4 Configuration Assistant

The HELIOS Configuration Assistant allows you to perform basic configuration tasks (passwords, network, date & time), organize storage (disks, logical volumes), and manage the HELIOS services. The following sections explain in detail all available configuration options.

The Configuration Assistant is automatically started upon login as root (initial password helios) on a local console, or via SSH.

Alternatively, it can also be started manually from a shell by invoking the configure command (/usr/local/helios/bin/configure).

4.1 Notes on using the Configuration Assistant

HELIOS Configuration Assistant is a command-line program and does not support mouse operation. It is designed to be fully operable with the keys available on a standard “vt100” keyboard. The following keys can be useful:

Return	Confirm the current input or selection.
Ctrl+C	Interrupt the HELIOS Configuration Assistant and return to the root shell.
Ctrl+D	Cancel current input and return to the previous menu. This is useful if you
	do not want to continue with the current task.
Ctrl+U	Delete the entire line input.
Ctrl+W	Delete the last word of the line input.

During the configuration process you may be asked to enter values. Many of these values are already suggested by the Configuration Assistant and displayed in square brackets. You can accept these values by pressing RETURN.

For questions that ask for a Yes or No confirmation, an uppercase letter indicates the suggested default value.

Important:: Do not use the cursor keys, the Esc or the TAB key for the navigation within the Configuration Assistant!

4.2 Configure the Virtual Server Appliance

The main menu provides access to the different sections of the Configuration Assistant. The menu navigation is done by entering the corresponding number (or letter).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  Host: vsa / 172.16.3.228 ("i" for details)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuration sections:

  1 : General setup (passwords, keyboard, time)
  2 : Network setup (hostname, IP addresses, DHCP, NFS)
  3 : Storage setup (data volumes)
  4 : HELIOS services (start/stop, license, updates)
  5 : Server administration (shutdown, reboot, active users)

  i : Show configuration summary
  h : Show keyboard help

  0 : Exit to shell

Task:

4.2.1 General setup (passwords, keyboard, time)

This menu allows setting login passwords, the console keyboard layout, and the current server date and time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => General setup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

General setup:

  1 : Set user passwords
  2 : Set keyboard layout

  3 : Configure time zone
  4 : Configure time synchronization (NTP or hypervisor)
  5 : Set time manually

  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

Set user passwords

This menu item allows specifying the password for a given user name. In doing so, the password is set as both the Linux and the HELIOS password. Alternatively, HELIOS Admin provides a GUI interface for managing users, as described in the HELIOS Base manual.

Note:

The following files are affected when setting/changing the user password:

– “/etc/passwd”
– “/etc/shadow”
– “HELIOSDIR/var/conf/passwd”

Underlying HELIOS tool: “authutil” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

Set keyboard layout

This menu item allows selecting the keyboard model and layout. This affects only the local console but not the SSH login or any HELIOS services.

Underlying CLI tools: “setupcon”, “dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration”

Configure time zone

This menu item allows configuring the time zone. This setting has an effect on all services, including the HELIOS services. After choosing the desired time zone, you should reboot the Virtual Server Appliance to apply the changes to all running services.

Note:: The clock of the VM must be set to the UTC time standard. This is the default in most hypervisors but must be set manually in some solutions, e.g. VirtualBox.

Underlying CLI tools: “dpkg-reconfigure tzdata”

Configure time synchronization (NTP or hypervisor)

This menu item allows setting date and time by synchronization with an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server or with the host, i.e. the hypervisor:

NTP
If you have an NTP server running on your network, or your machine has direct Internet access, NTP can be used to synchronize date and time settings.
Host synchronization (recommended)
The host synchronization allows the HELIOS Virtual Server Appliance to sync regularly the time with the hypervisor, which has the advantage that external services, such as NTP, are not required for each VM.

This method utilizes the VMware Tools or Hyper-V Integration Services to synchronize the time with the host system. Hyper-V requires that the time synchronization is enabled within the hypervisor administration.

This setting has an effect on all services, including the HELIOS services.

Underlying CLI tools (NTP): “update-rc.d”, “ntpd”
Underlying CLI tools (hypervisor): “vmware-toolbox-cmd”

Set time manually

This menu item allows setting the current date and time manually.

