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LiquidVM User Guide

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Configuring LiquidVM Connection Parameters

After installing WLOC, you need to run the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard to configure the connection between LiquidVM and the VMware Virtual Center server. You can run the wizard in either a GUI-driven, graphical mode or a command-line-based console mode. Configuring LiquidVM is a critical step because this is where you identify the file system locations of all WLOC components. An improperly configured LiquidVM will not run. This procedure is described in the following topics:

 

Before You Begin

Before you run the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard, be sure that you have access to the configuration data listed in Table 2-1. You will be prompted to provide this information as you step through the configuration wizard.

Table 2-1 LiquidVM Configuration Data
Configuration Data
Description
Virtual Center server
The fully-qualified host name of the server hosting the Virtual Center to which you need to connect.
VirtualCenter login credentials:
  • VC user name
  • VC password
The user name and password required to access the Virtual Center server. These should be provided to you by your VMware administrator.
ESX datacenter name
The VMware datacenter in which your WLOC instance is created. The datacenter is the top-level structure in the Virtual Center server.
ESX compute resource
The IP address or fully-qualified name of your ESX host, or cluster of hosts, in which the WLOC instances will run.
ESX resource pool
(Optional)
The default VMware resource pool into which LiquidVM should place new VMs. You can override this parameter using the VI_RESOURCE_POOL parameter in your WLOC startup scripts. A VMware resource pool is a mechanism provided by VMware that allows you to allocate resources dynamically across a large set of servers. See the VMware documentation for more information on resource pools.
VMware network
(Optional)
The VMware virtual network to use. If set to <any>, LiquidVM uses the first available VMware network. Use the drop-down menu to see a list of the available VMware networks.
Location of LiquidVM disk on ESX server
The location of the WLOC ISO image on the ESX server. The location consists of two components: the name of the datastore on the ESX server and the pathname to the ISO image on the disk. The datastore name is always enclosed in square brackets; for example, [Storage1].
The storage location and path can be specified as:
[Storage1] myLocalStore/myISO.iso
The ISO image is installed during installation of your BEA software and is copied to the ESX server as described in “Copying the WLOC ISO Image” in the WLOC Installation Guide.

 

Configuring LiquidVM in Graphical Mode

Note: If you are a Linux user and don’t have access to a GUI, then use the procedure described in Configuring LiquidVM in Console Mode.

To run the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard in graphical mode, use the following procedure.

  1. Start the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard in graphical mode as shown in the following table.

    2. To start the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard on this platform . . .
    Perform the following steps . . .
    Windows
    From the command-line:
    1. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to BEA_HOME\WLOC_HOME\lvm-1.2\bin\
    2. Enter the following command:

      3. lvm_configwizard.cmd

    Linux
    1. Set the DISPLAY environment variable
    2. Open a command shell and navigate to BEA_HOME/WLOC_HOME/lvm-1.2/bin
    3. Enter the following command:

      4. lvm_configwizard.sh

    Note: In these command-lines, BEA_HOME represents the BEA Home directory in which you installed WLOC. For more information about the BEA Home directory, see “The BEA Home Directory” in the WLOC Installation Guide.

    The Configuration Wizard starts and the Virtual Center server window appears.

  2. Log into the Virtual Center server by performing the following steps:
    1. In the Virtual Center server field, enter the IP address or fully-qualified name of the server on which VirtualCenter is running.
    2. Select Secure connection to VC to use SSL for communication with Virtual Center (recommended). This is selected by default.
    3. Enter the username and password for the Virtual Center server in the VC user name and VC password fields.
      4. Note: The first time that you run the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard, the username and password are saved in the bea.lvm.info file. If you want to log in as a different user, select Change VC login credentials and enter the username and password for the new user.
    4. Click Next.

      5. A status window is displayed as you are connected to the Virtual Center. Once you are connected, the datacenter information window of the Configuration Wizard is displayed. It may take a few moments for the wizard to obtain the available configuration from the Virtual Center server.

