

NOTE

Starting with RHEL 8.6 the Advanced virtualization packages will use the
standard virt:rhel module. For RHEL 8.4 and 8.5, only one Advanced
Virtualization stream is used, rhel:av.

1. Synchronize installed packages to update them to the latest available versions:

# dnf distro-sync --nobest

2. Install the RHV-M Appliance to the host manually:

# dnf install rhvm-appliance

Now, when you deploy the self-hosted engine, the installer detects that the appliance is already
installed.

5.2. ENABLING AND CONFIGURING THE FIREWALL

firewalld must be installed and running before you run the self-hosted deployment script. You must also
have an active zone with an interface configured.

Prerequisites

firewalld is installed. hosted-engine-setup requires the firewalld package, so you do not need
to do any additional steps.

Procedure

1. Start firewalld:

# systemctl unmask firewalld

# systemctl start firewalld

To ensure firewalld starts automatically at system start, enter the following command as root:

# systemctl enable firewalld

2. Ensure that firewalld is running:

# systemctl status firewalld

3. Ensure that your management interface is in a firewall zone via

# firewall-cmd --get-active-zones

Now you are ready to deploy the self-hosted engine.

5.3. DEPLOYING THE SELF-HOSTED ENGINE USING THE COMMAND

LINE

You can deploy a self-hosted engine from the command line. After installing the setup package, you run
39
Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

You can deploy a self-hosted engine from the command line. After installing the setup package, you run
the command hosted-engine --deploy, and a script collects the details of your environment and uses
them to configure the host and the Manager.

You can customize the Manager virtual machine during deployment, either manually, by pausing the
deployment, or using automation.

Setting the variable he_pause_host to true pauses deployment after installing the Manager
and adding the deployment host to the Manager.

Setting the variable he_pause_before_engine_setup to true pauses the deployment before

installing the Manager and before restoring the Manager when using he_restore_from_file.

NOTE

When the he_pause_host or he_pause_before_engine_setup variables are set

to true a lock file is created at /tmp with the suffix _he_setup_lock on the
deployment host. You can then manually customize the virtual machine as
needed. The deployment continues after you delete the lock file, or after 24
hours, whichever comes first.

Adding an Ansible playbook to any of the following directories on the deployment host
automatically runs the playbook. Add the playbook under one of the following directories under
/usr/share/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/redhat/rhv/roles/hosted_engine_setup/
hooks/:

enginevm_before_engine_setup

enginevm_after_engine_setup

after_add_host

after_setup

Prerequisites

Upgrade the appliance content to the latest product version before performing engine-setup.

To do this manually, pause the deployment using he_pause_before_engine_setup and

perform a dnf update.

To do this automatically, apply the enginevm_before_engine_setup hook.

FQDNs prepared for your Manager and the host. Forward and reverse lookup records must
both be set in the DNS.

When using a block storage domain, either FCP or iSCSI, a single target LUN is the only
supported setup for a self-hosted engine.

Optional: If you want to customize the Manager virtual machine during deployment using
automation, an Ansible playbook must be added. See Customizing the Engine virtual machine
using automation during deployment.

The self-hosted engine setup script requires ssh public key access using 2048-bit RSA keys
from the engine virtual machine to the root account of its bare metal host. In
/etc/ssh/sshd_config, these values must be set as follows:

PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes must allow 2048-bit RSA keys or stronger.

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes must allow 2048-bit RSA keys or stronger.

By default, this setting uses system-wide crypto policies. For more information, see the
manual page crypto-policies(7).

NOTE

RHVH hosts that are registered with the Manager in versions earlier than
4.4.5.5 require RSA 2048 for backward compatibility until all the keys are
migrated.

RHVH hosts registered for 4.4.5.5 and later use the strongest algorithm that
is supported by both the Manager and RHVH. The
PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes setting helps determine which algorithm is used.

PermitRootLogin is set to without-password or yes

PubkeyAuthentication is set to yes

Procedure

1. Install the deployment tool:

# dnf install ovirt-hosted-engine-setup

2. Use the tmux window manager to run the script to avoid losing the session in case of network or
terminal disruption.
Install and run tmux:

# dnf -y install tmux

# tmux

3. Start the deployment script:

# hosted-engine --deploy

Alternatively, to pause the deployment after adding the deployment host to the Manager, use
the command line option --ansible-extra-vars=he_pause_host=true:

# hosted-engine --deploy --ansible-extra-vars=he_pause_host=true

NOTE

To escape the script at any time, use the Ctrl+D keyboard combination to abort
deployment. In the event of session timeout or connection disruption, run tmux
attach to recover the deployment session.

4. When prompted, enter Yes to begin the deployment:

Continuing will configure this host for serving as hypervisor and will create a local VM with a
running engine.
The locally running engine will be used to configure a new storage domain and create a VM

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

there.
At the end the disk of the local VM will be moved to the shared storage.
Are you sure you want to continue? (Yes, No)[Yes]:

5. Configure the network. Check that the gateway shown is correct and press Enter. Enter a
pingable address on the same subnet so the script can check the host’s connectivity.

Please indicate a pingable gateway IP address [X.X.X.X]:

6. The script detects possible NICs to use as a management bridge for the environment. Enter one
of them or press Enter to accept the default.

Please indicate a nic to set ovirtmgmt bridge on: (ens1, ens0) [ens1]:

7. Specify how to check network connectivity. The default is dns.

Please specify which way the network connectivity should be checked (ping, dns, tcp, none)
[dns]:

ping
Attempts to ping the gateway.
dns
Checks the connection to the DNS server.
tcp
Creates a TCP connection to a host and port combination. You need to specify a destination
IP address and port. Once the connection is successfully created, the network is considered
to be alive. Ensure that the given host is able to accept incoming TCP connections on the
given port.
none
The network is always considered connected.

8. Enter a name for the data center in which to deploy the host for the self-hosted engine. The
default name is Default.

Please enter the name of the data center where you want to deploy this hosted-engine host.
Data center [Default]:

9. Enter a name for the cluster in which to deploy the host for the self-hosted engine. The default
name is Default.

Please enter the name of the cluster where you want to deploy this hosted-engine host.
Cluster [Default]:

10. If you want to use a custom appliance for the virtual machine installation, enter the path to the
OVA archive. Otherwise, leave this field empty to use the RHV-M Appliance.

11. To deploy with a custom RHV-M Appliance appliance image, specify the path to the OVA
archive. Otherwise, leave this field empty to use the RHV-M Appliance.

If you want to deploy with a custom engine appliance image, please specify the path to the
OVA archive you would like to use.

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

Entering no value will use the image from the rhvm-appliance rpm, installing it if needed.
Appliance image path []:

12. Enter the CPU and memory configuration for the Manager virtual machine:

Please specify the number of virtual CPUs for the VM. The default is the appliance OVF
value [4]:
Please specify the memory size of the VM in MB. The default is the maximum available
[6824]:

13. Specify the FQDN for the Manager virtual machine, such as manager.example.com:

Please provide the FQDN you would like to use for the engine.
Note: This will be the FQDN of the engine VM you are now going to launch,
it should not point to the base host or to any other existing machine.
Engine VM FQDN []:

14. Specify the domain of the Manager virtual machine. For example, if the FQDN is
manager.example.com, then enter example.com.

Please provide the domain name you would like to use for the engine appliance.
Engine VM domain: [example.com]

15. Create the root password for the Manager, and reenter it to confirm:

Enter root password that will be used for the engine appliance:
Confirm appliance root password:

16. Optional: Enter an SSH public key to enable you to log in to the Manager virtual machine as the
root user without entering a password, and specify whether to enable SSH access for the root
user:

You may provide an SSH public key, that will be added by the deployment script to the
authorized_keys file of the root user in the engine appliance.
This should allow you passwordless login to the engine machine after deployment.
If you provide no key, authorized_keys will not be touched.
SSH public key []:

Do you want to enable ssh access for the root user (yes, no, without-password) [yes]:

17. Optional: You can apply the DISA STIG security profile on the Manager virtual machine. The
DISA STIG profile is the default OpenSCAP profile.

Do you want to apply a default OpenSCAP security profile? (Yes, No) [No]:

18. Enter a MAC address for the Manager virtual machine, or accept a randomly generated one. If
you want to provide the Manager virtual machine with an IP address via DHCP, ensure that you
have a valid DHCP reservation for this MAC address. The deployment script will not configure
the DHCP server for you.

You may specify a unicast MAC address for the VM or accept a randomly generated default
[00:16:3e:3d:34:47]:

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

19. Enter the Manager virtual machine’s networking details:

How should the engine VM network be configured (DHCP, Static)[DHCP]?

If you specified Static, enter the IP address of the Manager virtual machine:

IMPORTANT

The static IP address must belong to the same subnet as the host. For
example, if the host is in 10.1.1.0/24, the Manager virtual machine’s IP must be
in the same subnet range (10.1.1.1-254/24).

For IPv6, Red Hat Virtualization supports only static addressing.

Please enter the IP address to be used for the engine VM [x.x.x.x]:

Please provide a comma-separated list (max 3) of IP addresses of domain name servers for
the engine VM
Engine VM DNS (leave it empty to skip):

20. Specify whether to add entries for the Manager virtual machine and the base host to the virtual
machine’s /etc/hosts file. You must ensure that the host names are resolvable.

Add lines for the appliance itself and for this host to /etc/hosts on the engine VM?
Note: ensuring that this host could resolve the engine VM hostname is still up to you.
Add lines to /etc/hosts? (Yes, No)[Yes]:

21. Provide the name and TCP port number of the SMTP server, the email address used to send
email notifications, and a comma-separated list of email addresses to receive these
notifications. Alternatively, press Enter to accept the defaults:

Please provide the name of the SMTP server through which we will send notifications
[localhost]:
Please provide the TCP port number of the SMTP server [25]:
Please provide the email address from which notifications will be sent [root@localhost]:
Please provide a comma-separated list of email addresses which will get notifications
[root@localhost]:

22. Create a password for the admin@internal user to access the Administration Portal and
reenter it to confirm:

Enter engine admin password:

Confirm engine admin password:

23. Specify the hostname of the deployment host:

Please provide the hostname of this host on the management network

[hostname.example.com]:

The script creates the virtual machine. By default, the script first downloads and installs the
RHV-M Appliance, which increases the installation time.

24. Optional: If you set the variable he_pause_host: true, the deployment pauses after adding the
deployment host to the Manager. You can now log in from the deployment host to the Manager

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

virtual machine to customize it. You can log in with either the FQDN or the IP address of the
Manager. For example, if the FQDN of the Manager is manager.example.com:

$ ssh [email protected]

TIP

In the installation log, the IP address is in local_vm_ip. The installation log is the most recent
instance of /var/log/ovirt-hosted-engine-setup/ovirt-hosted-engine-setup-ansible-
bootstrap_local_vm*.

a. Customize the Manager virtual machine as needed.

b. When you are done, log in to the Administration Portal using a browser with the Manager
FQDN and make sure that the host’s state is Up.

c. Delete the lock file and the deployment script automatically continues, configuring the
Manager virtual machine.

