Veritas Access Installation Guide

To create a virtual machine for Veritas Access installation

1. After the networking configuration is complete and the datastore is defined, create the virtual machines.

   • Select the ESXi host IP/hostname in the top of the tree structure in the leftmost frame.

   • From the file menu, select New Virtual Machine, which opens a pop-up for creating the virtual machine.

   • Select the configuration as Custom and click Next to decide on the exact configuration of the virtual machine.

   • Enter the virtual machine name of your choice and click Next.

   • Select the datastore that stores the virtual machine vmdk file and click Next.

   • Select the virtual machine version that you want to use and click Next. Veritas recommends version 8.

   • Select the guest operating system as Linux and version as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or 7 (64-bit) and click Next.

   Select the number of CPUs. Veritas recommends eight cores that can be:

   • Two virtual sockets and four cores per virtual socket.

   • One virtual socket and eight cores per virtual socket.

   • Any higher number of cores as per your workload.

     Select the memory configuration. Veritas recommends 32 GB.

   • In the network configuration, select the number of NICs as four.

     For NIC1, select the public network virtual switch and validate that the adapter is correct.

     For NIC2, select the public network virtual switch and validate that the adapter is correct.

     For NIC3, select the private network virtual switch 1 and validate that the adapter is correct.

     For NIC4, select the private network virtual switch 2 and validate that the adapter is correct.

   • Select the SCSI controller as VMware Paravirtual.

   • In the disk configuration page, select Create a new virtual disk and click Next.

   • Select the boot disk size. Veritas recommends 100 GB.

   • Select the disk provisioning type as Thick Provision Eager Zeroed.

   • Select the datastore as Specify a data store or data store cluster and click Next.

     After selecting the datastore, click Next.

   • Select the Virtual device node as default (SCSI (0:0) for the boot disk) and click Next.

   • Review the virtual machine configuration and click Finish to create the virtual machine.

     The virtual machine creation task is complete.

2. Select the virtual machine and click Edit virtual machine settings to validate the following:

   • There should be four network adapters - two for the public network and two for the private network.

   • Verify that the memory and CPU configuration is correct.

3. Repeat Step 1 and Step 2 to create the second virtual machine, which is used to form the two-node Veritas Access cluster.
4. Add LUNs/DAS disks to the virtual machines.

   To add local DAS disks:

   • Select the virtual machine and click Edit virtual machine settings.

   • Click the Add button.

   • Select the device type as Hard Disk and click Next.

   • Select Create a new virtual disk in the type of disk and click Next.

   • Select the DAS disk size. Veritas recommends 100 GB.

   • Select the disk provisioning type as Thick Provision Eager Zeroed.

   • Select the datastore as Specify a data store or data store cluster and click Next.

   • Select the Virtual device node as SCSI (1:0) for the first SAS disk and click Next.

     Once all the required DAS disk creation is complete, complete the following:

     • Select the SCSI controller 1, which is used for DAS disks.

     • Set the SCSI Bus sharing mode as Virtual.

       This mode is required so that DAS disks are claimed in VxVM enclosure-based naming (EBN) mode and host name is only prefixed by VxVM when disks are in EBN mode, which distinguishes it from the shared LUNs present in the arrays.

   • Click OK to create the DAS disk.

     Repeat this step for creating the DAS disk for other Veritas Access nodes.

5. Map the shared disks to the LUNs. Mapping of LUNs from an array is only supported using Raw Device Mapping (RDM) mode.

   Mapping shared LUNs to the first virtual machine:

   • Select the first virtual machine and click Edit virtual machine settings.

   • Click the Add button.

   • Select the device type as Hard Disk and click Next.

   • Select the LUN that you want to map and click Next.

   • Select the datastore that stores the LUN mapping or select Store with virtual machine.

   • Select the compatibility mode as Physical to access the array LUN hardware directly.

   • Select the Virtual device node as SCSI (2:0) for the shared disk and click Next.

   • Review the mapping of the disk and click Finish to map the array LUN disk to the virtual machine.

     Repeat this Step for the number of LUNs that you want to map and update the Virtual device node to the next free SCSI controller port.

   Once all the required LUNs are mapped, complete the following:

   • Select the SCSI controller 2, which is used for shared LUNs.

   • Set the SCSI Bus sharing mode as Virtual.

     This mode is required so that the shared LUNs are claimed in VxVM enclosure-based naming (EBN) mode. This distinguishes it from the shared LUNs present in the arrays.

   • Click OK to complete the mapping of LUNs in RDM mode.

   Mapping shared LUNs to the second virtual machine:

   • Select the first virtual machine and click Edit virtual machine settings.

   • Click the Add button.

   • Select the device type as Hard Disk and click Next.

   • Select Use an existing Virtual Disk in the type of disk and click Next.

   • Navigate to the corresponding disk path in the datastore where the shared disk was stored when they were mapped to the first virtual machine.

   • Select the Virtual device node as SCSI (2:0) for the shared disk and click Next. Ensure that the sequence of disk mapping is the same as that of the first virtual machine and mapping has been done to the same SCSI controller to achieve a shared disk configuration.

   • Review the mapping of the disk and click Finish to map the array LUN disk to the virtual machine.

     Repeat this Step for the number of shared LUNs that you have mapped to other virtual machines and update the Virtual device node to the next free SCSI controller port.

   Once all the required LUNs are mapped, complete the following:

   • Select the SCSI controller 2, which is used for the shared LUNs.

   • Set the SCSI Bus sharing mode as Virtual.

     This mode is required so that the shared LUNs are claimed in VxVM enclosure-based naming (EBN) mode. This distinguishes it from the shared LUNs present in the arrays.

   • Click OK to complete the mapping of LUNs in RDM mode.

     The networking and storage configuration is complete for the virtual machines.

6. Install the RHEL 6 Update 6, 7, or 8 or RHEL 7 Update 3 or 4 (64-bit) operating system that is supported by the Veritas Access installer.

   See Installing the operating system on the target Veritas Access cluster.