Preparing Target Installation for Hot Standby Functions

If you are running in a hot standby configuration, you have a license key installed in your source installation that is tied to the MAC addresses of your machines. In order for this key to function on your target installation, the MAC addresses present in the key must be applied to your new virtual machines.

For the purposes of this section, we will be referring to the two virtual machines of the target installation as site-a and site-b.

This procedure should be executed before the actual rehoming operation begins. The assignment of the MAC addresses to the virtual machines will be done at the hypervisor level and requires that the virtual machines of the target installation be powered down and back up as part of the process.

Requirements

Ensure you have the following items before starting these procedures.

A. SSH client (such as PuTTY)

B. A web browser with access to the VMware management console (for VMware based installations).

C. The password for the visionems account for all machines running Skylight Director / orchestrator software.

D. The root level credentials for the hypervisor you are using.

• Root for VMware
• A user with virsh rights for KVM

E. The target installation virtual machines should be powered up and on the network.

Identifying MAC Addresses

To identify the MAC addresses

1. Open an SSH terminal to the active Skylight orchestrator core machine (source installation) on port 22.

2. Log in as the visionems user.

3. Display the license key by entering: cat /etc/drbd-proxy.license
   An output similar to the following will be displayed:

#
# DRBD Proxy 3.0 license created 2019-07-18 21:17:07 +0200
#
# Now follows a list of addresses for which this license is valid.
#
mac-address: 00:15:AD:14:B4:58
mac-address: 00:15:AD:27:02:E0
#
# License options
#
features: lzma
# signature:
signature: 4f752a1043e9222f25aae7e1cd663fb51e3929eb9868091d110ae2e9a4ae0f63

4. The site-a and site-b MAC addresses are listed in the output above in order with the macaddress: prefix. Take note of these as they will be used in the procedures that follow. They will be referred to as site-a-mac and site-b-mac respectively.

5. Change to the scripts directory by entering: cd /etc

6. Transfer the hot standby license file (drbd-proxy.license) to the virtual machines of the target installation under the /data/backups directory.

7. Enter: exit

Specifying KVM MAC Address

If you are running in a KVM environment, run this procedure to assign your MAC addresses.

To specify the MAC address in KVM

1. Using an SSH client, log in to your KVM host using credentials that will give you access to the virsh commands.

2. Once you are logged in, enter the virsh command shell by entering: virsh

3. At the virsh prompt, list the virtual appliances by entering: list

virsh # list
Id Name State
---------------------- ------------------------------
1 SDLS running
2 SDLS_Prim running
6 orchestrator-site-a running
7 orchestrator-site-b running

4. If the orchestrator virtual appliances are running, stop them by issuing the shutdown commands:

• shutdown orchestrator-site-a
• shutdown orchestrator-site-b

5. Once the virtual appliances are stopped, edit the configuration of site-a by entering: edit orchestrator-site-a

6. Using the arrow keys, scroll down to the first interface block. It will appear similar to this:

<interface type='direct' trustGuestRxFilters='yes'>
<mac address='52:54:00:44:b5:03'/>
<source dev='eth1' mode='bridge'/>
<model type='e1000'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03'
function='0x0'/>
</interface>

7. Using the editor, replace the MAC address with the site-a-mac. The resulting block should resemble this:

<interface type='direct' trustGuestRxFilters='yes'>
<mac address='00:15:AD:14:B4:58/>
<source dev='eth1' mode='bridge'/>
<model type='e1000'/>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03'
function='0x0'/>
</interface>

8. Save the changes by pressing Ctrl-X and, when asked, confirm the change by entering: Y

9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 for the site-b virtual machine, assigning site-b-mac to the first interface block.

10. Once both virtual appliances have been modified, they can be restarted in preparation for the rehoming procedure.

• start orchestrator-site-a
• start orchestrator-site-b

Specifying VMware MAC Address

If you are running in a VMware environment, run this procedure to assign your MAC addresses.

To specify the MAC address in VMware

1. Open your browser to the VMware console and log in with the root credentials.
   

2. Once you are logged in, identify your Skylight orchestrator virtual machines.
   

3. If they are running, stop them by clicking on the Power off icon. Once stopped, the display will look like this:

4. Select the virtual machine you will be using as the site-a virtual Machine, and click on the Actions icon. In the Actions menu, select the Edit Settings option.

5. Expand Network Adapter 1 and, under the MAC Address, select the Manual option. This will allow the MAC address to be edited.

6. Replace the MAC address that was auto-assigned with site-a-mac as shown below.

7. Once the MAC address is entered, click on the Save button to commit the change.

8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for the site-b virtual Machine, assigning site-b-mac to its Network Adapter 1.

9. Once both virtual machines have been modified, they can be restarted in preparation for the rehoming procedure.