Note:: Setting the time manually makes little sense when NTP or host time synchronization is enabled because the time will be updated automatically on a regular basis. Also a reboot will inherit the BIOS hardware time which is managed by the hypervisor.

This setting has an effect on all services, including the HELIOS services.

Underlying CLI tool: “date”

4.2.2 Network setup (hostname, IP addresses, DHCP, NFS)

By default, the HELIOS Virtual Server Appliance is configured as a DHCP client with one network interface named “eth0”.

Note:: It is recommended to use the local console to change the network configuration. Using SSH remotely to configure networks may risk cutting the current SSH connection when the interfaces are reconfigured.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Network setup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Network setup:

  1 : Set hostname
  2 : Configure network interfaces (TCP/IP settings)
  3 : Configure DNS client (name servers, domain names)
  4 : Configure proxy server (internet update access)

  5 : Set up NFS server (create/manage exports)
  6 : Set up NFS client (mount exports from other servers)

  9 : Show network summary

  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

Set host name

This menu item allows specifying a new host name.

Note:

The following files are affected when setting/changing the host name:

– “/etc/hostname”
– “/etc/hosts”

Underlying CLI tool: “hostname”

Note:: If DHCP is used for DNS updates in your network, the newly assigned host name is not known to the network until the next DHCP request, i.e. until the next boot process.

Configure network interfaces

This menu item allows configuring all available network interfaces.

Before doing so it must be decided whether to use DHCP or static configuration. Usually, for server deployment static network interface configuration is used. The following parameters are required:

IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.1)
IP netmask (e.g. 255.255.255.0 for a class C network)
Gateway (optional if you have a router in your IP network)

Note:: The Configuration Assistant currently supports only IPv4 configurations.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Configure network interfaces (TCP/IP settings)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The following interfaces are available:

  Interface     Current setup
  eth0          172.16.3.228    (assigned by DHCP)
  eth1          172.16.3.103    (static IP setup)

Enter the interface to configure [eth0]:

Note:

The following files are affected when changing the network configuration:

– “/etc/network/interfaces”
– “/etc/network/interfaces.backup”

Underlying CLI tools: “ifup”, “ifdown”, “ifconfig”, “resolvconf”

Configure DNS client

This menu item allows you to set up the DNS client. A proper DNS client setup is required for resolving host names in your network.

There are two types of configuration:

1. Automatic configuration:
The name server addresses and domain names (including search domains) are automatically provided via DHCP by your network. This is the default configuration which is active after deploying the appliance.

Note:: This option requires at least one network interface to be configured via DHCP and an active DHCP server in the network which provides the required information.

2. Static configuration:
You will be asked to enter name server addresses and domain names (including search domains) manually. A static “/etc/resolv.conf” file is written.

Note:: This option overrides any information that may be provided via DHCP on any of your interfaces.

You need to enter the following information:

DNS domain (DNS domain used for your environment, which is usually yourcompany.com)
DNS name server addresses (you may enter up to three IP addresses)
DNS domains search order (you may enter up to three domain names)

Note:

The following file is affected when changing the DNS client configuration:

– “/etc/resolv.conf”

Configure proxy server

This menu item allows you to specify a proxy server that is used to connect to the internet. By default, a direct Internet connection is assumed and no proxy server is configured.

The proxy you specify is used for the HELIOS Update Installer and for the Linux package management system (“apt”).

Note:

The following files are affected when changing the proxy server configuration:

– “/etc/apt/apt.conf”
– “/root/.hupd”

Set up NFS server (create/manage exports)

This menu item allows creating, modifying, and deleting NFS (Network File System) shares. Different rules and NFS options can be assigned to different client groups (domains, IPs, IP subnets, etc.).

Show shares
Lists the shared path and related hosts and options as defined in “/etc/exports”:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Show NFS shares
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shared path                   Hosts and options
/nfsshare                      *(rw,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0)

Press RETURN to continue ...

Create a new share
For a directory path that is to be shared by NFS, the host access list and options are saved to “/etc/exports”, and “exportfs” is called to make this share immediately available:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Create NFS share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Specify path to share. The directory must exist.

Path to share: /nfsshare


...

Note:: The directory path must exist and have the appropriate permissions set.

The host pattern allows setting different access restrictions by name or IP address/range:

...


Specify the hosts that may access this directory.