25. Select the type of storage to use:

Please specify the storage you would like to use (glusterfs, iscsi, fc, nfs)[nfs]:

For NFS, enter the version, full address and path to the storage, and any mount options:

Please specify the nfs version you would like to use (auto, v3, v4, v4_1)[auto]:
Please specify the full shared storage connection path to use (example: host:/path):
storage.example.com:/hosted_engine/nfs
If needed, specify additional mount options for the connection to the hosted-engine
storage domain []:

For iSCSI, enter the portal details and select a target and LUN from the auto-detected lists.
You can only select one iSCSI target during the deployment, but multipathing is supported
to connect all portals of the same portal group.

NOTE

To specify more than one iSCSI target, you must enable multipathing before
deploying the self-hosted engine. See Red Hat Enterprise Linux DM
Multipath for details. There is also a Multipath Helper tool that generates a
script to install and configure multipath with different options.

Please specify the iSCSI portal IP address:

Please specify the iSCSI portal port [3260]:
Please specify the iSCSI discover user:
Please specify the iSCSI discover password:
Please specify the iSCSI portal login user:
Please specify the iSCSI portal login password:

The following targets have been found:

[1] iqn.2017-10.com.redhat.example:he
TPGT: 1, portals:
192.168.1.xxx:3260

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

192.168.2.xxx:3260
192.168.3.xxx:3260

Please select a target (1) [1]: 1

The following luns have been found on the requested target:

[1] 360003ff44dc75adcb5046390a16b4beb 199GiB MSFT Virtual HD
status: free, paths: 1 active

Please select the destination LUN (1) [1]:

For Gluster storage, enter the full address and path to the storage, and any mount options:

IMPORTANT

Only replica 1 and replica 3 Gluster storage are supported. Ensure you
configure the volume as follows:

gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME group virt

gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME performance.strict-o-direct on
gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME network.remote-dio off
gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME storage.owner-uid 36
gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME storage.owner-gid 36
gluster volume set VOLUME_NAME network.ping-timeout 30

Please specify the full shared storage connection path to use (example: host:/path):
storage.example.com:/hosted_engine/gluster_volume
If needed, specify additional mount options for the connection to the hosted-engine
storage domain []:

For Fibre Channel, select a LUN from the auto-detected list. The host bus adapters must be
configured and connected, and the LUN must not contain any existing data. To reuse an
existing LUN, see Reusing LUNs in the Administration Guide.

The following luns have been found on the requested target:

[1] 3514f0c5447600351 30GiB XtremIO XtremApp
status: used, paths: 2 active

[2] 3514f0c5447600352 30GiB XtremIO XtremApp

status: used, paths: 2 active

Please select the destination LUN (1, 2) [1]:

26. Enter the disk size of the Manager virtual machine:

Please specify the size of the VM disk in GB: [50]:

When the deployment completes successfully, one data center, cluster, host, storage domain,
and the Manager virtual machine are already running. You can log in to the Administration Portal
to add any other resources.

27. Optional: Install and configure Red Hat Single Sign On so that you can add additional users to

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

27. Optional: Install and configure Red Hat Single Sign On so that you can add additional users to
the environment. For more information, see Installing and Configuring Red Hat Single Sign-On
in the Administration Guide.

28. Optional: Deploy Grafana so you can monitor and display reports from your RHV environment.
For more information, see Configuring Grafana in the Administration Guide.

The Manager virtual machine, the host running it, and the self-hosted engine storage domain are
flagged with a gold crown in the Administration Portal.

NOTE

Both the Manager’s I/O scheduler and the hypervisor that hosts the Manager reorder I/O
requests. This double reordering might delay I/O requests to the storage layer, impacting
performance.

Depending on your data center, you might improve performance by changing the I/O
scheduler to none. For more information, see Available disk schedulers in Monitoring and
managing system status and performance for RHEL.

The next step is to enable the Red Hat Virtualization Manager repositories.

5.4. ENABLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

REPOSITORIES
You need to log in and register the Manager machine with Red Hat Subscription Manager, attach the
Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription, and enable the Manager repositories.

Procedure

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

NOTE

If you are using an IPv6 network, use an IPv6 transition mechanism to access the
Content Delivery Network and subscription manager.

2. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

# subscription-manager list --available

3. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

# subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id

NOTE
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

NOTE

To view currently attached subscriptions:

# subscription-manager list --consumed

To list all enabled repositories:

# dnf repolist

4. Configure the repositories:

# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhv-4.4-manager-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=fast-datapath-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=jb-eap-7.4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=openstack-16.2-cinderlib-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhceph-4-tools-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-tus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-tus-rpms

5. Set the RHEL version to 8.6:

# subscription-manager release --set=8.6

6. Enable the pki-deps module.

# dnf module -y enable pki-deps

7. Enable version 12 of the postgresql module.

# dnf module -y enable postgresql:12

8. Enable version 14 of the nodejs module:

# dnf module -y enable nodejs:14

9. Update the Self-Hosted Engine using the procedure Updating a Self-Hosted Engine in the
Upgrade Guide.

Additional resources
For information on modules and module streams, see the following sections in Installing, managing, and
removing user-space components

Module streams

Selecting a stream before installation of packages

Resetting module streams

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 CHAPTER 5. INSTALLING THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER

Switching to a later stream

Log in to the Administration Portal, where you can add hosts and storage to the environment:

5.5. CONNECTING TO THE ADMINISTRATION PORTAL

Access the Administration Portal using a web browser.

1. In a web browser, navigate to https://manager-fqdn/ovirt-engine, replacing manager-fqdn with

the FQDN that you provided during installation.

NOTE

You can access the Administration Portal using alternate host names or IP
addresses. To do so, you need to add a configuration file under /etc/ovirt-
engine/engine.conf.d/. For example:

# vi /etc/ovirt-engine/engine.conf.d/99-custom-sso-setup.conf
SSO_ALTERNATE_ENGINE_FQDNS="alias1.example.com
alias2.example.com"

The list of alternate host names needs to be separated by spaces. You can also
add the IP address of the Manager to the list, but using IP addresses instead of
DNS-resolvable host names is not recommended.

2. Click Administration Portal. An SSO login page displays. SSO login enables you to log in to the
Administration and VM Portal at the same time.

3. Enter your User Name and Password. If you are logging in for the first time, use the user name
admin along with the password that you specified during installation.

4. Select the Domain to authenticate against. If you are logging in using the internal admin user
name, select the internal domain.

5. Click Log In.

6. You can view the Administration Portal in multiple languages. The default selection is chosen
based on the locale settings of your web browser. If you want to view the Administration Portal in
a language other than the default, select your preferred language from the drop-down list on
the welcome page.

To log out of the Red Hat Virtualization Administration Portal, click your user name in the header bar
and click Sign Out. You are logged out of all portals and the Manager welcome screen displays.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT

VIRTUALIZATION
Red Hat Virtualization supports two types of hosts: Red Hat Virtualization Hosts (RHVH) and Red Hat
Enterprise Linux hosts. Depending on your environment, you may want to use one type only, or both. At
least two hosts are required for features such as migration and high availability.

See Recommended practices for configuring host networks for networking information.

IMPORTANT

SELinux is in enforcing mode upon installation. To verify, run getenforce. SELinux must
be in enforcing mode on all hosts and Managers for your Red Hat Virtualization
environment to be supported.

Table 6.1. Host Types

Host Type Other Names Description

Red Hat Virtualization Host RHVH, thin host This is a minimal operating system
based on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux. It is distributed as an ISO
file from the Customer Portal and
contains only the packages
required for the machine to act as
a host.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux host RHEL host, thick host Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems
with the appropriate subscriptions
attached can be used as hosts.

Host Compatibility
When you create a new data center, you can set the compatibility version. Select the compatibility
version that suits all the hosts in the data center. Once set, version regression is not allowed. For a fresh
Red Hat Virtualization installation, the latest compatibility version is set in the default data center and
default cluster; to use an earlier compatibility version, you must create additional data centers and
clusters. For more information about compatibility versions see Red Hat Virtualization Manager
Compatibility in Red Hat Virtualization Life Cycle .

6.1. RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION HOSTS

6.1.1. Installing Red Hat Virtualization Hosts

Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) is a minimal operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
that is designed to provide a simple method for setting up a physical machine to act as a hypervisor in a
Red Hat Virtualization environment. The minimal operating system contains only the packages required
for the machine to act as a hypervisor, and features a Cockpit web interface for monitoring the host and
performing administrative tasks. See Running Cockpit for the minimum browser requirements.

RHVH supports NIST 800-53 partitioning requirements to improve security. RHVH uses a NIST 800-53
partition layout by default.

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 CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

Procedure

1. Go to the Get Started with Red Hat Virtualization on the Red Hat Customer Portal and log in.

2. Click Download Latest to access the product download page.

3. Choose the appropriate Hypervisor Image for RHV from the list and click Download Now.

4. Start the machine on which you are installing RHVH, booting from the prepared installation
media.

5. From the boot menu, select Install RHVH 4.4 and press Enter.

NOTE

You can also press the Tab key to edit the kernel parameters. Kernel parameters
must be separated by a space, and you can boot the system using the specified
kernel parameters by pressing the Enter key. Press the Esc key to clear any
changes to the kernel parameters and return to the boot menu.

6. Select a language, and click Continue.

7. Select a keyboard layout from the Keyboard Layout screen and click Done.

8. Select the device on which to install RHVH from the Installation Destination screen. Optionally,
enable encryption. Click Done.

IMPORTANT

Use the Automatically configure partitioning option.

9. Select a time zone from the Time & Date screen and click Done.

10. Select a network from the Network & Host Name screen and click Configure…​ to configure the
connection details.

NOTE
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

NOTE

To use the connection every time the system boots, select the Connect
automatically with priority check box. For more information, see Configuring
network and host name options in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Installation
Guide.

Enter a host name in the Host Name field, and click Done.

11. Optional: Configure Security Policy and Kdump. See Customizing your RHEL installation using
the GUI in Performing a standard RHEL installation for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for more
information on each of the sections in the Installation Summary screen.

12. Click Begin Installation.

13. Set a root password and, optionally, create an additional user while RHVH installs.


WARNING

Do not create untrusted users on RHVH, as this can lead to exploitation of

local security vulnerabilities.

14. Click Reboot to complete the installation.

NOTE

When RHVH restarts, nodectl check performs a health check on the host and
displays the result when you log in on the command line. The message node
status: OK or node status: DEGRADED indicates the health status. Run
nodectl check to get more information.

NOTE

If necessary, you can prevent kernel modules from loading automatically.

6.1.2. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Host Repository

Register the system to receive updates. Red Hat Virtualization Host only requires one repository. This
section provides instructions for registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network , or with Red Hat
Satellite 6.

