To deploy the Komprise Observer:

  1. Download the required Observer Virtual Appliance, for either:
    • VMware
    • Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor
  2. Deploy the Observer Virtual Appliance on one of the following:
  • VMware  ESXi
  • Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor 
  • Non-ESXi or Hyper-V

Setting up an Observer in VMware Environment 

This section contains information to download and deploy Observer on VMware.

Downloading the Observer Virtual Appliance for VMware

Download the Komprise Observer Virtual Appliance (OVA) using one of the following methods:

  1. Use the link provided by the Komprise Systems Engineer.
  2. After logging into the Director web console for the first time.
    From the Install tab of the Setup wizard, click Download to download the Komprise Observer.
  3. In the Director web console, go to System > Sites tab and download the OVA.


Deploying the Observer Virtual Appliance in VMware

To deploy the Observer virtual appliance to VMware, perform the following actions: 

  1. Power on the VM and open the VM console. The system displays the Welcome page to start the setup process.
  2. Type yes to edit the network configuration. 
  3. Enter the static IP address, subnet mask, Gateway, DNS server(s), and Search domain. 
    Note: Komprise recommends using Static IP Address.
  4. Type yes and press Enter.
  5. Enter the hostname of the Komprise Director Console.
  6. Enter the primary username (email address) and the password set during the initial Director Console login. 
    Note: If you add more than one Observers, the following prompt appears:
  7. Type yes to add the Observer to the existing Grid.
  8. Return to the Director web console to complete the remaining setup.
          

Setting up an Observer in Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor Environment

This section contains information on downloading and deploying Observer on Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor.

Downloading the Observer Virtual Appliance for Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor

  1. Komprise Filed Team will provide the Observer OVA 
  2. Import the OVA into Nutanix PRISM using the instructions below

Deploying the Observer Virtual Appliance in Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor

Perform the following actions to deploy the Observer on Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor:

  1. Login to Prism Central UI Console.
  2. Go to Dashboard > Virtual Infrastructure > OVAs.

  1. Click Upload OVA.

  1. In the Upload OVA page, select either upload the Observer OVA from the local folder or from a URL:
  2. After upload completion, the Komprise OVA is available for selection as shown in the following image:

  1. Select the OVA and click on the Actions button and choose the Deploy as VM option:

  1. In the Deploy as VM page:  
    1. Enter the requiered details in the Configurations tab.
    2. Add the network details in the Resources tab.
    3. Review the details and click Launch VM.
    4. The VM would be deployed and powered on.
  2. Go to Dashboard > Virtual Infrastructure > VMs to verify the Observer is deployed. 

Komprise is not hypervisor dependent. Even if the Observer OVA is shipped for VMware ESX 5.5 and higher versions, You can use alternative Observer package to deploy Observer on Linux KVM and Microsoft Hyper-V. 

 

Setting Up an Observer on Non-ESXi or Hyper-V

To set up an Observer on Hyper-V or other non-ESXi platform, use the following steps. 

Note: that this installation can be performed without connecting to the internet once the Observer package has been downloaded.

 

  1. Create a virtual machine that uses the required CentOS ISO (version 7.4.1708), with a single disk
  2. Verify that you have the correct Kernel and CentOS versions:
    • Open a command prompt.
    • To verify the Linux kernel version, enter uname -r . The following version is displayed:  3.10.0-693.el7.x86_64
    • To verify the CentOS version, enter cat /etc/centos-release. The following version details are displayed: CentOS Linux release 7.4.1708 (Core) 
  3. Download the Observer package from the Director web console
    • Go to System > Sites.
    • In the OBSERVER section, click Download Observer from the Actions menu.
    • Select option RPM for others.
  4. Copy the package to the CentOS system.
  5. Navigate to the directory which contains the copied package.
  6. To extract the package, run: tar -<YYYYMMDD>.tar.gz
  7. Install the package using the following instructions: 
    1. Open a command prompt. 
    2. Ensure that you are using a user that has sudo permissions.
    3. Switch to komprise-observer directory.
    4. Run install_kova.sh:
       

The script installs the Observer with all the included packages. 

  1. Exit the current session, and log into the Observer using user kompuser and password provided in the script output.
  2. After logging into the Observer, proceed to complete the setup to connect the Observer to the Director.
  3. After the Director connects with the Observer:
    • All Observers are upgraded to the current release version.
    • The kernel is upgraded as required. 
    • All packages and libraries are upgraded as required.

        11. Manually reboot the VM after you see the confirmation message: Successfully added Observer to the Grid.

  • Hyper-V generation 2 (for Windows Server 2012 R2 and later) boots securely from UEFI. This requires the shim package to be installed on CentOS.
  • The Komprise CentOS distribution does not include the shim package, and Komprise does not recommend installing packages onto the Komprise CentOS since these have not been tested and qualified. For more information, see Komprise Remediation Policy for Security Vulnerabilities.
  • Thus, to use Hyper-V generation 2 with Komprise, uncheck the Enable Secure Boot field to disable secure boot while configuring the virtual machine as shown in the following image.


Click here to go to Step 5: Specifying Shares using the Setup Wizard