You may use one of the following patterns:

  *                         (allow all hosts)
  *.yourdomain.com          (allow all hosts within a domain name)
  hostname.yourdomain.com   (allow a single host by host name)
  172.16.1.2                (allow a single host by ip address)
  172.16.1.0/24             (allow an ip range/subnet)

Note: When using host or domain names, make sure that DNS is configured
      properly and the server can resolve the names in the network.

If you want to specify multiple patterns, specify the first pattern now,
then use the "Add host pattern" menu after creating the share.

Host pattern [*]:


...

Allow all hosts, or only certain (sub)domains or servers
Allow IP range/subnet or single IP address

The next question (Do you want the share to be read/write?) allows you to choose if the folder should be shared read-write or read-only.

Several options are set by default:

rw/ro: rw or ro is set depending on your answer to the question above.
insecure: Allow access from NFS clients which use port numbers above 1023, e.g. OS X clients.
no_subtree_check: This option is mandatory, either as no_subtree_check or subtree_check. Otherwise “exportfs” would complain.
anonuid=0: Sets the anonymous user account ID to 0, to allow full root access, e.g. when doing a file server backup.

...


Do you want the share to be read/write? [Y/n]
Specify additional NFS server options? [y/N]
Writing "/etc/exports" ...
Reloading exports ...

The share "/nfsshare" has been created successfully.
If you want to specify additional host patterns, use the
"Add host pattern" menu item.

Press RETURN to continue ...

When the first share is created, the NFS server services are started.

Shares residing inside (or overlapping) a HELIOS volume are only allowed to share in read-only mode (ro), which will be enforced by Configuration Assistant.

Note:

When a directory within the VSA is exported via NFS, the file system permissions of the logged-in user are enforced. So typically, if the NFS volume is to be read/write, then it may be necessary to do a e.g. “chmod 777” to enable the client to write to that share.

An NFS client cannot write to this share:

# ls -ld /nfsshare/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 25 21:46 /nfsshare/

An NFS client can write to this share:

# ls -ld /nfsshare/
drwxrwxrwx 2 root root 4096 Jun 25 21:46 /nfsshare/

Modify existing share
For each share you may add additional allowed host specifications with specific options, or remove them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Edit NFS share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shared path                   Hosts and options
/demovol                      *(ro,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0)
/nfsshare                     *(rw,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0)

Enter the share path to edit: /nfsshare

...

After entering the share path to edit you may add a host pattern and options, remove them from the share, or remove the selected NFS share itself from the VSA:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Edit NFS share: /nfsshare
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NFS share path:
  /nfsshare

Allowed hosts                  Host options
  *                              rw,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0

Tasks:

  1 : Add host pattern/options to /nfsshare
  2 : Remove host pattern/options from /nfsshare

  3 : Remove share /nfsshare (unshare for all hosts)

  0 : Return to previous menu

Task: 2

Make sure that you do not have the same allowed host specification multiple times. “exportfs” will fail with a message like this in the “configure.log”:

exportfs: duplicated export entries:
exportfs:     *:/nfsshare
exportfs:     *:/nfsshare

Remove share
Removes a share from “/etc/exports” and also makes it immediately unavailable to NFS clients.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Remove NFS share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shared path                   Hosts and options
/demovol                      *(ro,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0)
/nfsshare                     *(rw,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=0)

Select an share to remove: /nfsshare

The showmount -a command may be used to verify whether a share is currently in use by NFS clients, however this information may not be up to date:

# showmount -a
All mount points on nfs-server:
vsa:/nfsshare

Set up NFS client (mount exports from other servers)

This menu item allows administering/managing NFS client mounts.

Show NFS mounts
Uses configuration information from “/etc/fstab” to list permanent mounts (see figure below):

Local mount point (Local path)
NFS server name or IP address (NFS server)
NFS server exported directory (remote path)
NFS client set mount options (Options)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Current NFS mounts
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Local path           NFS server / remote path            Options

/cnfs/share1         nfs-server:/nfsshare                rw

Press RETURN to continue ...

To list information about all mounted file systems, including file systems that are temporarily mounted (via the “mount” command), use “mount” without any options.