Registering RHVH with the Content Delivery Network

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

2. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host 8 repository to allow later updates to the Red Hat

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 CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

2. Enable the Red Hat Virtualization Host 8 repository to allow later updates to the Red Hat
Virtualization Host:

# subscription-manager repos --enable=rhvh-4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

Registering RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6

1. Log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.

2. Click Terminal.

3. Register RHVH with Red Hat Satellite 6:

# rpm -Uvh http://satellite.example.com/pub/katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm

# subscription-manager register --org="org_id"
# subscription-manager list --available
# subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id
# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhvh-4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

NOTE

You can also configure virtual machine subscriptions in Red Hat Satellite using virt-who.
See Using virt-who to manage host-based subscriptions .

6.1.3. Advanced Installation

6.1.3.1. Custom Partitioning

Custom partitioning on Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) is not recommended. Use the
Automatically configure partitioning option in the Installation Destination window.

If your installation requires custom partitioning, select the I will configure partitioning option during
the installation, and note that the following restrictions apply:

Ensure the default LVM Thin Provisioning option is selected in the Manual Partitioning
window.

The following directories are required and must be on thin provisioned logical volumes:

root (/)

/home

/tmp

/var

/var/crash

/var/log

/var/log/audit

IMPORTANT
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

IMPORTANT

Do not create a separate partition for /usr. Doing so will cause the installation
to fail.

/usr must be on a logical volume that is able to change versions along with
RHVH, and therefore should be left on root (/).

For information about the required storage sizes for each partition, see Storage
Requirements.

The /boot directory should be defined as a standard partition.

The /var directory must be on a separate volume or disk.

Only XFS or Ext4 file systems are supported.

Configuring Manual Partitioning in a Kickstart File

The following example demonstrates how to configure manual partitioning in a Kickstart file.

clearpart --all
part /boot --fstype xfs --size=1000 --ondisk=sda
part pv.01 --size=42000 --grow
volgroup HostVG pv.01 --reserved-percent=20
logvol swap --vgname=HostVG --name=swap --fstype=swap --recommended
logvol none --vgname=HostVG --name=HostPool --thinpool --size=40000 --grow
logvol / --vgname=HostVG --name=root --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --
fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=6000 --grow
logvol /var --vgname=HostVG --name=var --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool
--fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=15000
logvol /var/crash --vgname=HostVG --name=var_crash --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --
fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=10000
logvol /var/log --vgname=HostVG --name=var_log --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --
fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=8000
logvol /var/log/audit --vgname=HostVG --name=var_audit --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool -
-fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=2000
logvol /home --vgname=HostVG --name=home --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --
fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=1000
logvol /tmp --vgname=HostVG --name=tmp --thin --fstype=ext4 --poolname=HostPool --
fsoptions="defaults,discard" --size=1000

NOTE

If you use logvol --thinpool --grow, you must also include volgroup --reserved-space or
volgroup --reserved-percent to reserve space in the volume group for the thin pool to
grow.

6.1.3.2. Installing a DUD driver on a host without installer support

There are times when installing Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) requires a Driver Update Disk
(DUD), such as when using a hardware RAID device that is not supported by the default configuration of
RHVH. In contrast with Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts, RHVH does not fully support using a DUD.
Subsequently the host fails to boot normally after installation because it does not see RAID. Instead it
boots into emergency mode.

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 CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

Example output:

Warning: /dev/test/rhvh-4.4-20210202.0+1 does not exist

Warning: /dev/test/swap does not exist
Entering emergency mode. Exit the shell to continue.

In such a case you can manually add the drivers before finishing the installation.

Prerequisites

A machine onto which you are installing RHVH.

A DUD.

If you are using a USB drive for the DUD and RHVH, you must have at least two available USB
ports.

Procedure

1. Load the DUD on the host machine.

2. Install RHVH. See Installing Red Hat Virtualization Hosts in Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a
self-hosted engine using the command line.

IMPORTANT

When installation completes, do not reboot the system.

TIP

If you want to access the DUD using SSH, do the following:

Add the string inst.sshd to the kernel command line:

<kernel_command_line> inst.sshd

Enable networking during the installation.

3. Enter the console mode, by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F3. Alternatively you can connect to it using
SSH.

4. Mount the DUD:

# mkdir /mnt/dud
# mount -r /dev/<dud_device> /mnt/dud

5. Copy the RPM file inside the DUD to the target machine’s disk:

# cp /mnt/dud/rpms/<path>/<rpm_file>.rpm /mnt/sysroot/root/

For example:

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

# cp /mnt/dud/rpms/x86_64/kmod-3w-9xxx-2.26.02.014-5.el8_3.elrepo.x86_64.rpm
/mnt/sysroot/root/

6. Change the root directory to /mnt/sysroot:

# chroot /mnt/sysroot

7. Back up the current initrd images. For example:

# cp -p /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-
240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img.bck1
# cp -p /boot/rhvh-4.4.5.1-0.20210323.0+1/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img
/boot/rhvh-4.4.5.1-0.20210323.0+1/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img.bck1

8. Install the RPM file for the driver from the copy you made earlier.
For example:

# dnf install /root/kmod-3w-9xxx-2.26.02.014-5.el8_3.elrepo.x86_64.rpm

NOTE

This package is not visible on the system after you reboot into the installed
environment, so if you need it, for example, to rebuild the initramfs, you need to
install that package once again, after which the package remains.

If you update the host using dnf, the driver update persists, so you do not need to
repeat this process.

TIP

If you do not have an internet connection, use the rpm command instead of dnf:

# rpm -ivh /root/kmod-3w-9xxx-2.26.02.014-5.el8_3.elrepo.x86_64.rpm

9. Create a new image, forcefully adding the driver:

# dracut --force --add-drivers <module_name> --kver <kernel_version>

For example:

# dracut --force --add-drivers 3w-9xxx --kver 4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64

10. Check the results. The new image should be larger, and include the driver. For example,
compare the sizes of the original, backed-up image file and the new image file.
In this example, the new image file is 88739013 bytes, larger than the original 88717417 bytes:

# ls -ltr /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img*
-rw-------. 1 root root 88717417 Jun 2 14:29 /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-
240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img.bck1
-rw-------. 1 root root 88739013 Jun 2 17:47 /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-
240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img
The new drivers should be part of the image file. For example, the 3w-9xxx module should be
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The new drivers should be part of the image file. For example, the 3w-9xxx module should be
included:

# lsinitrd /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img | grep 3w-9xxx

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Feb 22 15:57 usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-
240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64/weak-updates/3w-9xxx
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 55 Feb 22 15:57 usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-
240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64/weak-updates/3w-9xxx/3w-9xxx.ko-../../../4.18.0-
240.el8.x86_64/extra/3w-9xxx/3w-9xxx.ko
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Feb 22 15:57 usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-
240.el8.x86_64/extra/3w-9xxx
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80121 Nov 10 2020 usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-
240.el8.x86_64/extra/3w-9xxx/3w-9xxx.ko

11. Copy the image to the the directory under /boot that contains the kernel to be used in the layer
being installed, for example:

# cp -p /boot/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img /boot/rhvh-4.4.5.1-
0.20210323.0+1/initramfs-4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64.img

12. Exit chroot.

13. Exit the shell.

14. If you used Ctrl + Alt + F3 to access a virtual terminal, then move back to the installer by
pressing Ctrl + Alt + F_<n>_, usually F1 or F5

15. At the installer screen, reboot.

Verification
The machine should reboot successfully.

6.1.3.3. Automating Red Hat Virtualization Host deployment

You can install Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH) without a physical media device by booting from a
PXE server over the network with a Kickstart file that contains the answers to the installation questions.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

General instructions for installing from a PXE server with a Kickstart file are available in the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux Installation Guide, as RHVH is installed in much the same way as Red Hat Enterprise
Linux. RHVH-specific instructions, with examples for deploying RHVH with Red Hat Satellite, are
described below.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

The automated RHVH deployment has 3 stages:

Preparing the Installation Environment

Configuring the PXE Server and the Boot Loader

Creating and Running a Kickstart File

6.1.3.3.1. Preparing the installation environment

1. Go to the Get Started with Red Hat Virtualization on the Red Hat Customer Portal and log in.

2. Click Download Latest to access the product download page.

3. Choose the appropriate Hypervisor Image for RHV from the list and click Download Now.

4. Make the RHVH ISO image available over the network. See Installation Source on a Network in
the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide .

5. Extract the squashfs.img hypervisor image file from the RHVH ISO:

# mount -o loop /path/to/RHVH-ISO /mnt/rhvh

# cp /mnt/rhvh/Packages/redhat-virtualization-host-image-update* /tmp
# cd /tmp
# rpm2cpio redhat-virtualization-host-image-update* | cpio -idmv

NOTE

This squashfs.img file, located in the /tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-

host/image/ directory, is called redhat-virtualization-
host-version_number_version.squashfs.img. It contains the hypervisor image
for installation on the physical machine. It should not be confused with the
/LiveOS/squashfs.img file, which is used by the Anaconda inst.stage2 option.

6.1.3.3.2. Configuring the PXE server and the boot loader

1. Configure the PXE server. See Preparing for a Network Installation in the Red Hat Enterprise
Linux Installation Guide.

2. Copy the RHVH boot images to the /tftpboot directory:

# cp mnt/rhvh/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/

3. Create a rhvh label specifying the RHVH boot images in the boot loader configuration:

LABEL rhvh
MENU LABEL Install Red Hat Virtualization Host
KERNEL /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/initrd.img inst.stage2=URL/to/RHVH-ISO

RHVH Boot loader configuration example for Red Hat Satellite

If you are using information from Red Hat Satellite to provision the host, you must create a
global or host group level parameter called rhvh_image and populate it with the directory URL
where the ISO is mounted or extracted:

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 CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

<%#
kind: PXELinux
name: RHVH PXELinux
%>
# Created for booting new hosts
#

DEFAULT rhvh

LABEL rhvh
KERNEL <%= @kernel %>
APPEND initrd=<%= @initrd %> inst.ks=<%= foreman_url("provision") %> inst.stage2=<%=
@host.params["rhvh_image"] %> intel_iommu=on console=tty0 console=ttyS1,115200n8
ssh_pwauth=1 local_boot_trigger=<%= foreman_url("built") %>
IPAPPEND 2

4. Make the content of the RHVH ISO locally available and export it to the network, for example,
using an HTTPD server:

# cp -a /mnt/rhvh/ /var/www/html/rhvh-install
# curl URL/to/RHVH-ISO/rhvh-install

6.1.3.3.3. Creating and running a Kickstart file

1. Create a Kickstart file and make it available over the network. See Kickstart Installations in the
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide .

