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Deploying a Junos Space Virtual Appliance on a VMware ESXi Server

 

The Junos Space Virtual Appliance requires a VMware ESXi server 6.5 that can support a virtual machine with the following configuration:

Note

  • The ESXi host server must include a Standard or Enterprise edition license, which may not be installed on the host server by default.

  • VMware VMotion is not supported for moving Junos Space Virtual Appliances from one VMware ESXi server to another VMware ESXi server.

For information about the minimum hardware requirements for deploying a Junos Space Virtual Appliance, see Junos Space Virtual Appliance Deployment Overview.

Best Practice

We recommend the following best practices after you deploy the Junos Space Virtual Appliance on a VMWare ESXi server:

  • VMWare ESXi server snapshots should be taken after shutting down Junos Space servers. Ensure snapshots are taken simultaneously across all the nodes in the fabric.

  • To ensure optimal performance of Junos Space, configure purging policies for the VMWare host one month after the Junos Space fabric is functional.

The deployment of a Junos Space Virtual Appliance on a VMware ESXi server includes the following tasks:

Installing the VMware ESXi Server

To install the VMware ESXi server:

  1. Download the VMware ESXi server installation package from https://www.vmware.com/download/vi/.

  2. Install the VMware ESXi server.

    For instructions to install the VMware ESXi server, go to https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.

    Note

    You can install the VMware vSphere Client when you install the VMware ESXi server 6.5 Contact VMware for support with installing ESXi server.

    Note

    Junos Space Network Management Platform is not certified to be used with VMware tools.

Installing a Junos Space Virtual Appliance on a VMware ESXi Server

You can use vSphere Client 6.5 or later or OVF Tool 2.01 or later to deploy the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image on a VMWare ESXi server.

Installing a Junos Space Virtual Appliance by Using vSphere Client

To create a Junos Space Virtual Appliance by using vSphere Client 6.5:

  1. Download the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image from https://www.juniper.net/support/downloads/?p=space#sw to your local system.Note

    Do not change the name of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image file that you download from the Juniper Networks support site. If you change the name of the image file, the creation of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance can fail.

  2. Launch the vSphere Client that is connected to the ESXi server where the Junos Space Virtual Appliance is to be deployed.
  3. Select File > Deploy OVF Template from the menu bar.

    The Deploy OVF Template page appears.

  4. Click the Deploy from file option and click Browse, and then upload the OVA file from your storage location.Note

    You can use the same image to deploy both Junos Space and fault monitoring and performance monitoring (FMPM) nodes.

  5. Click Next.
  6. Verify the OVF Template details and then click Next.
  7. Specify a name and location for the deployed template and then click Next.

    A template name can contain a maximum of 80 characters. Template names are not case-sensitive.

  8. Verify your settings and then click Finish to create the Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

Installing a Junos Space Virtual Appliance by Using the OVF Tool

Before you use the OVF Tool to create a Junos Space Virtual Appliance, ensure that the OVF Tool is installed on the system where you save the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image file (*.ova).

To create a Junos Space Virtual Appliance by using the OVF Tool:

  1. Download the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image from https://www.juniper.net/support/downloads/?p=space#sw to your local system.Note

    Do not change the name of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image file that you download from the Juniper Networks support site. If you change the name of the image file, the creation of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance can fail.

  2. Log in to the local system and navigate to the location where the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image file is saved.
  3. Run the following command:
    /usr/bin/ovftool/ovftool --name=virtual-appliance image-file vi://username:password@host-id

    where:

    • virtual-appliance is the name you assign to the Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

    • image-file is the name of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance image file.

    • username is the username of the host machine where you deploy the Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

    • password is the password of the host machine where you deploy the Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

    • host-id is the IP address of the host machine where you deploy the Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

    Example:

    The Junos Space Virtual Appliance is deployed on the host machine.

  4. Log in to the host machine and edit the settings (number of processors, memory) of the Junos Space Virtual Appliance. For information about editing the settings of a Junos Space Virtual Appliance by using the OVF Tool, see the OVF Tool documentation at https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf/.

Modifying RAM Settings for a Junos Space Virtual Appliance

To add RAM for a Junos Space Virtual Appliance:

  1. Launch the VMware vSphere Client and log in to the ESXi server where the Junos Space Virtual Appliance is deployed.
  2. Select the Junos Space Virtual Appliance from the inventory view.
  3. If the Junos Space Virtual Appliance is powered on, you must power off the appliance to configure RAM.