To verify negotiated and explicitly set NFS mount options for certain mount points, use the “mount” command without any options and “grep” for the share name, e.g.:

# mount | grep "/cnfs/share1"
nfs-server:/nfsshare on /cnfs/share1 type nfs4 (rw,relatime,vers=4.0,
rsize=131072,wsize=131072,namlen=255,hard,proto=tcp,port=0,timeo=600,
retrans=2,sec=sys,clientaddr=172.16.3.228,local_lock=none,addr=172.16.3.36)

Create NFS mount
Mounts an exported share from another NFS server. The NFS server can be specified by its short or full name, or by the IP address. In case that you dont know the exact shared path or access restrictions, use the showmount -e command in a shell to list available shares, e.g.:

# showmount -e nfs-server
Export list for nfs-server:
/demovol  *
/nfsshare *

Only the rw/ro option needs to be selected. Make sure that the NFS server has the share exported read/write if you selected rw as the mount option.

NFS client and server can then negotiate the values for the other options, for best performance. It is recommended to stick with default options, but if required, different or additional NFS mount options can be specified. See the “nfs” man pages for available options.

Then the “mount” command is issued with the specified options, and on success also saved to the file systems configuration file “/etc/fstab” so that the mount is recreated after a server reboot.

In case of an error you can either decide to remove the new mount from “fstab”, or keep it and analyze the cause of the failed mount attempt later. Details of a mount error can be found in the “configure.log” file, e.g.:

mount.nfs: mount system call failed: The server itself is not reachable. Use “ping” to verify that the server IP address is reachable/the full or short name of the server is resolvable by the name services.

mount.nfs: Remote I/O error: The NFS server is reachable, but maybe no NFS service is active. Use showmount -e nfs-server to verify shares.

mount.nfs: access denied by server while mounting nfs-server:/nfsshare: Can be either a wrong access mode or the share is not exported for this client, or not exported at all. Use showmount -e nfs-server to verify shares and their access lists.

Remove NFS mount
Uses “umount” to un-mount a share and removes its entry from “/etc/fstab”. Before removing a share, verify with the “fuser” command whether there are still processes using files on that mount point:

# fuser -v /cnfs/share1
                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/cnfs/share1:        root     kernel mount  /cnfs/share1
                     root       2535 ..c..  bash
                     root       3085 ..c..  vi

As can be seen in the example, the kernel has the share still mounted, and two programs, “bash” and “vi”, with the process IDs 2535 and 3085, are still working inside that directory tree. You may notify the corresponding users, or end the processes before un-mounting the share.

Show network summary

This dialog summarizes all network related settings:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Network summary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ============= Host name and domain ================================

  Host name: vsa
  DNS domain name: helios.de

  ============= Network interface configuration =====================

  Interface : eth0

    Active IP configuration ("ifconfig")
	    IP Addr      : 172.16.3.228
	    IP Broadcast : 172.16.3.255
	    IP Mask      : 255.255.252.0

    "interfaces" file IP configuration
	    iface_auto   : allow-hotplug
	    iface_net    : inet
	    iface_mode   : dhcp

  ============= Proxy server configuration ==========================

  No proxy server set

  ============= DNS client configuration ============================

  The automatic (DHCP) configuration is active.

    Domain name:    helios.de
    Search domains: dyn.helios.de
    Name servers:   172.16.0.1

N ext, P revious, Q uit [N]:

4.2.3 Storage setup (data volumes)

Note:: Please read 7 “Volume Management” before configuring the storage, it includes fundamental basics on how the storage system works.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Storage setup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Physical volumes (PVs) / disks of "datavg":

  1 : Create or extend data volume group (add disks)
  2 : Reduce data volume group (remove disks)
  3 : List physical volumes (disks used)

Logical volumes (LVs) / file systems of "datavg":

  4 : List logical volumes
  5 : Add new logical volume
  6 : Extend logical volume
  7 : Remove logical volume

Other options:

  9 : Manage other volume groups (Advanced storage setup)
  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

Create or extend data volume group (add disks)

Directly after importing the HELIOS Virtual Server Appliance there is no data disk. You need to add a new disk to the VM that is used for the data volume group “datavg” using the hypervisor administration program. The new disk can be virtual (disk image) or physical (hypervisor pass-through).