2. Ensure that the Kickstart file meets the following RHV-specific requirements:

The %packages section is not required for RHVH. Instead, use the liveimg option and
specify the redhat-virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img file from
the RHVH ISO image:

liveimg --url=example.com/tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-host/image/redhat-
virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img

Autopartitioning is highly recommended, but use caution: ensure that the local disk is
detected first, include the ignoredisk command, and specify the local disk to ignore, such
as sda. To ensure that a particular drive is used, Red Hat recommends using ignoredisk --
only-use=/dev/disk/<path> or ignoredisk --only-use=/dev/disk/<ID>:

autopart --type=thinp
ignoredisk --only-use=sda
ignoredisk --only-use=/dev/disk/<path>
ignoredisk --only-use=/dev/disk/<ID>

NOTE

Autopartitioning requires thin provisioning.

The --no-home option does not work in RHVH because /home is a required
directory.

If your installation requires manual partitioning, see Custom Partitioning for a list of
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

If your installation requires manual partitioning, see Custom Partitioning for a list of
limitations that apply to partitions and an example of manual partitioning in a Kickstart file.

A %post section that calls the nodectl init command is required:

%post
nodectl init
%end

NOTE

Ensure that the nodectl init command is at the very end of the %post
section but before the reboot code, if any.

Kickstart example for deploying RHVH on its own

This Kickstart example shows you how to deploy RHVH. You can include additional
commands and options as required.


WARNING

This example assumes that all disks are empty and can be initialized. If
you have attached disks with data, either remove them or add them to
the ignoredisks property.

liveimg --url=http://FQDN/tmp/usr/share/redhat-virtualization-host/image/redhat-
virtualization-host-version_number_version.squashfs.img
clearpart --all
autopart --type=thinp
rootpw --plaintext ovirt
timezone --utc America/Phoenix
zerombr
text

reboot

%post --erroronfail
nodectl init
%end

Kickstart example for deploying RHVH with registration and network

configuration from Satellite
This Kickstart example uses information from Red Hat Satellite to configure the host
network and register the host to the Satellite server. You must create a global or host group
level parameter called rhvh_image and populate it with the directory URL to the
squashfs.img file. ntp_server1 is also a global or host group level variable.

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
WARNING

This example assumes that all disks are empty and can be initialized. If
you have attached disks with data, either remove them or add them to
the ignoredisks property.

<%#
kind: provision
name: RHVH Kickstart default
oses:
- RHVH
%>
install
liveimg --url=<%= @host.params['rhvh_image'] %>squashfs.img

network --bootproto static --ip=<%= @host.ip %> --netmask=<%= @host.subnet.mask

%> --gateway=<%= @host.subnet.gateway %> --nameserver=<%=
@host.subnet.dns_primary %> --hostname <%= @host.name %>

zerombr
clearpart --all
autopart --type=thinp

rootpw --iscrypted <%= root_pass %>

# installation answers
lang en_US.UTF-8
timezone <%= @host.params['time-zone'] || 'UTC' %>
keyboard us
firewall --service=ssh
services --enabled=sshd

text
reboot

%post --log=/root/ks.post.log --erroronfail

nodectl init
<%= snippet 'subscription_manager_registration' %>
<%= snippet 'kickstart_networking_setup' %>
/usr/sbin/ntpdate -sub <%= @host.params['ntp_server1'] || '0.fedora.pool.ntp.org' %>
/usr/sbin/hwclock --systohc

/usr/bin/curl <%= foreman_url('built') %>

sync
systemctl reboot
%end

3. Add the Kickstart file location to the boot loader configuration file on the PXE server:

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

APPEND initrd=/var/tftpboot/pxelinux/initrd.img inst.stage2=URL/to/RHVH-ISO

inst.ks=URL/to/RHVH-ks.cfg

4. Install RHVH following the instructions in Booting from the Network Using PXE in the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux Installation Guide.

6.2. RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX HOSTS

6.2.1. Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

A Red Hat Enterprise Linux host is based on a standard basic installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
on a physical server, with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization
subscriptions attached.

For detailed installation instructions, see the Performing a standard RHEL installation .

The host must meet the minimum host requirements.


WARNING

When installing or reinstalling the host’s operating system, Red Hat strongly
recommends that you first detach any existing non-OS storage that is attached to
the host to avoid accidental initialization of these disks, and with that, potential data
loss.

IMPORTANT

Virtualization must be enabled in your host’s BIOS settings. For information on changing
your host’s BIOS settings, refer to your host’s hardware documentation.

IMPORTANT

Do not install third-party watchdogs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts. They can
interfere with the watchdog daemon provided by VDSM.

6.2.2. Enabling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux host Repositories

To use a Red Hat Enterprise Linux machine as a host, you must register the system with the Content
Delivery Network, attach the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization
subscriptions, and enable the host repositories.

Procedure

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

2. Find the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscription pools and
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2. Find the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and Red Hat Virtualization subscription pools and
record the pool IDs:

# subscription-manager list --available

3. Use the pool IDs to attach the subscriptions to the system:

# subscription-manager attach --pool=poolid

NOTE

To view currently attached subscriptions:

# subscription-manager list --consumed

To list all enabled repositories:

# dnf repolist

4. Configure the repositories:

# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhv-4-mgmt-agent-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=fast-datapath-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=advanced-virt-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=openstack-16.2-cinderlib-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhceph-4-tools-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-tus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-tus-rpms

5. Set the RHEL version to 8.6:

# subscription-manager release --set=8.6

6. Ensure that all packages currently installed are up to date:

# dnf upgrade --nobest

7. Reboot the machine.

NOTE

If necessary, you can prevent kernel modules from loading automatically.

6.2.3. Installing Cockpit on Red Hat Enterprise Linux hosts

You can install Cockpit for monitoring the host’s resources and performing administrative tasks.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

Procedure

1. Install the dashboard packages:

# dnf install cockpit-ovirt-dashboard

2. Enable and start the cockpit.socket service:

# systemctl enable cockpit.socket

# systemctl start cockpit.socket

3. Check if Cockpit is an active service in the firewall:

# firewall-cmd --list-services

You should see cockpit listed. If it is not, enter the following with root permissions to add
cockpit as a service to your firewall:

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=cockpit

The --permanent option keeps the cockpit service active after rebooting.

You can log in to the Cockpit web interface at https://HostFQDNorIP:9090.

6.3. RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR CONFIGURING HOST

NETWORKS

IMPORTANT

Always use the RHV Manager to modify the network configuration of hosts in your
clusters. Otherwise, you might create an unsupported configuration. For details, see
Network Manager Stateful Configuration (nmstate) .

If your network environment is complex, you may need to configure a host network manually before
adding the host to the Red Hat Virtualization Manager.

Consider the following practices for configuring a host network:

Configure the network with Cockpit. Alternatively, you can use nmtui or nmcli.

If a network is not required for a self-hosted engine deployment or for adding a host to the
Manager, configure the network in the Administration Portal after adding the host to the
Manager. See Creating a New Logical Network in a Data Center or Cluster .

Use the following naming conventions:

VLAN devices: VLAN_NAME_TYPE_RAW_PLUS_VID_NO_PAD

VLAN interfaces: physical_device.VLAN_ID (for example, eth0.23, eth1.128, enp3s0.50)

Bond interfaces: bondnumber (for example, bond0, bond1)

VLANs on bond interfaces: bondnumber.VLAN_ID (for example, bond0.50, bond1.128)

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 CHAPTER 6. INSTALLING HOSTS FOR RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

Use network bonding. Network teaming is not supported in Red Hat Virtualization and will cause
errors if the host is used to deploy a self-hosted engine or added to the Manager.

Use recommended bonding modes:

If the ovirtmgmt network is not used by virtual machines, the network may use any
supported bonding mode.

If the ovirtmgmt network is used by virtual machines, see Which bonding modes work when
used with a bridge that virtual machine guests or containers connect to?.

Red Hat Virtualization’s default bonding mode is (Mode 4) Dynamic Link Aggregation. If
your switch does not support Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), use (Mode 1)
Active-Backup. See Bonding Modes for details.

Configure a VLAN on a physical NIC as in the following example (although nmcli is used, you
can use any tool):

# nmcli connection add type vlan con-name vlan50 ifname eth0.50 dev eth0 id 50
# nmcli con mod vlan50 +ipv4.dns 8.8.8.8 +ipv4.addresses 123.123.0.1/24 +ipv4.gateway
123.123.0.254

Configure a VLAN on a bond as in the following example (although nmcli is used, you can use
any tool):

# nmcli connection add type bond con-name bond0 ifname bond0 bond.options
"mode=active-backup,miimon=100" ipv4.method disabled ipv6.method ignore
# nmcli connection add type ethernet con-name eth0 ifname eth0 master bond0 slave-type
bond
# nmcli connection add type ethernet con-name eth1 ifname eth1 master bond0 slave-type
bond
# nmcli connection add type vlan con-name vlan50 ifname bond0.50 dev bond0 id 50
# nmcli con mod vlan50 +ipv4.dns 8.8.8.8 +ipv4.addresses 123.123.0.1/24 +ipv4.gateway
123.123.0.254

Do not disable firewalld.

Customize the firewall rules in the Administration Portal after adding the host to the Manager.
See Configuring Host Firewall Rules .

6.4. ADDING SELF-HOSTED ENGINE NODES TO THE RED HAT

VIRTUALIZATION MANAGER
Add self-hosted engine nodes in the same way as a standard host, with an additional step to deploy the
host as a self-hosted engine node. The shared storage domain is automatically detected and the node
can be used as a failover host to host the Manager virtual machine when required. You can also attach
standard hosts to a self-hosted engine environment, but they cannot host the Manager virtual machine.
Have at least two self-hosted engine nodes to ensure the Manager virtual machine is highly available.
You can also add additional hosts using the REST API. See Hosts in the REST API Guide.

Prerequisites

All self-hosted engine nodes must be in the same cluster.

If you are reusing a self-hosted engine node, remove its existing self-hosted engine

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If you are reusing a self-hosted engine node, remove its existing self-hosted engine
configuration. See Removing a Host from a Self-Hosted Engine Environment .

Procedure

1. In the Administration Portal, click Compute → Hosts.

2. Click New.
For information on additional host settings, see Explanation of Settings and Controls in the New
Host and Edit Host Windows in the Administration Guide.

3. Use the drop-down list to select the Data Center and Host Cluster for the new host.

4. Enter the Name and the Address of the new host. The standard SSH port, port 22, is auto-filled
in the SSH Port field.

5. Select an authentication method to use for the Manager to access the host.

Enter the root user’s password to use password authentication.

Alternatively, copy the key displayed in the SSH PublicKey field to

/root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the host to use public key authentication.

6. Optionally, configure power management, where the host has a supported power management
card. For information on power management configuration, see Host Power Management
Settings Explained in the Administration Guide.

7. Click the Hosted Engine tab.

8. Select Deploy.

9. Click OK.

6.5. ADDING STANDARD HOSTS TO THE RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

MANAGER

IMPORTANT

Always use the RHV Manager to modify the network configuration of hosts in your
clusters. Otherwise, you might create an unsupported configuration. For details, see
Network Manager Stateful Configuration (nmstate) .

Adding a host to your Red Hat Virtualization environment can take some time, as the following steps are
completed by the platform: virtualization checks, installation of packages, and creation of a bridge.

