Create a VM for the Controller

In this document, I show how to provition an Ubuntu 20.04.5 Server virtual machine instance for a CHI controller node. Make sure the VM gets at least 32GB RAM and 40GB storage with 8 CPUs.

1. Install necessary packages and perform checks

   $ sudo apt install cpu-checker
   $ sudo apt update
   $ sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-daemon-system libvirt-clients bridge-utils virtinst
   $ sudo adduser 'expeca' libvirt
   $ sudo adduser 'expeca' kvm
   $ virsh list --all
   $ sudo systemctl status libvirtd
   

2. Download OS image

   $ cd /var/lib/libvirt/boot/
   $ sudo wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/focal/ubuntu-20.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso

3. Create the network bridges

   Assume eno8303 interface is reserved for management purposes. Interfaces ens1f0 and ens1f1 will be used for Openstack's internal and public networks respectively. Therefore, 3 bridges are needed for a VM: ssh, private network, and public network. Replace the contents of /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml with the following

   network:
     ethernets:
       eno8303:
         dhcp4: false
         dhcp6: false
       ens1f0:
         dhcp4: false
         dhcp6: false
       ens1f1:
         dhcp4: false
         dhcp6: false
     version: 2
   
     bridges:
       mgmt-br:
         interfaces: [eno8303]
         addresses: [10.10.2.3/16]
         gateway4: 10.10.1.1
         nameservers:
           search:
           - expeca
           addresses:
           - 10.10.1.1
       internal-br:
         interfaces: [ens1f0]
         addresses: [10.20.111.10/23]
       public-br:
         interfaces: [ens1f1]
         addresses: [10.0.87.10/24]

   and apply the configuration using sudo netplan generate && sudo netplan apply

4. Install the virtual machine

   $ virt-install \
   --name edge-vm1 \
   --ram 32000 \
   --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/vm1.img,size=40 \
   --vcpus 8 \
   --os-variant ubuntu20.04 \
   --network bridge=mgmt-br \
   --network bridge=public-br \
   --network bridge=internal-br \
   --graphics none \
   --console pty,target_type=serial \
   --location /var/lib/libvirt/boot/ubuntu-20.04.5-live-server-amd64.iso,kernel=casper/vmlinuz,initrd=casper/initrd \
   --extra-args 'console=ttyS0,115200n8 serial'

   During installation

   partitioning: Use entire disk
   machine-name: edge-vm1
   username: expeca
   pass: expeca
   packages: install openssh-server

   If encountered [FAILED] Failed unmounting /cdrom. just press CTRL+C and continue.

   Once the VM is up and running, the mgmt network interface must be setup to enable ssh access.

5. Configure the VM to autostart again after host reboot

   $ sudo virsh autostart <vm_name>
   

• How to completely remove a VM

  $ virsh destroy <vm_name>
  $ virsh snapshot-delete <vm_name> <snapshot_name>
  $ virsh undefine <vm_name> --remove-all-storage
  $ sudo rm /var/lib/libvirt/images/vm1.img

• How to take a snapshot

  $ virsh snapshot-create-as --domain edge-vm1 \
  --name "edge_controller_clean" \
  --description "Network interfaces ready to start chi-in-a-box"

• How to revert back to a snapshot

  virsh snapshot-revert edge-vm1 edge_controller_clean

• How to fix the VM's clock after reverting

  sudo hwclock --hctosys