Contiv Networking on Servers or VMs

This page describes how to set up a basic Contiv networking cluster with two or more Linux servers.

Prerequisites

  1. Install Ubuntu 15 or Centos 7 on all servers used for the Contiv cluster.
  2. Choose one node to use as the installation and control node for the cluster (the "installation node"). Perform all the following steps on that node.
  3. Execute the following shell commands on all nodes used for the cluster:
    export CLUSTER_NODE_IPS=<cluster_IPs> export no_proxy=<cluster_IPs>,127.0.0.1,localhost,netmaster
    where ``` is a list of the IP addresses of all interfaces of every node used for the cluster.
  4. If your servers are behind an HTTP proxy, execute the following shell commands:
    export http_proxy=<proxy_ url> export https_proxy=<proxy_url>

  5. (Optional but strongly recommended) Enable passwordless SSH access from the installation server
    to all the other servers in the cluster. An example is here.

  6. (Optional but strtongly recommended) Enable passwordless sudo on all servers. An example is here.

  7. Make a note of the IP addresses (or DNS names) of all the servers, and of the network interfaces on which these IP addresses are configured.

Step 1: Download the Installer Script

On the installation server, download the installer script using the following command:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/contiv/demo/master/net/net_demo_installer

Step 2: Specify Configuration

On the installation server, create a configuration file. We reccommend you name it something like cfg.yml.

The configuration file can contain many parameters. For now just include the minimum information that must be in the file: the IP address (or DNS name) of every node used in the cluster, and the name of the two interface on each node used for control and data. The file should have the following form:

      CONNECTION_INFO:
      <server1-ip-or-dns>:
        control: <interface on which control protocols can interact>
        data: <interface used to send data packets>
      <server2-ip-or-dns>:
        control: <interface on which control protocols can interact>
        data: <interface used to send data packets>

A configuration template is here.

Step 3: Make The Script Executable

Make the installer script executable with the following command:

chmod +x net_demo_installer

Step 4: Run The Script

Run net_demo_installer script:

./net_demo_installer

The installer script asks for a username and password if passwordless ssh is not set.

The installer script performs the following actions:

  • Verifies that a supported OS version is installed on the servers.
  • Verifies access to the servers.
  • Creates the ansible inventory file.
  • Sets variables needed to provision the servers in the correct mode.
  • Runs the Ansible playbook, which installs packages and starts the services.

The script generates many bookkeeping files during the installation in the .gen folder in your installer directory. To remove these files, use the -c option:

./net_demo_installer -c

To restart the demo sever, use the -r option:

./net_demo_installer -r

What to Do Next

You can now use Contiv Network on the demo setup. See docs.contiv.io.

If You Encounter Problems

The script has the following limitations: - The installer script must run from one of the server nodes in the cluster. - the servers accept ssh connections only on the default ssh port, using the default username.