Post Installation

Post Installation Tasks Summary

After successful cluster configuration, perform the following addition post installation tasks to ensure that the cluster is ready to serve VMs.

Task

Reference

Create the First Datastore

Create the First Datastore

Assign a static IP address for Live Migration and VM Network

Configuring a Static IP Address for Live Migration and VM Network

(Optional) Constrained Delegation

(Optional) Post Installation Constrained Delegation

Configure Local Default Paths

Configure Local Default Paths

Configure File Share Witness

Configuring a File Share Witness

Checking the Windows Version on the Hyper-V Host

Checking the Windows Version on the Hyper-V Host
Validate Failover Cluster Manager

Validate Failover Cluster Manager

Deploying VMs on a Hyper-V cluster

Deploying VMs on a Hyper-V cluster

Configuring HyperFlex Share to SCVMM

Configuring HyperFlex Share to SCVMM

Re-enabling Windows Defender

Re-enabling Windows Defender

Create the First Datastore

Before you begin using the cluster, you must create a datastore. The datastore can be created in HX Connect UI.

Procedure

Step 1

Launch HX Connect UI from a browser of your choice from https://Cluster_IP/ or https://FQDN.

Step 2

Log in with the following credentials:

  • Username—hxadmin

  • Password—Use the password set during cluster installation.

Step 3

In the Navigation pane, select Datastores.

Step 4

In the Work pane, click Create Datastore.

Step 5

In the Create Datastore dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Datastore Name

Enter a name for the datastore.

Cisco recommends that you use all lower case characters for the datastore name.

Size

Select the size for the datastore.

Block Size

Select the block size for the datastore.
Note 

Cisco recommends 8K block size and as few datastores as possible to ensure the best performance.

Configuring a Static IP Address for Live Migration and VM Network

Log in to each Hyper-V node and execute the following commands in Power Shell to assign a static IP address for Live Migration and VM Network.

#

Command

Purpose

1

New-NetIPAddress -ifAlias "vSwitch-hx-livemigration" -IPAddress 192.168.73.21 -PrefixLength 24

Assigns a static IP address to the Live Migration network.

2

New-NetIPAddress -ifAlias "vswitch-hx-vm-network" -IPAddress 192.168.74.21 -PrefixLength 24

Assigns a static IP address to the VM network.

(Optional) Post Installation Constrained Delegation


Attention

This step must be performed only if Constrained Delegation was not configured during initial installation. It is recommended that you perform this procedure using the HX Installer and not as part of post-installation.

Constrained Delegation gives granular control over inpersonation. When the remote management requests are made to the Hyper-V hosts, it needs to make those requests to the storage on behalf of the caller. This is allowed if that host is trusted for delegation for the CIFS service principal of HX Storage.

Constrained Delegation requires that the option for the security setting User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for Administrators in Admin Approval Mode is set to Elevate without Prompting. This will prevent the global AD policy from overriding policy on HX OU.

Perform the following procedure on each Hyper-V host in the HX Cluster to configure using Windows Active Directory Users and Computers.

Procedure

Step 1

Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.

Step 2

Expand domain, and then expand the Computers folder.
Step 3

In the right pane, right-click on the computer name (for example, HX-Properties), and then click Properties.

Step 4

Click on the Delegation tab.

Step 5

Select Trust this computer for delegation to specified services only.

Step 6

Ensure that Use any authentication protocol is selected.

Step 7

Click Add. In the Add Services dialog box, click Users or Computers, and then browse or type the name of the Service Type (such as CIFS). Click OK. The following illustration can be used as an example.

Step 8

Repeat these steps for all nodes.

Configure Local Default Paths

Configure the default local path for the VMs to ensure that they will be on the HX cluster datastore.

Run the following commands in PowerShell:


$Creds = Get-Credential -Message "User Credentials" -UserName <<current logon username>>
$hosts = ("hostname1","hostname2","hostname3","hostname4")
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $hosts -Credential $Creds -ScriptBlock {Set-VMHost -VirtualHardDiskPath 
"\\HX-EAP-01.ciscolab.dk\DS1_8K" -VirtualMachinePath "\\HX-EAP-01.ciscolab.dk\DS1_8K"}

Note

Remember to change the variables to suit your environment.