Procedure

1. From the Administration Portal, click Compute → Hosts.

2. Click New.

3. Use the drop-down list to select the Data Center and Host Cluster for the new host.

4. Enter the Name and the Address of the new host. The standard SSH port, port 22, is auto-filled
in the SSH Port field.

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5. Select an authentication method to use for the Manager to access the host.

Enter the root user’s password to use password authentication.

Alternatively, copy the key displayed in the SSH PublicKey field to

/root/.ssh/authorized_keys on the host to use public key authentication.

6. Optionally, click the Advanced Parameters button to change the following advanced host
settings:

Disable automatic firewall configuration.

Add a host SSH fingerprint to increase security. You can add it manually, or fetch it
automatically.

7. Optionally configure power management, where the host has a supported power management
card. For information on power management configuration, see Host Power Management
Settings Explained in the Administration Guide.

8. Click OK.

The new host displays in the list of hosts with a status of Installing, and you can view the progress of the
installation in the Events section of the Notification Drawer ( ). After a brief delay the host status
changes to Up.

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CHAPTER 7. ADDING STORAGE FOR RED HAT

VIRTUALIZATION
Add storage as data domains in the new environment. A Red Hat Virtualization environment must have
at least one data domain, but adding more is recommended.

Add the storage you prepared earlier:

NFS

iSCSI

Fibre Channel (FCP)

Red Hat Gluster Storage

IMPORTANT

If you are using iSCSI storage, new data domains must not use the same iSCSI target as
the self-hosted engine storage domain.


WARNING

Creating additional data domains in the same data center as the self-hosted engine
storage domain is highly recommended. If you deploy the self-hosted engine in a
data center with only one active data storage domain, and that storage domain is
corrupted, you will not be able to add new storage domains or remove the corrupted
storage domain; you will have to redeploy the self-hosted engine.

7.1. ADDING NFS STORAGE

This procedure shows you how to attach existing NFS storage to your Red Hat Virtualization
environment as a data domain.

If you require an ISO or export domain, use this procedure, but select ISO or Export from the Domain
Function list.

Procedure

1. In the Administration Portal, click Storage → Domains.

2. Click New Domain.

3. Enter a Name for the storage domain.

4. Accept the default values for the Data Center, Domain Function, Storage Type, Format, and
Host lists.

5. Enter the Export Path to be used for the storage domain. The export path should be in the

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5. Enter the Export Path to be used for the storage domain. The export path should be in the
format of 123.123.0.10:/data (for IPv4), [2001:0:0:0:0:0:0:5db1]:/data (for IPv6), or
domain.example.com:/data.

6. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters:

a. Click Advanced Parameters.

b. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space
available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed
to the user and logged.

c. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on
the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged,
and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.

d. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option
can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete
property of disks that already exist.

7. Click OK.

The new NFS data domain has a status of Locked until the disk is prepared. The data domain is then
automatically attached to the data center.

7.2. ADDING ISCSI STORAGE

This procedure shows you how to attach existing iSCSI storage to your Red Hat Virtualization
environment as a data domain.

Procedure

1. Click Storage → Domains.

2. Click New Domain.

3. Enter the Name of the new storage domain.

4. Select a Data Center from the drop-down list.

5. Select Data as the Domain Function and iSCSI as the Storage Type.

6. Select an active host as the Host.

IMPORTANT

Communication to the storage domain is from the selected host and not directly
from the Manager. Therefore, all hosts must have access to the storage device
before the storage domain can be configured.

7. The Manager can map iSCSI targets to LUNs or LUNs to iSCSI targets. The New Domain
window automatically displays known targets with unused LUNs when the iSCSI storage type is
selected. If the target that you are using to add storage does not appear, you can use target
discovery to find it; otherwise proceed to the next step.

a. Click Discover Targets to enable target discovery options. When targets have been
discovered and logged in to, the New Domain window automatically displays targets with

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

discovered and logged in to, the New Domain window automatically displays targets with
LUNs unused by the environment.

NOTE

LUNs used externally for the environment are also displayed.

You can use the Discover Targets options to add LUNs on many targets or multiple paths
to the same LUNs.

IMPORTANT

If you use the REST API method discoveriscsi to discover the iscsi targets,
you can use an FQDN or an IP address, but you must use the iscsi details
from the discovered targets results to log in using the REST API method
iscsilogin. See discoveriscsi in the REST API Guide for more information.

b. Enter the FQDN or IP address of the iSCSI host in the Address field.

c. Enter the port with which to connect to the host when browsing for targets in the Port field.
The default is 3260.

d. If CHAP is used to secure the storage, select the User Authentication check box. Enter the
CHAP user name and CHAP password.

NOTE

You can define credentials for an iSCSI target for a specific host with the
REST API. See StorageServerConnectionExtensions: add in the REST API
Guide for more information.

e. Click Discover.

f. Select one or more targets from the discovery results and click Login for one target or
Login All for multiple targets.

IMPORTANT

If more than one path access is required, you must discover and log in to the
target through all the required paths. Modifying a storage domain to add
additional paths is currently not supported.

IMPORTANT

When using the REST API iscsilogin method to log in, you must use the iscsi
details from the discovered targets results in the discoveriscsi method. See
iscsilogin in the REST API Guide for more information.

8. Click the + button next to the desired target. This expands the entry and displays all unused
LUNs attached to the target.

9. Select the check box for each LUN that you are using to create the storage domain.

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10. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters:

a. Click Advanced Parameters.

b. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space
available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed
to the user and logged.

c. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on
the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged,
and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.

d. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option
can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete
property of disks that already exist.

e. Select the Discard After Delete check box to enable the discard after delete option. This
option can be edited after the domain is created. This option is only available to block
storage domains.

11. Click OK.

If you have configured multiple storage connection paths to the same target, follow the procedure in
Configuring iSCSI Multipathing to complete iSCSI bonding.

If you want to migrate your current storage network to an iSCSI bond, see Migrating a Logical Network
to an iSCSI Bond.

7.3. ADDING FCP STORAGE

This procedure shows you how to attach existing FCP storage to your Red Hat Virtualization
environment as a data domain.

Procedure

1. Click Storage → Domains.

2. Click New Domain.

3. Enter the Name of the storage domain.

4. Select an FCP Data Center from the drop-down list.

If you do not yet have an appropriate FCP data center, select (none).

5. Select the Domain Function and the Storage Type from the drop-down lists. The storage
domain types that are not compatible with the chosen data center are not available.

6. Select an active host in the Host field. If this is not the first data domain in a data center, you
must select the data center’s SPM host.

IMPORTANT

All communication to the storage domain is through the selected host and not
directly from the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. At least one active host must
exist in the system and be attached to the chosen data center. All hosts must
have access to the storage device before the storage domain can be configured.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

7. The New Domain window automatically displays known targets with unused LUNs when Fibre
Channel is selected as the storage type. Select the LUN ID check box to select all of the
available LUNs.

8. Optionally, you can configure the advanced parameters.

a. Click Advanced Parameters.

b. Enter a percentage value into the Warning Low Space Indicator field. If the free space
available on the storage domain is below this percentage, warning messages are displayed
to the user and logged.

c. Enter a GB value into the Critical Space Action Blocker field. If the free space available on
the storage domain is below this value, error messages are displayed to the user and logged,
and any new action that consumes space, even temporarily, will be blocked.

d. Select the Wipe After Delete check box to enable the wipe after delete option. This option
can be edited after the domain is created, but doing so will not change the wipe after delete
property of disks that already exist.

e. Select the Discard After Delete check box to enable the discard after delete option. This
option can be edited after the domain is created. This option is only available to block
storage domains.

9. Click OK.

The new FCP data domain remains in a Locked status while it is being prepared for use. When ready, it is
automatically attached to the data center.

7.4. ADDING RED HAT GLUSTER STORAGE

To use Red Hat Gluster Storage with Red Hat Virtualization, see Configuring Red Hat Virtualization with
Red Hat Gluster Storage.

For the Red Hat Gluster Storage versions that are supported with Red Hat Virtualization, see Red Hat
Gluster Storage Version Compatibility and Support.

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 APPENDIX A. TROUBLESHOOTING A SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

APPENDIX A. TROUBLESHOOTING A SELF-HOSTED ENGINE

DEPLOYMENT
To confirm whether the self-hosted engine has already been deployed, run hosted-engine --check-
deployed. An error will only be displayed if the self-hosted engine has not been deployed.

A.1. TROUBLESHOOTING THE MANAGER VIRTUAL MACHINE

Check the status of the Manager virtual machine by running hosted-engine --vm-status.

NOTE

Any changes made to the Manager virtual machine will take about 20 seconds before
they are reflected in the status command output.

Depending on the Engine status in the output, see the following suggestions to find or fix the issue.

Engine status: "health": "good", "vm": "up" "detail": "up"

1. If the Manager virtual machine is up and running as normal, you will see the following output:

--== Host 1 status ==--

Status up-to-date : True

Hostname : hypervisor.example.com
Host ID :1
Engine status : {"health": "good", "vm": "up", "detail": "up"}
Score : 3400
stopped : False
Local maintenance : False
crc32 : 99e57eba
Host timestamp : 248542

2. If the output is normal but you cannot connect to the Manager, check the network connection.

Engine status: "reason": "failed liveliness check", "health": "bad", "vm": "up", "detail": "up"

1. If the health is bad and the vm is up, the HA services will try to restart the Manager virtual
machine to get the Manager back. If it does not succeed within a few minutes, enable the global
maintenance mode from the command line so that the hosts are no longer managed by the HA
services.

# hosted-engine --set-maintenance --mode=global

2. Connect to the console. When prompted, enter the operating system’s root password. For more
console options, see How to access Hosted Engine VM console from RHEV-H host? .

# hosted-engine --console

3. Ensure that the Manager virtual machine’s operating system is running by logging in.

4. Check the status of the ovirt-engine service:

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

# systemctl status -l ovirt-engine

# journalctl -u ovirt-engine

5. Check the following logs: /var/log/messages, /var/log/ovirt-engine/engine.log, and

/var/log/ovirt-engine/server.log.

6. After fixing the issue, reboot the Manager virtual machine manually from one of the self-hosted
engine nodes:

# hosted-engine --vm-shutdown
# hosted-engine --vm-start

NOTE

When the self-hosted engine nodes are in global maintenance mode, the
Manager virtual machine must be rebooted manually. If you try to reboot the
Manager virtual machine by sending a reboot command from the command line,
the Manager virtual machine will remain powered off. This is by design.

7. On the Manager virtual machine, verify that the ovirt-engine service is up and running:

# systemctl status ovirt-engine.service

8. After ensuring the Manager virtual machine is up and running, close the console session and
disable the maintenance mode to enable the HA services again:

# hosted-engine --set-maintenance --mode=none

Engine status: "vm": "down", "health": "bad", "detail": "unknown", "reason": "vm not running
on this host"

NOTE

This message is expected on a host that is not currently running the Manager virtual
machine.