This menu will detect new disks and existing disks that have been increased in size, and will add them to the “datavg” volume group. This operation works on-the-fly without any service interrupt. Details on adding or increasing disks are given in 7.8 “Increase the existing “datavg” volume group size”.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Extend volume group: datavg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" selected for adding/extending storage.
  Total space:  2.00G (2143289344 bytes)
  Free space:   408M (427819008 bytes)

We will now scan for suitable disks to be used for extending
the volume group. The disks must be attached and online.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tools (create): “pvcreate”, “vgcreate”
Underlying CLI tools (extend): “pvcreate”, “pvresize”, “vgextend”

Reduce data volume group (remove disks)

This menu allows removing a physical disk which is assigned to the “datavg” volume group. It is required that sufficient disk space (the size of the disk to be removed) is available as free space in the “datavg” volume group. This is because the disk's data must be stored elsewhere in the volume group. This operation works on-the-fly without any service interrupt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Reduce volume group: datavg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Disks used by volume group "datavg":

  Name   Disk Type/ID  Disk Size  PV Size  PV Free  Volume Group
  sdb    SCSI 2:0:1:0      2.00G    2.00G     408M  datavg

Free space on volume group: 408M

Enter the disks to remove from the volume group, separated by space.
    Example: sdb sdc

Enter the disks to remove:

Underlying CLI tools: “pvmove”, “vgreduce”, “pvremove”

List physical volumes (disks used)

Lists all physical volumes (disks) with their SCSI IDs (if available) for the volume group “datavg”.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Physical volumes (disks) for volume group: datavg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

  Name   Disk Type/ID  Disk Size  PV Size  PV Free  Volume Group
  sdb    SCSI 2:0:1:0      2.00G    2.00G     408M  datavg

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tool: “pvdisplay”

List logical volumes

Lists the volume group “datavg” including its logical volumes, sizes and file system mount points.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Logical volumes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (2.00G total / 408M unused)

  Logical volume     LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  data1                1.10G     1.08G    1016M    4
  data2                 512M      503M     461M    4

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tool: “lvdisplay”

Add new logical volume

Adds a new logical volume to the “datavg” volume group. In addition, it creates a file system, a mount point, and adds the configuration to “/etc/fstab”. Optionally, it can create a HELIOS volume on this mount point.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Create logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This will create a new logical volume (LV) on volume group "datavg".
  Free space on volume group:  5.31G (5704253440 bytes)

LV / partition name (will be "/dev/datavg/<name>") [data3]:
Volume size (e.g. "10G", "500M") [2.66G]:
Mount point (will be created) [/data3]:
Creating LV "data3" with size 2.66G ...
Checking LV path "/dev/datavg/data3" ...
Creating file system ...
Creating mount point at "/data3" ...
Updating "/etc/fstab" ...
Mounting "/data3" ...

Logical volume "data3" successfully created.
  Size:        2.66G (2856153088 bytes)
  File system: ext4
  Mounted on:  /data3

Share this LV as a HELIOS volume for Mac and Windows? [Y/n]

AFP volume name [data3]:
SMB volume name [data3]:

Adjusting permissions ...
Creating directories ...
Creating preferences ...
Activating volume ...

HELIOS volume successfully created.
You can connect from Mac or Windows using "vsa" as server name.

Use HELIOS Admin to specify additional volume preferences.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tools: “lvcreate”, “mkfs.ext4”, “mount”, “rebuild”
Changed file: “/etc/fstab”

Extend logical volume

Allows extending a logical volume (partition). It will also extend the ext4 file system used on the logical volume. This operation works on-the-fly without any service interrupt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Extend logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (2.00G total / 408M unused)

  Logical volume     LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  data1                1.10G     1.08G    1016M    4
  data2                 512M      503M     461M    4

Enter the LV to extend: data2

Free space on volume group "datavg": 408M (427819008 bytes)

Selected logical volume: data2
  Current size:  512M (536870912 bytes)
  Maximum size:  920M (964689920 bytes)

Enter the new size in bytes or in a format like "500M", "50G" etc.
You may also use relative values like "+10G" to extend the LV by 10
Gigabytes.

New size: +88m

Logical volume: data2
  Old size:  512M (536870912 bytes)
  New size:  600M (629145600 bytes)

Is this correct? [Y/n] y

Extending LV ...
Resizing file system ...

