Automated install of OpenShift Single Node on IBM Power LPAR using Ansible.
Requirements:
- an existing RHEL9 installed on Power
- a POWER9/10 LPAR for OpenShift (it can be defined manually or using provided Ansible scripts)
- HMC credentials to poweron (and create) LPARs
- network connectivity between RHEL9 and OpenShift
- internet connectivity
- RedHat "pullsecret" to download and use OpenShift binaries
The scripts in this repositories must be copied on the RHEL9 environment on Power.
The RHEL9 will be configured with all software required to network install the new OpenShift partition. It will provide BOOTP, TFTP and HTTP services for installation. The OpenShift partition will contact the RHEL9 environment at boot time and will start installation without human interaction in about 60 minutes. RHEL9 and OpenShift may be located on different servers on in different networks.
Create a new user called "ansible" and allow it to run as root with sudo. You can use the following commands as root:
useradd ansible
echo 'ansible ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL' > /etc/sudoers.d/ansible
chmod 644 /etc/sudoers.d/ansible
Then switch as user ansible using su - ansible.
Now clone the repository as ansible user.
The required packages are installed running (once) the script setup_ansible.sh
IMPORTANT
Please update RHEL9 before starting installation using
yum update. There are cases where installation of LPAR fails and halts ingrub>prompt.
You need to provide access to HMC and the LPAR configuration by editing the lpar.yml and hmc.yml files located into the vars directory. The files are already filled with sample data.
LPAR creation is done running ansible-playbook create_sno_lpar.yml.
The LPAR creation process will provide you the WWPNs of the LPAR's virtual fibre channel. You need to configure your SAN environment (storage and SAN switch) to provide a single LUN of at least 150GB to those WWPNs. You will need the WWN of that LUN for the installation.
You can delete the LPAR reusing the data provided in the lpar.yml and hmc.yml files located into the vars directory.
LPAR deletion is done running ansible-playbook delete_sno_lpar.yml.
WARNING: The deletion is immediate with no confirmation.
Assuming that LPAR has been created, you must be sure that the LPAR configuration and HMC definitions are current in
the lpar.yml and hmc.yml files located into the vars directory.
Make sure that slot_number is the slot number of the LPAR's network adapter
The partition where Ansible scripts are executed will be configured ad BOOTP, TFTP and HTTP servers. The OCP LPAR will be installed using those protocols and firewall must not stop them.
The network.yml file located into the vars directory provides the network configuration of the network hosting the OCP LPAR and the IP address of the partition used for installation (bastion, thw host where ansible scripts will be run).
The ocp.yml file located into the vars directory provides the OpenShift installation data.
You need to provide your RedHat pull secret in the vars/pullsecret file to enable the installation. Please be sure that the file is made by only one line of data.
OpenShift SNO installation is done running ansible-playbook install_sno.yml.
Installation will take about 1 hour and the LPAR will be rebooted several times.
OpenShift credentials will be stored in the sno_data directory.
Once Ansible has completed the configuration steps, the actual installation takes place. If you want to have a feeling of the progress of the installation you have two options:
- open a virtual console from HMC. You can not login but you will see console logs
- use ssh to log on OpenShift as core user
Wait for ansible scipt to complete before opening a virtual console.
If you see more than 5 time the line
FAILED - RETRYING: [localhost]: Wait for SSH to be activethe installation is not progressing. Please runyum updateand restart installation: we encontered a RHEL9 bug that was fixed by updating RHEL. If installation halts open a virtual terminal on the LPAR and press enter: if you seegrub>prompt the installation halted.
In order to connect to the node during installation use the following command:
ssh -i sno_data/<lpar name>/id_rsa -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null core@<lpar ip>
You will see after logon a suggested journalctl command to use for logging purposes.
The installed OpenShift node has a default configuration and needs to be customized. You can follow the sample customization page.
OpenShift code is not always configured with the proper authorization to run on a LPAR with virtual cores (it depends on OpenShift version). If you see on the HMC an error code BA060030 installation will not continue. In that case use HMC to modify the LPAR to use dedicated cores and restart the installation.
Once OpenShift is installed, you can power off the LPAR and change the configuration to use virtual cores. When you start the LPAR again OpenShift will correctly work.
You can find a sample installation log into file sample_log.md