1. If you have more than one host in your environment, ensure that another host is not currently
trying to restart the Manager virtual machine.

2. Ensure that you are not in global maintenance mode.

3. Check the ovirt-ha-agent logs in /var/log/ovirt-hosted-engine-ha/agent.log.

4. Try to reboot the Manager virtual machine manually from one of the self-hosted engine nodes:

# hosted-engine --vm-shutdown
# hosted-engine --vm-start

Engine status: "vm": "unknown", "health": "unknown", "detail": "unknown", "reason": "failed
to getVmStats"
This status means that ovirt-ha-agent failed to get the virtual machine’s details from VDSM.

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 APPENDIX A. TROUBLESHOOTING A SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

1. Check the VDSM logs in /var/log/vdsm/vdsm.log.

2. Check the ovirt-ha-agent logs in /var/log/ovirt-hosted-engine-ha/agent.log.

Engine status: The self-hosted engine’s configuration has not been retrieved from shared
storage
If you receive the status The hosted engine configuration has not been retrieved from shared
storage. Please ensure that ovirt-ha-agent is running and the storage server is reachable there is
an issue with the ovirt-ha-agent service, or with the storage, or both.

1. Check the status of ovirt-ha-agent on the host:

# systemctl status -l ovirt-ha-agent

# journalctl -u ovirt-ha-agent

2. If the ovirt-ha-agent is down, restart it:

# systemctl start ovirt-ha-agent

3. Check the ovirt-ha-agent logs in /var/log/ovirt-hosted-engine-ha/agent.log.

4. Check that you can ping the shared storage.

5. Check whether the shared storage is mounted.

Additional Troubleshooting Commands

IMPORTANT

Contact the Red Hat Support Team if you feel you need to run any of these commands to
troubleshoot your self-hosted engine environment.

hosted-engine --reinitialize-lockspace: This command is used when the sanlock lockspace is

broken. Ensure that the global maintenance mode is enabled and that the Manager virtual
machine is stopped before reinitializing the sanlock lockspaces.

hosted-engine --clean-metadata: Remove the metadata for a host’s agent from the global
status database. This makes all other hosts forget about this host. Ensure that the target host is
down and that the global maintenance mode is enabled.

hosted-engine --check-liveliness: This command checks the liveliness page of the ovirt-engine
service. You can also check by connecting to https://engine-fqdn/ovirt-
engine/services/health/ in a web browser.

hosted-engine --connect-storage: This command instructs VDSM to prepare all storage

connections needed for the host and the Manager virtual machine. This is normally run in the
back-end during the self-hosted engine deployment. Ensure that the global maintenance mode
is enabled if you need to run this command to troubleshoot storage issues.

A.2. CLEANING UP A FAILED SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

If a self-hosted engine deployment was interrupted, subsequent deployments will fail with an error
message. The error will differ depending on the stage in which the deployment failed.

If you receive an error message, you can run the cleanup script on the deployment host to clean up the
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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

If you receive an error message, you can run the cleanup script on the deployment host to clean up the
failed deployment. However, it’s best to reinstall your base operating system and start the deployment
from the beginning.

NOTE

The cleanup script has the following limitations:

A disruption in the network connection while the script is running might cause the
script to fail to remove the management bridge or to recreate a working network
configuration.

The script is not designed to clean up any shared storage device used during a
failed deployment. You need to clean the shared storage device before you can
reuse it in a subsequent deployment.

Procedure

1. Run /usr/sbin/ovirt-hosted-engine-cleanup and select y to remove anything left over from the
failed self-hosted engine deployment.

# /usr/sbin/ovirt-hosted-engine-cleanup
This will de-configure the host to run ovirt-hosted-engine-setup from scratch.
Caution, this operation should be used with care.
Are you sure you want to proceed? [y/n]

2. Define whether to reinstall on the same shared storage device or select a different shared
storage device.

To deploy the installation on the same storage domain, clean up the storage domain by
running the following command in the appropriate directory on the server for NFS, Gluster,
PosixFS or local storage domains:

# rm -rf storage_location/*

For iSCSI or Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) storage, see How to Clean Up a Failed Self-
hosted Engine Deployment? for information on how to clean up the storage.

Reboot the self-hosted engine host or select a different shared storage device.

NOTE

The reboot is needed to make sure all the connections to the storage are
cleaned before the next attempt.

3. Redeploy the self-hosted engine.

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APPENDIX B. CUSTOMIZING THE MANAGER VIRTUAL

MACHINE USING AUTOMATION DURING DEPLOYMENT
You can use automation to adjust or otherwise customize the Manager virtual machine during
deployment by using one or more Ansible playbooks. You can run playbooks at the following points
during deployment:

before the self-hosted engine setup

after the self-hosted engine setup, but before storage is configured

after adding the deployment host to the Manager

after the deployment completes entirely

Procedure

1. Write one or more Ansible playbooks to run on the Manager virtual machine at specific points in
the deployment process.

2. Add the playbooks to the appropriate directory under

/usr/share/ansible/collections/ansible_collections/redhat/rhv/roles/hosted_engine_setup/
hooks/:

enginevm_before_engine_setup
Run the playbook before the self-hosted engine setup.
enginevm_after_engine_setup
Run the playbook after the self-hosted engine setup, but before storage is configured.
after_add_host
Run the playbook after adding the deployment host to the Manager.
after_setup
Run the playbook after deployment is completed.

When you run the self-hosted-engine installer, the deployment script runs the ovirt-engine-setup role,
which automatically runs any playbooks in either of these directories.

Additional resources

Deploying the self-hosted engine using the command line

Automating Configuration Tasks using Ansible

Intro to playbooks in the Ansible documentation

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APPENDIX C. MIGRATING DATABASES AND SERVICES TO A

REMOTE SERVER
Although you cannot configure remote databases and services during the automated installation, you
can migrate them to a separate server post-installation.

C.1. MIGRATING THE DATA WAREHOUSE TO A SEPARATE MACHINE

This section describes how to migrate the Data Warehouse database and service from the Red Hat
Virtualization Manager machine to a separate machine. Hosting the Data Warehouse service on a
separate machine reduces the load on each individual machine, and avoids potential conflicts caused by
sharing CPU and memory resources with other processes.

NOTE

Red Hat only supports installing the Data Warehouse database, the Data Warehouse
service and Grafana all on the same machine as each other, even though you can install
each of these components on separate machines from each other.

You have the following migration options:

You can migrate the Data Warehouse service away from the Manager machine and connect it
with the existing Data Warehouse database (ovirt_engine_history).

You can migrate the Data Warehouse database away from the Manager machine and then
migrate the Data Warehouse service.

C.1.1. Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine

Migrate the Data Warehouse database (ovirt_engine_history) before you migrate the Data Warehouse
service. Use engine-backup to create a database backup and restore it on the new database machine.
For more information on engine-backup, run engine-backup --help.

NOTE

Red Hat only supports installing the Data Warehouse database, the Data Warehouse
service and Grafana all on the same machine as each other, even though you can install
each of these components on separate machines from each other.

The new database server must have Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 installed.

Enable the required repositories on the new database server.

C.1.1.1. Enabling the Red Hat Virtualization Manager Repositories

You need to log in and register the Data Warehouse machine with Red Hat Subscription Manager, attach
the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription, and enable the Manager repositories.

Procedure

1. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal user
name and password when prompted:

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 APPENDIX C. MIGRATING DATABASES AND SERVICES TO A REMOTE SERVER

# subscription-manager register

NOTE

If you are using an IPv6 network, use an IPv6 transition mechanism to access the
Content Delivery Network and subscription manager.

2. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

# subscription-manager list --available

3. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

# subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id

NOTE

To view currently attached subscriptions:

# subscription-manager list --consumed

To list all enabled repositories:

# dnf repolist

4. Configure the repositories:

# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhv-4.4-manager-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=fast-datapath-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=jb-eap-7.4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=openstack-16.2-cinderlib-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhceph-4-tools-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-tus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-tus-rpms

5. Set the RHEL version to 8.6:

# subscription-manager release --set=8.6

6. Enable version 12 of the postgresql module.

# dnf module -y enable postgresql:12

7. Enable version 14 of the nodejs module:

# dnf module -y enable nodejs:14

8. Update the Self-Hosted Engine using the procedure Updating a Self-Hosted Engine in the
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8. Update the Self-Hosted Engine using the procedure Updating a Self-Hosted Engine in the
Upgrade Guide.

Additional resources
For information on modules and module streams, see the following sections in Installing, managing, and
removing user-space components

Module streams

Selecting a stream before installation of packages

Resetting module streams

Switching to a later stream

C.1.1.2. Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine

Procedure

1. Create a backup of the Data Warehouse database and configuration files on the Manager:

# engine-backup --mode=backup --scope=grafanadb --scope=dwhdb --scope=files --

file=file_name --log=log_file_name

2. Copy the backup file from the Manager to the new machine:

# scp /tmp/file_name [email protected]:/tmp

3. Install engine-backup on the new machine:

# dnf install ovirt-engine-tools-backup

4. Install the PostgreSQL server package:

# dnf install postgresql-server postgresql-contrib

5. Initialize the PostgreSQL database, start the postgresql service, and ensure that this service
starts on boot:

# su - postgres -c 'initdb'
# systemctl enable postgresql
# systemctl start postgresql

6. Restore the Data Warehouse database on the new machine. file_name is the backup file copied
from the Manager.

# engine-backup --mode=restore --scope=files --scope=grafanadb --scope=dwhdb --

file=file_name --log=log_file_name --provision-dwh-db

When the --provision-* option is used in restore mode, --restore-permissions is applied by

default.

The Data Warehouse database is now hosted on a separate machine from that on which the Manager is

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 APPENDIX C. MIGRATING DATABASES AND SERVICES TO A REMOTE SERVER

The Data Warehouse database is now hosted on a separate machine from that on which the Manager is
hosted. After successfully restoring the Data Warehouse database, a prompt instructs you to run the
engine-setup command. Before running this command, migrate the Data Warehouse service.

C.1.2. Migrating the Data Warehouse Service to a Separate Machine

You can migrate the Data Warehouse service installed and configured on the Red Hat Virtualization
Manager to a separate machine. Hosting the Data Warehouse service on a separate machine helps to
reduce the load on the Manager machine.

Notice that this procedure migrates the Data Warehouse service only.

To migrate the Data Warehouse database (ovirt_engine_history) prior to migrating the Data
Warehouse service, see Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine .

NOTE

Red Hat only supports installing the Data Warehouse database, the Data Warehouse
service and Grafana all on the same machine as each other, even though you can install
each of these components on separate machines from each other.

Prerequisites

You must have installed and configured the Manager and Data Warehouse on the same
machine.

To set up the new Data Warehouse machine, you must have the following:

The password from the Manager’s /etc/ovirt-engine/engine.conf.d/10-setup-

database.conf file.

Allowed access from the Data Warehouse machine to the Manager database machine’s
TCP port 5432.

