Install SolusVM with OpenVZ and KVM nodes

Introduction

In this tutorial I will show you how to install SolusVM with 2 nodes, 1 as master with OpenVZ virtualization and 1 as a slave with KVM virtualization.

Prerequisites

• 2 servers with root access

Step 1 - Order your servers

• Login to your account, for example at Hetzner from Hetzner Accounts
• Choose the master servers you would like to use, for example from Hetzner dedicated servers and click Order
• Choose your server location - it's up to you
• From Operating System choose Rescue System
• From right sidebar click Order Now
• Now you will be redirected to ordering page
• From server login details if you'd like to access your server using SSH key then choose Public key and select your machine public key then click Save
• Now click the checkout button
• And finally check the agreement checkbox and then click Order in obligation button
• Now you should receive the order confirmation mail
• Repeat these steps for the slave server and wait until your servers are ready; you will get an email once the servers are ready

Step 2 - Install CentOS using VNC

• Go to the server list in Robot, you will now see your 2 brand new server
• Click on the server you want to use as a master node
• Click VNC tab, choose your installation language and from Distribution choose CentOS 6.10
• Click on Activate VNC installation
• Now go to Reset tab and choose Execute an automatic hardware reset, then click send
• Wait some time until your server reboots and then open any VNC Viewer and login to your server using the provided credentials from the VNC tab
• You should now see a graphical user interface for the CentOS installation. Just follow the steps on screen
• And of course repeat these steps for the slave node

Step 3 - Install SolusVM master

• After you finish installing the operating system on both servers, login to your master server using your root account like ssh root@10.0.0.1
• Update your package manager with # yum update
• Install wget and nano with # yum install wget nano
• Download SolusVM with the command # wget https://files.soluslabs.com/install.sh
• And install it with # sh install.sh
• Now it will ask you for installation type
  • For the master node type 2 to install OpenVZ with basic templates and hit Enter
• Wait until the installer finishes the installation process and you should now see SolusVM UI Login Information
• Now login to your server control panel from (https://10.0.0.1/admincp)
• First thing you would see now is the License Page, go to official SolusVM website and obtain a trail license from SolusVM
• Update your license and start installing the slave node

Step 4 - Install SolusVM slave

• Login to your slave server using your root account like ssh root@10.0.0.2
• Update your package manager with # yum update
• Install wget and nano with # yum install wget nano
• Download SolusVM with the command # wget https://files.soluslabs.com/install.sh
• And install it with # sh install.sh
• Now it will ask you for installation type
  • Select type 4 to install the KVM node and hit Enter
• Wait until the installer finishes the installation process; you should now see the node key ID Key and ID Password, keep them in an external text file to use later

Step 5 - Configure network and setup bridge

• First you should backup your driver file
  • # cp /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0--backup
• Now edit your network driver with # nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 like this:

      TYPE=Ethernet
      NAME=eth0
      UUID=<device-uuid>
      DEVICE=eth0
      ONBOOT=yes
      BRIDGE=br0
      HWADDR=<network-driver-mac-address>

• And add your bridge with # nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-br0 like this:

      TYPE=Bridge
      BOOTPROTO=none
      DEFROUTE=yes
      IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no
      IPV6INIT=no
      IPV6_AUTOCONF=yes
      IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes
      IPV6_PEERDNS=yes
      IPV6_PEERROUTES=yes
      IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no
      NAME=bridge0
      DEVICE=br0
      ONBOOT=yes
      IPADDR=10.0.0.2
      PREFIX=23
      GATEWAY=<network-gateway>
      DNS1=8.8.8.8
      DNS2=8.8.4.4
      IPV6_PRIVACY=no
      IPV6_PEERDNS=yes
      IPV6_PEERROUTES=yes
      HWADDR=<network-driver-mac-address>

• Restart your network # service network restart

Step 6 - Add the slave node to master

• Back to master server control panel, from nodes go to add node
• Fill your nodes data like this:
  • Node Name : whatever you want e.g. kvm01
  • Type : KVM
  • IP Address : 10.0.0.2
  • Hostname : <your_host> e.g. kvm-01.example.com
  • SSH Port : 22
  • ID Key : <your-slave-node-id-key>
  • ID Password: <your-slave-node-id-password>
  • Country : your country
  • City : your city
  • LV Group : your node lv-group you can know it from executing # vgdisplay on slave node
• Click Add Node

Step 7 - Add IP Blocks to the node

• Go to IP Blocks from your master node control panel and click Add IPv4 Block
• Fill the form inputs like this:
  • Block Name : whatever you want
  • Gateway : you can know it from Hetzner Robot in the IP tab
  • Netmask : you can also know it from Hetzner Robot
  • Nameserver1: 8.8.8.8 Google DNS 1
  • Nameserver2: 8.8.4.4 Google DNS 2
  • choose the node that this block belongs to
• After adding the IP Block go to Hetzner Robot and order IPs for each node (as many as you need). Please note that Hetzner allows you to order maximum 6 single IPs, so if you need more then you have to order a subnet
• You will receive an email shortly confirming your order
• Now go to the IP Block which you've created and add the IPs to it
• Repeat these steps for the slave node and we are done

Conclusion

We have learned how to install CentOS from a VNC interface, setup LVM group on multiple drives, install SolusVM on fresh servers as a master and slave with both OpenVZ and KVM virtualization, setup network bridge and add IPs to the server to use it.

License: MIT