You are here: everRun Quick Start Guide

everRun Quick Start Guide

Use the everRun Quick Start Guide to get your everRun system up and running as quickly as possible.

An everRun system requires two x86-64 host servers (referred to as physical machines, or PMs) that can support multiple virtual machines (VMs), and a remote management computer that can run the everRun Availability Console. This guide explains how to set up your PMs and guides you through the basic installation and start-up tasks, including:

Note: If you need assistance during the installation process:

Assembling Required Items

You need the following items/information:

Configuring Your RAID Controller

Stratus strongly recommends that your everRun system uses a storage RAID controller. The RAID controllers in an everRun system create logical disks from the system's physical disks, and the logical disks are then collected into a storage group. Configuration recommendations follow:

Cabling Your System

Attach the following cables:

The following illustration shows these connections:

Note: When installing software on the first PM, connect the keyboard and monitor to the first PM. When installing software on the second PM, connect the keyboard and monitor to the second PM. When software installation is complete, disconnect the keyboard and monitor from the system.

Obtaining the ISO Image

Obtain the ISO image and create a bootable medium:

  1. From any computer connected to the Internet, go to the Downloads page at http://www.stratus.com/go/support/everrun.
  2. Click everRun (if it is not already displayed) and then select the appropriate version. Scroll down to Product Downloads, and under Install, click the link to the appropriate ISO image (everRun_install-7.x.x.x-xxx.iso). Save the ISO image.

  3. Create a bootable medium using the ISO image:

    • To burn the ISO image to a DVD, use a commonly available application. For example, if you have the Roxio application installed, right click the ISO file and select the option to burn a DVD.
    • To create a bootable USB medium, see Creating Bootable USB Media.

    Occasionally an ISO file can be corrupted during the download process. You can choose to verify the installation medium during the software installation.

For additional information, see Obtaining everRun Software.

Installing the everRun Software

Allow 60 to 90 minutes to complete the everRun software installation process.

  1. Install the everRun software on the first PM:
    1. Power on the first PM, and then insert the bootable medium or mount the ISO image.
    2. As the PM powers on, configure the following settings in the firmware (BIOS or UEFI) setup utility:

      • Set the first boot device to the Optical Drive.
      • Enable Virtualization Technology.
      • Enable Execute-Disable Bit Capability.

      Note: If you need to configure your keyboard for a different layout, see Mapping Your Keyboard.
    3. From the installation software's Welcome screen, use the arrow keys to select an installation option. Stratus recommends that, for an initial installation, you select Verify medium and Install everRun, which verifies the installation medium before installing the software (verification adds about five minutes to the installation process). If you do not want to verify the medium, select Install everRun, Create a new system. After you select an option, press Enter.

    4. If any disk contains previously installed data, the following message appears and the system reboots (if no disk contains previously installed data, installation continues with the next step):

      Rebooting because disks XXX were erased.

      When the reboot is complete, the boot menu reappears and you must, again, select an installation option (Step 1,c, above).

    5. From the Select interface for private Physical Machine connection screen, select an embedded port (for example, em1, which is the default), and press F12.
    6. From the Select interface for managing the system (ibiz0) screen, select an embedded port (for example, em2, which is the default), and press F12.
    7. From the Select the method to configure ibiz0 screen, select Manual configuration (Static Address) and press F12.

      Note: To perform a dynamic IP configuration, select Automatic configuration via DHCP instead and skip to Step 1h, where you will need to write down the IPv4 address as described in Recording the Management IP Address.
    8. From the Configure em2 screen, enter the IPv4 address, netmask, default gateway address, and DNS address values that you received from your network administrator, and then press F12.
    9. No action from you is necessary until after the PM reboots. At that time, remove the bootable medium or unmount the ISO image, connect the keyboard/console to the second PM, and go to Step 2.
  2. Install the everRun software on the second PM:
    1. Power on the second PM, and then insert the bootable medium or mount the ISO image.
    2. As the PM powers on, configure the settings in the firmware (BIOS or UEFI) setup utility described in Step 1b.
    3. From the installation software's Welcome screen, use the arrow keys to select Replace PM, Join system: Initialize data, and press Enter.
    4. If any disk contains previously installed data, the following message appears and the system reboots (if no disk contains previously installed data, installation continues with the next step):

      Rebooting because disks XXX were erased.

      When the reboot is complete, the boot menu reappears and you must continue with Step 2,c, above.

    5. Perform Steps 1e through 1h.
    6. No action from you is necessary until after the second PM reboots. At that time, remove the bootable medium or unmount the ISO image, disconnect the keyboard/console, and log on to the everRun Availability Console.

Logging On to the everRun Availability Console

  1. From the remote management computer, type the IP address of node0 (primary) into a browser address bar.

  2. The logon page of the everRun Availability Console appears. Enter admin for the Username and admin for Password, and then click LOGIN.

  3. The Stratus everRun EULA appears. Read the EULA and click Accept to accept it.

  4. The INITIAL CONFIGURATION page appears. Under NOTIFICATIONS, the box for Enable Support Notifications is checked, by default. If you do not want the everRun system to send health and status notifications to your authorized Stratus service representative, uncheck the box. You can change this setting later (see Configuring Remote Support Settings).
  5. Under SYSTEM IP, for IP Address, enter the address you obtained from your network administrator. After you have entered the network information, click Continue.
  6. The Portal Restart Required window appears. After waiting a minute (as indicated in the window), click OK to refresh the console and to continue.
  7. The LICENSE INFORMATION window appears. Under Upload License Key, click Browse and navigate to the license .KEY file that you received from Stratus. Select the license file and click Upload.

    For security, change the default user login name and password for the admin account on the Users & Groups page.

The everRun Availability Console appears. Bookmark or make note of the system IP address for use when logging in to the console in the future.

Creating a Protected Virtual Machine

First, create a virtual CD (VCD) to make software installation media available to the virtual machine (VM).

  1. Open the Virtual CDs page in the everRun Availability Console
  2. Click Create VCD to open the Virtual CD Creation Wizard.
  3. Follow creation wizard prompts. For details, see Creating a Virtual CD in the online help.

Next, create a new virtual machine (VM) and install a guest operating system on your everRun system.

  1. On the Virtual Machines page, click Create to open the VM Creation Wizard.
  2. Follow the creation wizard prompts. For details, see Creating a New Virtual Machine in the online help.

After you install the operating system, perform any other guest OS configuration tasks (for example, initializing disks and installing applications). For details, see Post-Installation Tasks in the online help.

of