The username and password for the Data Warehouse database from the Manager’s
/etc/ovirt-engine-dwh/ovirt-engine-dwhd.conf.d/10-setup-database.conf file.
If you migrated the ovirt_engine_history database using the procedures described in
Migrating the Data Warehouse Database to a Separate Machine , the backup includes these
credentials, which you defined during the database setup on that machine.

Installing this scenario requires four steps:

1. Setting up the New Data Warehouse Machine

2. Stopping the Data Warehouse service on the Manager machine

3. Configuring the new Data Warehouse machine

4. Disabling the Data Warehouse package on the Manager machine

C.1.2.1. Setting up the New Data Warehouse Machine

Enable the Red Hat Virtualization repositories and install the Data Warehouse setup package on a Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 8 machine:

1. Enable the required repositories:

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a. Register your system with the Content Delivery Network, entering your Customer Portal
user name and password when prompted:

# subscription-manager register

b. Find the Red Hat Virtualization Manager subscription pool and record the pool ID:

# subscription-manager list --available

c. Use the pool ID to attach the subscription to the system:

# subscription-manager attach --pool=pool_id

d. Configure the repositories:

# subscription-manager repos \
--disable='*' \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-eus-rpms \
--enable=rhv-4.4-manager-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=fast-datapath-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=jb-eap-7.4-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

# subscription-manager release --set=8.6

2. Enable the pki-deps module.

# dnf module -y enable pki-deps

3. Ensure that all packages currently installed are up to date:

# dnf upgrade --nobest

4. Install the ovirt-engine-dwh-setup package:

# dnf install ovirt-engine-dwh-setup

C.1.2.2. Stopping the Data Warehouse Service on the Manager Machine

Procedure

1. Stop the Data Warehouse service:

# systemctl stop ovirt-engine-dwhd.service

2. If the database is hosted on a remote machine, you must manually grant access by editing the
postgres.conf file. Edit the /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf file and modify the
listen_addresses line so that it matches the following:

listen_addresses = '*'

If the line does not exist or has been commented out, add it manually.

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 APPENDIX C. MIGRATING DATABASES AND SERVICES TO A REMOTE SERVER

If the database is hosted on the Manager machine and was configured during a clean setup of
the Red Hat Virtualization Manager, access is granted by default.

3. Restart the postgresql service:

# systemctl restart postgresql

C.1.2.3. Configuring the New Data Warehouse Machine

The order of the options or settings shown in this section may differ depending on your environment.

1. If you are migrating both the ovirt_engine_history database and the Data Warehouse service
to the same machine, run the following, otherwise proceed to the next step.

# sed -i '/^ENGINE_DB_/d' \
/etc/ovirt-engine-dwh/ovirt-engine-dwhd.conf.d/10-setup-database.conf

# sed -i \
-e 's;^\(OVESETUP_ENGINE_CORE/enable=bool\):True;\1:False;' \
-e '/^OVESETUP_CONFIG\/fqdn/d' \
/etc/ovirt-engine-setup.conf.d/20-setup-ovirt-post.conf

2. Remove the apache/grafana PKI files, so that they are regenerated by engine-setup with
correct values:

# rm -f \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/certs/apache.cer \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/certs/apache-grafana.cer \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/keys/apache.key.nopass \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/keys/apache-grafana.key.nopass \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/apache-ca.pem \
/etc/pki/ovirt-engine/apache-grafana-ca.pem

3. Run the engine-setup command to begin configuration of Data Warehouse on the machine:

# engine-setup

4. Press Enter to accept the automatically detected host name, or enter an alternative host name
and press Enter:

Host fully qualified DNS name of this server [autodetected host name]:

5. Press Enter to automatically configure the firewall, or type No and press Enter to maintain
existing settings:

Setup can automatically configure the firewall on this system.

Note: automatic configuration of the firewall may overwrite current settings.
Do you want Setup to configure the firewall? (Yes, No) [Yes]:

If you choose to automatically configure the firewall, and no firewall managers are active, you
are prompted to select your chosen firewall manager from a list of supported options. Type the
name of the firewall manager and press Enter. This applies even in cases where only one option
is listed.

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6. Enter the fully qualified domain name and password for the Manager. Press Enter to accept the
default values in each other field:

Host fully qualified DNS name of the engine server []: engine-fqdn
Setup needs to do some actions on the remote engine server. Either automatically, using ssh
as root to access it, or you will be prompted to manually perform each such action.
Please choose one of the following:
1 - Access remote engine server using ssh as root
2 - Perform each action manually, use files to copy content around
(1, 2) [1]:
ssh port on remote engine server [22]:
root password on remote engine server engine-fqdn: password

7. Enter the FQDN and password for the Manager database machine. Press Enter to accept the
default values in each other field:

Engine database host []: manager-db-fqdn

Engine database port [5432]:
Engine database secured connection (Yes, No) [No]:
Engine database name [engine]:
Engine database user [engine]:
Engine database password: password

8. Confirm your installation settings:

Please confirm installation settings (OK, Cancel) [OK]:

The Data Warehouse service is now configured on the remote machine. Proceed to disable the Data
Warehouse service on the Manager machine.

C.1.2.4. Disabling the Data Warehouse Service on the Manager Machine

Prerequisites

The Grafana service on the Manager machine is disabled:

# systemctl disable --now grafana-server.service

Procedure

1. On the Manager machine, restart the Manager:

# service ovirt-engine restart

2. Run the following command to modify the file /etc/ovirt-engine-setup.conf.d/20-setup-

ovirt-post.conf and set the options to False:

# sed -i \
-e 's;^\(OVESETUP_DWH_CORE/enable=bool\):True;\1:False;' \
-e 's;^\(OVESETUP_DWH_CONFIG/remoteEngineConfigured=bool\):True;\1:False;' \
/etc/ovirt-engine-setup.conf.d/20-setup-ovirt-post.conf

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 APPENDIX C. MIGRATING DATABASES AND SERVICES TO A REMOTE SERVER

# sed -i \
-e 's;^\(OVESETUP_GRAFANA_CORE/enable=bool\):True;\1:False;' \
/etc/ovirt-engine-setup.conf.d/20-setup-ovirt-post.conf

3. Disable the Data Warehouse service:

# systemctl disable ovirt-engine-dwhd.service

4. Remove the Data Warehouse files:

# rm -f /etc/ovirt-engine-dwh/ovirt-engine-dwhd.conf.d/*.conf /var/lib/ovirt-engine-
dwh/backups/*

The Data Warehouse service is now hosted on a separate machine from the Manager.

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APPENDIX D. CONFIGURING A HOST FOR PCI

PASSTHROUGH

NOTE

This is one in a series of topics that show how to set up and configure SR-IOV on Red Hat
Virtualization. For more information, see Setting Up and Configuring SR-IOV

Enabling PCI passthrough allows a virtual machine to use a host device as if the device were directly
attached to the virtual machine. To enable the PCI passthrough function, you must enable virtualization
extensions and the IOMMU function. The following procedure requires you to reboot the host. If the
host is attached to the Manager already, ensure you place the host into maintenance mode first.

Prerequisites

Ensure that the host hardware meets the requirements for PCI device passthrough and
assignment. See PCI Device Requirements for more information.

Configuring a Host for PCI Passthrough

1. Enable the virtualization extension and IOMMU extension in the BIOS. See Enabling Intel VT-x
and AMD-V virtualization hardware extensions in BIOS in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Virtualization Deployment and Administration Guide for more information.

2. Enable the IOMMU flag in the kernel by selecting the Hostdev Passthrough & SR-IOV check
box when adding the host to the Manager or by editing the grub configuration file manually.

To enable the IOMMU flag from the Administration Portal, see Adding Standard Hosts to
the Red Hat Virtualization Manager and Kernel Settings Explained.

To edit the grub configuration file manually, see Enabling IOMMU Manually.

3. For GPU passthrough, you need to run additional configuration steps on both the host and the
guest system. See GPU device passthrough: Assigning a host GPU to a single virtual machine in
Setting up an NVIDIA GPU for a virtual machine in Red Hat Virtualization for more information.

Enabling IOMMU Manually

1. Enable IOMMU by editing the grub configuration file.

NOTE

If you are using IBM POWER8 hardware, skip this step as IOMMU is enabled by
default.

For Intel, boot the machine, and append intel_iommu=on to the end of the
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line in the grub configuration file.

# vi /etc/default/grub
...
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nofb splash=quiet console=tty0 ... intel_iommu=on
...

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 APPENDIX D. CONFIGURING A HOST FOR PCI PASSTHROUGH

For AMD, boot the machine, and append amd_iommu=on to the end of the
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line in the grub configuration file.

# vi /etc/default/grub
…​
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nofb splash=quiet console=tty0 …​ amd_iommu=on
…​

NOTE

If intel_iommu=on or an AMD IOMMU is detected, you can try adding

iommu=pt. The pt option only enables IOMMU for devices used in
passthrough and provides better host performance. However, the option
might not be supported on all hardware. Revert to the previous option if the
pt option doesn’t work for your host.

If the passthrough fails because the hardware does not support interrupt
remapping, you can consider enabling the allow_unsafe_interrupts option if
the virtual machines are trusted. The allow_unsafe_interrupts is not
enabled by default because enabling it potentially exposes the host to MSI
attacks from virtual machines. To enable the option:

# vi /etc/modprobe.d
options vfio_iommu_type1 allow_unsafe_interrupts=1

2. Refresh the grub.cfg file and reboot the host for these changes to take effect:

# grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

# reboot

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APPENDIX E. PREVENTING KERNEL MODULES FROM

LOADING AUTOMATICALLY
You can prevent a kernel module from being loaded automatically, whether the module is loaded
directly, loaded as a dependency from another module, or during the boot process.

Procedure

1. The module name must be added to a configuration file for the modprobe utility. This file must
reside in the configuration directory /etc/modprobe.d.
For more information on this configuration directory, see the man page modprobe.d.

2. Ensure the module is not configured to get loaded in any of the following:

/etc/modprobe.conf

/etc/modprobe.d/*

/etc/rc.modules

/etc/sysconfig/modules/*

# modprobe --showconfig <_configuration_file_name_>

3. If the module appears in the output, ensure it is ignored and not loaded:

# modprobe --ignore-install <_module_name_>

4. Unload the module from the running system, if it is loaded:

# modprobe -r <_module_name_>

5. Prevent the module from being loaded directly by adding the blacklist line to a configuration
file specific to the system - for example /etc/modprobe.d/local-dontload.conf:

# echo "blacklist <_module_name_> >> /etc/modprobe.d/local-dontload.conf

NOTE

This step does not prevent a module from loading if it is a required or an optional
dependency of another module.

6. Prevent optional modules from being loading on demand:

# echo "install <_module_name_>/bin/false" >> /etc/modprobe.d/local-dontload.conf

IMPORTANT

If the excluded module is required for other hardware, excluding it might cause
unexpected side effects.