    To power off the Junos Space Virtual Appliance, right-click the Junos Space Virtual Appliance icon and select Power > Power Off.

  4. Select the Summary tab to view the Junos Space virtual machine settings.
  5. Select Edit Settings to view and edit the virtual memory settings.
  6. Select Memory.
  7. Update the RAM to 32 GB to operate the Junos Space Virtual Appliance as a Junos Space node or as an FMPM node.
  8. Click OK.

    RAM is added to the Junos Space Virtual Appliance. 


Adding Disk Resources for a Junos Space Virtual Appliance

The Junos Space Virtual Appliance files are distributed with 250-GB of disk space.

Note

  • The free space available in all the partitions should be monitored periodically and the available free disk space increased if required. The /var and /var/log partitions should be monitored more frequently as most of the data are stored in these partitions and space utilization is high.

  • If you are expanding the disk space of nodes in a Junos Space fabric (cluster) comprising virtual appliances, you must first expand the disk space of the virtual IP (VIP) node and ensure that the VIP node has come up, that is, JBoss and MySQL services are up before expanding the disk space of other nodes in the fabric; otherwise, the fabric may become unstable and the Junos Space GUI inaccessible.

  • While configuring a Junos Space Virtual Appliance as a Junos Space node or an FMPM node, it is recommended that you allocate disk space partitions as per the disk space allocations for a JA2500 Junos Space Appliance. However, you can allocate less or more space to disk partitions as per your requirement.

To allocate additional disk space for partitions, add a disk resource and expand a partition one at a time. The free space available on the disk resource can be shared among the different partitions. For example, to expand the /var and /var/log partitions by 20 GB each, add a disk resource of minimum 40 GB. Expand the drive size of the /var partition by 20 GB and then expand the /var/log partition by 20 GB.

Table 1 specifies the data stored in the partitions of a Junos Space Node and an FMPM node.

Table 1: Data Stored in the Partitions of a Junos Space Node and an FMPM Node

Partition

Junos Space Node

FMPM Node

/var

MySQL database, PostgreSQL database, database backup file, and disaster recovery data files

FMPM data, MySQL database, PostgreSQL database

/var/log

All system log files

All system log files

/tmp

Temporary files

Temporary files

/

Worldwide adapters, JBoss configuration files

OpenNMS installation

The Junos Space Virtual Appliance file is distributed with 250 GB of disk space. You can increase the hard disk size based on the requirement for the specific Junos Space deployment. The following procedure describes how you can add disk resources for a Junos Space Virtual Appliance deployed on a VMware ESX or VMware ESXi Server.

To add disk resources for the Junos Space Virtual Appliance:

  1. In the VMware vSphere Client, right-click the Junos Space Virtual Appliance icon and select Power > Power On. The Junos Space Virtual Appliance must be powered on to add disk resources.
  2. Right-click the Junos Space Virtual Appliance icon and select Edit Settings.

    The Virtual Machine Properties page is displayed.

  3. Select the Hardware tab and click Add.

    The Device Type page is displayed.

  4. Under Choose the type of disk you wish to add, select Hard Disk.
  5. Click Next.

    The Select a Disk page appears.

  6. Under Disk, select Create a new Virtual disk.
  7. Click Next.

    The Create a Disk page appears.

  8. Under Capacity, set the Disk Size field to the recommended size for the partition that you want to expand.

    Under Location, retain the default setting—that is, leave the Store with the virtual machine selected.

  9. Click Next.

    The Advanced Options page is displayed.

  10. Leave the default settings unchanged and click Next.

    The Ready to Complete page is displayed.

  11. Review your selected options and click Finish.

    The Virtual Machine Properties page displays the new virtual disk on the Hardware list.

  12. Click OK to create the new virtual disk.

    A status bar shows the progress at the bottom of the page.

The next step is to configure the basic settings for your deployed Junos Space Virtual Appliance. To configure basic settings for the appliance, access the console in the VMware vSphere Client.

Note

After the new virtual disk is created, the Junos Space Virtual Appliance must be scanned to detect the additional disk space that you added. To start the scan for additional disk space, select the Expand VM Drive Size option from the Junos Space Settings Menu immediately after you configure the basic settings for your Junos Space Virtual Appliance.

For information about expanding the drive size, refer to Configuring a Junos Space Virtual Appliance as a Junos Space Node.