Configuring a File Share Witness

As a Microsoft best practice, ensure that you configure a Quorum witness datastore. Use the following procedure to configure a File Share Witness using Failover Cluster Manager (FCM).

Procedure

Step 1

Launch FCM.
Step 2

In the navigation pane, select your cluster. Then, in the Actions pane, select More Actions > Configure Cluster Quorum Settings....

Step 3

The Configure Cluster Quorum wizard is launched. Click Next.

Step 4

In the Select Quorum Configuration Option screen, choose Select the quorum witness. Click Next.

Step 5

In the Select Quorum Witness screen, choose Configure a file share witness. Click Next.

Step 6

In the Configure File Share Witness screen, specify the path to the File Share. Click Next.

Step 7

In the Confirmation screen, click Next.

Step 8

In the Summary screen, click Finish to close the wizard.

Step 9

Alternatively, you can configure a file share witness using Windows PowerShell.

  1. Open a Windows PowerShell console as an administrator.

  2. Type Set-ClusterQuorum -FileShareWitness <File Share Witness Path>

  3. You should now see the File Share Witness configured for your cluster. When you navigate to your File Share Witness share you will see a folder created for your cluster.

Checking the Windows Version on the Hyper-V Host

Follow the steps below to check the version of Windows installed.

Procedure

Step 1

Login to the Hyper-V server as an administrator or HX Service Administrator account.
Step 2

In Powershell, run the following command:

C:\Users\adminhyperflex> Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion'
Step 3

Verify the installed Windows version in the result of the command output.

Following is a sample output if you have installed Windows Server 2016. 


ProductName : Windows Server 2016 Datacenter
ReleaseId : 1607
SoftwareType : System
UBR : 447
Step 4

In addition, verify the following:

  • The UBR # should be greater than 1884. If not, upgrade the HyperV servers to the latest update. Refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article: KB4467691.

  • If you are using a standalone HyperV manager outside HX nodes then, the Hyper-V management server should have a version UBR # greater than 1884. You must upgrade the Hyper-V management server if the version is 1884 or lower.

Validate Failover Cluster Manager

Procedure

Step 1

Open the Failover Cluster Manager Manager and click Validate Cluster and then click Next.

Step 2

Select Run all tests (recommended) and then click Next.

After clicking Next, the validation procedure starts running.

Step 3

Verify that there are no validation failures. If there are any validation failures, click View Report and address any results that show Failed.

Deploying VMs on a Hyper-V cluster

Deploying VMs on a Hyper-V cluster is a multi-step process as described below:

Install RSAT tools on the Management Station or Host

To install RSAT, complete the following steps:

Before you begin

RSAT tool installation requires the following:

  • A server from which you can install, manage, monitor the VMs on the Hyper-V HX cluster.

  • Administrator tools such as Hyper-V Manager, FCM, PowerShell, SCVMM.

Procedure
Step 1

In Server Manager, click Manage and then select Add Roles and Features. The Add Roles and Features wizard appears.

Step 2

In the Before you begin page, click Next.

Step 3

In the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation. Click Next.

Step 4

In the Server Selection page, select your server from the list. This server belongs to the same domain as the HX cluster. Click Next.

Step 5

In the Select Roles page, click Next.

Step 6

In the Features page, select Remote Server Administration Tools > Feature Administration Tools > Failover Clustering Tools, and Role Administration Tools > Hyper-V Management Tools > Failover Clustering Tools. Click Next.

Step 7

In the Confirmation page, click Install. Leave the Restart the destination server if required checkbox unchecked.

Step 8

The Installation Progress page displays installation progress. When installation completes, click Close to exit the wizard.

Managing VMs using Hyper-V Manager

Connecting to Hyper-V Nodes

Complete the following steps to connect to all the Hyper-V nodes in the Hyper-V HX Cluster.

Procedure
Step 1

Open the Server Manager dashboard and click Tools. Then, click Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V Manager console appears.

Step 2

In the left pane, select Hyper-V Manager and click Connect to Server....

Step 3

In the Select Computer dialog box, select Another computer and type in the name of the Hyper-V node (for example, HXHV1) that belongs to the Hyper-V cluster. Click OK.

Step 4

Repeat all of the above steps for each node in the Hyper-V HX cluster.