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 APPENDIX E. PREVENTING KERNEL MODULES FROM LOADING AUTOMATICALLY

7. Make a backup copy of your initramfs:

# cp /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img.$(date +%m-%d-

%H%M%S).bak

8. If the kernel module is part of the initramfs, rebuild your initial ramdisk image, omitting the
module:

# dracut --omit-drivers <_module_name_> -f

9. Get the current kernel command line parameters:

# grub2-editenv - list | grep kernelopts

10. Append <_module_name_>.blacklist=1 rd.driver.blacklist=<_module_name_> to the

generated output:

# grub2-editenv - set kernelopts="<> <_module_name_>.blacklist=1 rd.driver.blacklist=

<_module_name_>"

For example:

# grub2-editenv - set kernelopts="root=/dev/mapper/rhel_example-root ro crashkernel=auto

resume=/dev/mapper/rhel_example-swap rd.lvm.lv=rhel_example/root
rd.lvm.lv=rhel_example/swap <_module_name_>.blacklist=1 rd.driver.blacklist=
<_module_name_>"

11. Make a backup copy of the kdump initramfs:

# cp /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)kdump.img /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)kdump.img.$(date

+%m-%d-%H%M%S).bak

12. Append rd.driver.blacklist=<_module_name_> to the KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND

setting in /etc/sysconfig/kdump to omit it from the kdump initramfs:

# sed -i '/^KDUMP_COMMANDLINE_APPEND=/s/"$/ rd.driver.blacklist=module_name"/'

/etc/sysconfig/kdump

13. Restart the kdump service to pick up the changes to the kdump initrd:

# kdumpctl restart

14. Rebuild the kdump initial ramdisk image:

# mkdumprd -f /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r)kdump.img

15. Reboot the system.

E.1. REMOVING A MODULE TEMPORARILY

You can remove a module temporarily.

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

Procedure

1. Run modprobe to remove any currently-loaded module:

# modprobe -r <module name>

2. If the module cannot be unloaded, a process or another module might still be using the module.
If so, terminate the process and run the modpole command written above another time to
unload the module.

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 APPENDIX F. SECURING RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

APPENDIX F. SECURING RED HAT VIRTUALIZATION

This information is specific to Red Hat Virtualization. It does not cover fundamental security practices
related to any of the following:

Disabling unnecessary services

Authentication

Authorization

Accounting

Penetration testing and hardening of non-RHV services

Encryption of sensitive application data

Prerequisites

You should be proficient in your organization’s security standards and practices. If possible,
consult with your organization’s Security Officer.

Consult the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security hardening before deploying RHEL hosts.

F.1. APPLYING THE DISA STIG PROFILE IN RHEL BASED HOSTS AND
THE STANDALONE MANAGER
When installing RHV, you can select the DISA STIG profile with the UI installer, which is the profile
provided by RHEL 8.

IMPORTANT

The DISA STIG profile is not supported for Red Hat Virtualization Host (RHVH).

Procedure

1. In the Installation Summary screen, select Security Policy.

2. In the Security Policy screen, set the Apply security policy to On.

3. Select DISA STIG for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

4. Click Select profile. This action adds a green checkmark next to the profile and adds packages
to the list of Changes that were done or need to be done. Follow the onscreen instructions if
they direct you to make any changes.

5. Click Done.

6. On the Installation Summary screen, verify that the status of Security Policy is Everything
okay.

7. Reboot the host.

F.1.1. Enabling DISA STIG in a self-hosted engine

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

You can enable DISA STIG in a self-hosted engine during deployment when using the command-line.

Procedure

1. Start the self-hosted engine deployment script. See Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-
hosted engine using the command line.

2. When the deployment script prompts Do you want to apply an OpenSCAP security profile?,
enter Yes.

3. When the deployment script prompts Please provide the security profile you would like to
use?, enter stig.

F.2. APPLYING THE PCI-DSS PROFILE IN RHV HOSTS AND THE

STANDALONE MANAGER
When installing RHVH, you can select the PCI-DSS profile with the UI installer, which is the profile
provided by RHEL 8.

Procedure

1. In the Installation Summary screen, select Security Policy.

2. In the Security Policy screen, set the Apply security policy to On.

3. Select PCI-DSS v3.2.1 Control Baseline for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

4. Click Select profile. This action adds a green checkmark next to the profile and adds packages
to the list of Changes that were done or need to be done. Follow the onscreen instructions if
they direct you to make any changes.

5. Click Done.

6. In the Installation Summary screen, verify that the status of Security Policy is Everything
okay.

7. Reboot the host.

F.2.1. Enabling PCI-DSS in a self-hosted engine

You can enable PCI-DSS in a self-hosted engine during deployment when using the command-line.

Procedure

1. Start the self-hosted engine deployment script. See Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-
hosted engine using the command line.

2. When the deployment script prompts Do you want to apply an OpenSCAP security profile?,
enter Yes.

3. When the deployment script prompts Please provide the security profile you would like to
use?, enter pci-dss.

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 APPENDIX G. DEFINING ALLOWED CPU TYPES IN SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

APPENDIX G. DEFINING ALLOWED CPU TYPES IN SELF-

HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

Procedure

1. Create a file named deploy.json, and from the table shown below, select a CPU type for the
he_cluster_cpu_type. For example, if the CPU type you want is Secure Intel Nehalem Family,
then the deploy.json should look like the following:

[root@host ~]# cat deploy.json

{
"he_cluster_cpu_type": "Secure Intel Nehalem Family"
}

2. Provide the deploy.json file to the hosted-engine --deploy process.

[root@host ~]# hosted-engine --deploy --ansible-extra-vars=@/root/deploy.json

Table G.1. Allowed CPU Types

CPU type name CPU properties

Intel Nehalem Family vmx,nx,model_Nehalem:Nehalem:x86_64

Secure Intel Nehalem Family vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,model_Nehalem:Nehalem,+spec-

ctrl,+ssbd:x86_64

Intel Westmere Family aes,vmx,nx,model_Westmere:Westmere:x86_64

Secure Intel Westmere Family aes,vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,model_Westmere:Westmere,+

pcid,+spec-ctrl,+ssbd:x8_64

Intel SandyBridge Family vmx,nx,model_SandyBridge:SandyBridge:x86_64

Secure Intel SandyBridge Family vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,md_clear,model_SandyBridge:San

dyBridge,+pcid,+spec-ctrl,+ssbd,+md-clear:x86_64

Intel IvyBridge Family vmx,nx,model_IvyBridge:IvyBridge:x86_64

Secure Intel IvyBridge Family vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,md_clear,model_IvyBridge:IvyBrid

ge,+pcid,+spec-ctrl,+ssbd,+md-clear:x86_64

Intel Haswell Family vmx,nx,model_Haswell-noTSX:Haswell-

noTSX:x86_64

Secure Intel Haswell Family vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,md_clear,model_Haswell-

noTSX:Haswell-noTSX,+spec-ctrl,+ssbd,+md-
clear:x86_64

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

CPU type name CPU properties

Intel Broadwell Family vmx,nx,model_Broadwell-noTSX:Broadwell-

noTSX:x86_64

Secure Intel Broadwell Family vmx,spec_ctrl,ssbd,md_clear,model_Broadwell-

noTSX:Broadwell-noTSX,+spec-ctrl,+ssbd,+md-
clear:x86_64

Intel Skylake Client Family vmx,nx,model_Skylake-Client:Skylake-Client,-hle,-

rtm,-mpx:x86_64

Secure Intel Skylake Client Family vmx,ssbd,md_clear,model_Skylake-Client-noTSX-

IBRS:Skylake-Client-noTSX-IBRS,+ssbd,+md-clear,-
mpx:x86_64

Intel Skylake Server Family vmx,nx,model_Skylake-Server:Skylake-Server,-hle,-

rtm,-mpx:x86_64

Secure Intel Skylake Server Family vmx,ssbd,md_clear,model_Skylake-Server-noTSX-

IBRS:Skylake-Server-noTSX-IBRS,+ssbd,+md-clear,-
mpx:x86_64

Intel Cascadelake Server Family vmx,model_Cascadelake-Server:Cascadelake-

Server,-hle,-rtm,-mpx:x86_64

Secure Intel Cascadelake Server Family vmx,model_Cascadelake-Server-

noTSX:Cascadelake-Server-noTSX,-mpx:x86_64

Intel Icelake Server Family vmx,model_Icelake-Server-noTSX:Icelake-Server-

noTSX,-mpx:x86_64

Secure Intel Icelake Server Family vmx,arch-capabilities,rdctl-no,ibrs-all,skip-l1dfl-

vmentry,mds-no,pschange-mc-no,taa-
no,model_Icelake-Server-noTSX:Icelake-Server-
noTSX,+arch-capabilities,+rdctl-no,+ibrs-all,+skip-
l1dfl-vmentry,+mds-no,+pschange-mc-no,+taa-no,-
mpx:x86_64

AMD Opteron G4 svm,nx,model_Opteron_G4:Opteron_G4:x86_64

AMD Opteron G5 svm,nx,model_Opteron_G5:Opteron_G5:x86_64

AMD EPYC svm,nx,model_EPYC:EPYC:x86_64

Secure AMD EPYC svm,nx,ibpb,ssbd,model_EPYC:EPYC,+ibpb,+virt-

ssbd:x86_64

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 APPENDIX G. DEFINING ALLOWED CPU TYPES IN SELF-HOSTED ENGINE DEPLOYMENT

CPU type name CPU properties

IBM POWER8 powernv,model_POWER8:POWER8:ppc64

IBM POWER9 powernv,model_POWER9:POWER9:ppc64

IBM z114, z196 sie,model_z196-base:z196-base:s390x

IBM zBC12, zEC12 sie,model_zEC12-base:zEC12-base:s390x

IBM z13s, z13 sie,model_z13-base:z13-base:s390x

IBM z14 sie,model_z14-base:z14-base:s390x

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Red Hat Virtualization 4.4 Installing Red Hat Virtualization as a self-hosted engine using the command line

APPENDIX H. LEGAL NOTICE

Copyright © 2022 Red Hat, Inc.

Licensed under the (Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International License). Derived from
documentation for the (oVirt Project). If you distribute this document or an adaptation of it, you must
provide the URL for the original version.

Modified versions must remove all Red Hat trademarks.

Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Red Hat logo, the Shadowman logo, JBoss, OpenShift, Fedora,
the Infinity logo, and RHCE are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the United States and other
countries.

Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.

Java® is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

XFS® is a trademark of Silicon Graphics International Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or
other countries.

MySQL® is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in the United States, the European Union and other
countries.

Node.js® is an official trademark of Joyent. Red Hat Software Collections is not formally related to or
endorsed by the official Joyent Node.js open source or commercial project.

The OpenStack® Word Mark and OpenStack logo are either registered trademarks/service marks or
trademarks/service marks of the OpenStack Foundation, in the United States and other countries and
are used with the OpenStack Foundation’s permission. We are not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored
by the OpenStack Foundation, or the OpenStack community.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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