      Note: To connect to the Virtual Center and retrieve configuration information using an unsecure connection, the Virtual Center must be configured to support access to the SDK using HTTP. Otherwise, a connection failure message will be displayed when an unsecure connection is attempted:
      Note: Failed to connect to VMware. It appears that the webservices stack is not running on the specified port.
      Note: For more information, refer to the Virtual Center documentation.
  3. Specify the Datacenter, Host, and Resources by completing the following steps:
    1. Select the ESX datacenter name that contains your WLOC instance. You can obtain this name from the datacenter administrator.
    2. Select the ESX compute resource from the list of available hosts. The ESX compute resource is the name of the ESX host as displayed from within Virtual Center.
    3. Optionally, select an ESX resource pool in which to place your WLOC instance.

      4. If you accept the default <root>, the VM is placed in the compute resource directly, and not in any resource pool within that compute resource. For more information about resource pools, see the VMware documentation at http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.

    4. Click Next.

      5. The LiquidVM disk location window is displayed.

  4. Specify the VMware network and location of the disk on the ESX server as follows:
    1. From the drop-down menu, select the VMware network for LiquidVM to use. If you accept the default, <any>, LiquidVM uses the first available VMware network.
    2. In the Location of LiquidVM disk on ESX server field, do one of the following:
      • Enter the name of the datastore and the path to the LiquidVM iso image on the disk, using the format shown; that is:
        [storage name] path/filename.iso

        You must include the square brackets around the name of the datastore.
      • Click Browse and navigate to the location of the LiquidVM ISO image on the disk. Select the file and click Select.

        The field is populated with the datastore name and path to the LiquidVM image in the proper format.
    3. Click Finish.

      4. The successful configuration confirmation window appears.

  5. Click Close to close the Configuration Wizard.

When you have successfully configured LiquidVM, the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard creates a file named bea.lvm.info in your home directory on your system (e.g., c:\Document and Settings\username), which contains all of the information you provided while running the wizard. LiquidVM reads this file when it launches to determine the location of critical files. For more information on the bea.lvm.info file, see Understanding the bea.lvm.info File.

 

Configuring LiquidVM in Console Mode

Console-mode installation is an interactive, text-based method for configuring your software from the command-line. This mode is useful for Linux users who don’t have a GUI display or don’t want to otherwise use the graphical configuration mode described in Configuring LiquidVM in Graphical Mode. You can also use console mode on a Windows platform.

Be sure you have access to the configuration data provided in Table 2-1, since you will be prompted to supply this information as you step through the wizard.

To complete the console-mode configuration process, respond to the prompts by entering the text representing your choice (filepath, server name, etc.) or by pressing Enter to accept the default. To exit the configuration process, press Ctrl-C in response to any prompt.

To configure LiquidVM using the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard in console mode, follow these steps:

  1. Start the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard as shown in the following table.

    2. To start the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard on this platform . . .
    Perform the following steps . . .
    Windows
    1. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to BEA_HOME\WLOC_HOME\lvm-1.2\bin\
    2. Enter the following command:

      3. lvm_configwizard.cmd -mode=console

    Linux
    1. Open a command shell and navigate to BEA_HOME/WLOC_HOME/lvm-1.2/bin
    2. Enter the following command:

      3. lvm_configwizard.sh -mode=console

    Note: In these command-lines, BEA_HOME represents the BEA Home directory in which you installed WLOC. For more information about the BEA Home directory, see “The BEA Home Directory” in the WLOC Installation Guide.

    The system responds: 

    LiquidVM Configuration Wizard for VMware ESX (text-mode)
    -------------------------------------------------
    Collecting information VMware Virtual Infrastructure environment...
    Virtual center server
  2. Enter either the IP address or the fully-qualified name (that is, you must include the domain name) of the Virtual Center server. Press Enter.

    3. The system responds: 

    Use secure connection (https) to virtual center? [Y/n]
  3. Enter Y (or press Enter) to use SSL to connect to the Virtual Center server.

    4. The system responds: 

    Virtual center username
  4. Enter the appropriate Virtual Center VC user name. This should be provided to you by your VMware administrator. Press Enter.

    5. The system responds: 

    Do you want to provide the password for your virtual center user? if you do the password will be stored in the configuration file encrypted, if you don't you will be asked for the password every time you launch a LiquidVM. [Y/n]
  5. If you enter Y, the system responds:
    6. Virtual center password (you will not see what you type)
  6. Enter the VC password you want to use to control access to the Virtual Center server. This should be provided to you by you VMware administrator.
    7. Note: If you have already set up a password for the Virtual Center server and want to use that one, simply press Enter.

    The system responds:

    Connecting to Virtual Center. May take 30 seconds or more... 