Note 

For a fresh installation, the storage controller virtual machine (StCtlVM) in the only virtual machine that appears in Virtual Machines pane in the Hyper-V Manager console. Virtual machines appear in the list under this pane as they are added in each node. For more information on how to create VMs using Hyper-V Manager, see: Creating VMs using Hyper-V Manager

Creating VMs using Hyper-V Manager

Complete the following steps to create VMs using Hyper-V Manager.

Procedure
Step 1

Open Hyper-V Manager.

Step 2

Select the Hyper-V server, and right click and select New > Create a virtual machine. The Hyper-V Manager New Virtual Machine wizard displays.

Step 3

In the Before you Begin page, click Next.

Step 4

In the Specify Name and Location page, enter a name for the virtual machine configuration file. The location for the virtual machine click Next.

Step 5

In the Specify Generation page, choose either Generation 1 or Generation 2.

Step 6

In the Assign Memory page, set the start memory value 2048 MB. Click Next.

Step 7

In the Configure Networking page, select a network connection for the virtual machine to use from a list of existing virtual switches.

Step 8

In the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, select Create a Virtual Hard Disk page, and enter the name, location and size for the virtual hard disk. Click Next.

Step 9

In the Installation Options, you can leave the default option Install an operating system later selected. Click Next.

Step 10

In the Summary page, verify that the list of options displayed are correct. Click Finish.

Step 11

In Hyper-V Manager, right-click the virtual machine and click Connect.

Step 12

In the Virtual Machine Connection window, select Action > Start.

Managing VMs using Failover Cluster Manager

Creating VMs using Failover Cluster Manager

Complete the following steps to connect to the Windows Failover cluster (installed along with the Hyper-V HX cluster) and create new VMs using Failover Cluster Manager.

Procedure
Step 1

In the Failover Cluster Manager console, under the Actions pane, click Connect to Server...
Step 2

In the Select Cluster dialog box, click Browse to navigate to the Hyper-V HX cluster. Click OK.

Step 3

In the left pane, click Roles > Virtual Machines... > New Virtual Machines....

Step 4

In the New Virtual Machine dialog box, search and select the Hyper-V node where you wish to create new VMs. Click OK. The New Virtual Machine wizard appears.

Step 5

In the Before You Begin page, click Next.

Step 6

In the Specify Name and Location page, choose a name for the VM, and specify the location or drive where the VM will be stored. Click Next.

Step 7

In the Specify Generation page, select the generation of virtual machine you want to use (Generation 1 or Generation 2) and click Next.

Step 8

In the Assign Memory page, enter the amount of memory that you want for the VM. Click Next.

Step 9

In the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, enter the name, location and hard drive size. Click Next.

Step 10

In the Installation Options page, select the install location for the OS. Click Next.

Step 11

In the Summary page, review the options selected and click Finish.

Step 12

Right-click on the newly created VM, and click Connect.... In the Virtual Machine Connection window, click Start.

Note 

By default, the Failover Cluster Manager will assign a default name for the 4 networks created. It is recommended to rename these network names.

What to do next

To enable redirection of datastore access requests from outside the HX cluster boundary through the management path, add the following entry to the hosts file on the (remote) machine running Hyper-V manager, Failover Cluster Manager, or SCVMM Console. For example, edit C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts and add:

cluster_mgmt_ip \\smb_namespace_name\datastore_name

10.10.10.100 \\hxcluster.company.com\ds1

Configuring HyperFlex Share to SCVMM

Before you begin

Edit the /etc/hosts file on the host running the VMM admin console to resolve the smb access point to the cluster management IP address of HyperFlex cluster. This IP address is typically used to launch Cisco HX Connect.

Procedure

Step 1

Add the cluster to System Center - Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Step 2

In the VMM console, go to Fabric > Servers > All Hosts.

Step 3

Right-click on the cluster and select Properties.

Step 4

In the Properties window, right-click File Share Storage > Add File Storage.

Step 5

When mapping completes, the share is added as shown in the screenshot below.
Step 6

Click OK and exit VMM. The HyperFlex Share is now mapped and VMs can be created on this share using SCVMM.

Re-enabling Windows Defender

Run the following commands to re-enable Windows Defender.

Install Defender from PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Windows-Defender

(Optional) Install Defender GUI from PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Windows-Defender-GUI