    Looking up datacenters...
    VMware Datacenter
    [numbered list of available datacenters]
    Please select one of the above numbers
    Note: To connect to the Virtual Center and retrieve configuration information using an unsecure connection, the Virtual Center must be configured to support access to the SDK using HTTP. Otherwise, a connection failure message will be displayed when an unsecure connection is attempted:
    Note: Failed to connect to VMware. It appears that the webservices stack is not running on the specified port.
    Note: For more information, refer to the Virtual Center documentation.
  7. Enter the number that corresponds to the name of your VMware datacenter (ESX datacenter name). Press Enter.

    8. The system responds: 

    Looking up compute resources (hosts) in datacenter [datacenter name]...
    Default VMware Compute Resource (ESX Host or Cluster)
    [numbered list of available resources]
    Please select one of the above numbers
  8. Enter the number that corresponds to the name of your ESX compute resource. Press Enter.

    9. The system responds: 

    Looking up resource pools in [ESX host name]...
    VMware Resource Pool (or type any for default resource pool)
    [numbered list of available resource pools]
    Please select one of the above numbers [default: <root>]
  9. Enter the name of the ESX resource pool, if specified.

    10. The system responds: 

    Looking up VMware Networks available to [ESX host name]...
    VMware Network (or type any to use any available)
    [numbered list of available virtual networks]
    Please select one of the above numbers [default: <any>]
  10. Enter the number that corresponds to the VMware network to use.

    11. The system responds: 

    ISO-image datastore 
    [numbered list of available datastores]
    Please select one of the above numbers [default: storage1]
  11. Enter the ISO image datastore. Press Enter.

    12. The system responds: 

    Now you should provide the path on storage1 where to find the wloc.iso
    An example of a path is wloc10/wloc10.iso
    ISO-image path:
  12. Enter the path to the ISO image file and press Enter.

    13. The system responds: 

    Checking path...

    The system responds: 

    Datastore for new VMs
    [numbered list of available datastores]
    Please select one of the above numbers [default: storage1]
  13. Enter the datastore name where the WLOC Vmware configuration files should be stored. Press Enter.

    14. The system responds with this confirmation message: 

    The LiquidVM configuration has now completed successfully.
    Configuration data has been stored in the ‘bea.lvm.info’ file

When you have successfully configured LiquidVM, the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard creates a file named bea.lvm.info in your home directory on your system (e.g., c:\Document and Settings\username), which contains all of the information you provided while running the wizard. LiquidVM reads this file when it launches to determine the location of critical files. For more information on the bea.lvm.info file, see Understanding the bea.lvm.info File.

 

Understanding the bea.lvm.info File

After you have run the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard and connected to the Virtual Center server, the Configuration Wizard creates a file named bea.lvm.info and stores it in your home directory (for Windows users, that’s \\Documents and Settings\yourHome; for example C:\Documents and Settings\jtsmith). This file contains all of the configuration information you entered while running the wizard. Listing 2-1 shows an example of a bea.lvm.info file.

Listing 2-1 Sample bea.lvm.info File 
#BareMetal ESX-launcher configuration information
#Thu Jan 03 21:08:15 EST 2008
vmwareUsername=user1
vmwareDiskPath=[storage1] wloc10/wloc10.iso
vmwareVcHost=vmwarevc.bea.com
vmwareKeystore=C\:\\Documents and Settings\\jtsmith\\bm_vmwarevc.bea.com.keystore
vmwarePassword=d90f1423925849c78e6dd9100d162f3f
vmwareVmDatastore=storage2
vmwareComputeResource=esx.bea.com
vmwareKeystorePassword=07300ca783a0a3e92f8fc6121e2d14aa
LiquidVM.config.version=5
vmwareDatacenter=TESTCENTER

The LiquidVM launcher reads the bea.lvm.info file at startup to obtain your LiquidVM configuration specifics. The LiquidVM launcher looks for bea.lvm.info in the location specified by the LVM_INFO environment variable (your home directory by default). This file contains information about VirtualCenter and default information about the ESX Server on which to start new LiquidVM instances. Typically, none of this information in this file is specific to the machine on which you ran the Configuration Wizard so you can copy it between different launching machines. However, since the launcher machine searches for this file in your home directory, if you move it to another location (or rename it), you need to set the LVM_INFO environment variable in the start script to point to the new location of the file.


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