Logical volume "data2" successfully extended.
  New size:  600M (629145600 bytes)

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tools:
“lvextend”, and depending on the file system type, “resize2fs” (ext4)
“swapon”, “swapoff”, “mkswap” (swap)

Remove logical volume

Removes a logical volume from the “datavg” volume group including its data, file system and mount point. If this logical volume is defined as a HELIOS volume please ensure to unmount this volume on all clients first. Likewise, other server tasks should not have any open files on the file system which should be removed. When removing a logical volume, the space is returned as free space to the “datavg” volume group.

Important:: If a logical volume is removed, the file system and all data in this logical volume are also removed and cannot be restored!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Remove logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (2.00G total / 160M unused)

  Logical volume     LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  data1                1.10G     1.08G    1016M    4
  data2                 600M      589M     543M    3
  data3                 160M      154M     141M    4

Enter the LV to remove: data3

IMPORTANT:
  All data on the logical volume "data3" will be REMOVED.
  This can NOT be undone!

Please enter "delete" to confirm: delete
Unmounting "/data3" ...
Deactivating LV "data3" ...
Removing LV "data3" ...
Removing mount point "/data3" ...
Removing volume preferences ...
Updating "/etc/fstab" ...

Logical volume "data3" successfully removed.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Underlying CLI tools: “lvchange”, “lvremove”, “umount”
Changed file: “/etc/fstab”

Manage other volume groups (Advanced storage setup)

By default (i.e. in a non-advanced storage setup), all production data is assumed to be stored in the “datavg” volume group only. For many customers a single “datavg” will be the default and this advanced mode is not required.

List volume groups and volumes
Shows all available volume groups on the system, usually “rootvg” for the operating system with its file systems, and “datavg”.

Create a new volume group
Allows creating a new volume group, for example “backupvg”. Usually this is not required because it is more likely that customers add disks to the existing “datavg”. However, before a new volume group can be added, a new disk must be made available to the VM using the hypervisor administration. Creating a new volume group makes sense if a second hardware RAID system should operate independently from the “datavg” and “rootvg” volume groups.

This action will detect available disks that can be used for the new volume group.

Manage an existing volume group
Lists all available volume groups and asks to select one volume group that should be administered. It allows managing the physical volumes of the selected volume group and the logical volumes connected to it. The menu items for the management of logical volumes are almost identical with those listed in the “Storage setup” menu described earlier in this chapter. However, the following menu items are only available here:

Manage snapshots – Allows listing, creating, and removing file system snapshots of the selected logical volume (see also 7.5 “Snapshots of logical volumes”).
Remove volume group "<name>" – Removes an existing volume group and frees up all connected disks of this volume group. Before the volume group can be removed all logical volumes in this volume group must be deleted first.

Note:

The advanced volume group configuration also allows increasing the system root partition and the swap space used:

In the Manage volume group menu select “rootvg” and configure your system partition and the desired swap space.

Removing the volume group works on-the-fly, without any service interrupt.

Show physical disk overview
Lists all physical disks that have been detected by the Configuration Assistant, including their SCSI ID (if available) and the current use, e.g. physical volume for a volume group. If a partition table is detected on a disk, the partitions are listed for that disk, including information about the used file systems and mount points (see illustration below).

This overview shows how the disks are distributed over the different volume groups and allows identifying specific disks:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Physical disk overview
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The following list shows which disks have been detected and how they
are used:

  Name      Path         SCSI ID       Size  Used as
  sda       /dev/sda     2:0:0:0      30.0G  partitioned disk (msdos)
    sda1    /dev/sda1    partition     237M    ext3, mounted on "/boot"
    sda2    /dev/sda2    partition    19.8G    LVM PV for "rootvg"
  sdb       /dev/sdb     2:0:1:0       200G  LVM PV for "datavg"
  sdc       /dev/sdc     2:0:2:0      50.0G  LVM PV for "datavg"
  sdd       /dev/sdd     2:0:3:0      50.0G  LVM PV for "datavg"
  sde       /dev/sdf     2:0:4:0      20.0G  *** unused disk
  sdf       /dev/sdg     2:0:5:0      20.0G  *** unused disk
  sdg       /dev/sdh     2:0:6:0      5.00G  LVM PV for "rootvg"

Press RETURN to continue ...

4.2.4 HELIOS services (start/stop, license, updates)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => HELIOS services
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

HELIOS services:

  1 : Show status of HELIOS services
  2 : Start HELIOS services
  3 : Stop HELIOS services

  4 : Enter HELIOS license
  5 : Install HELIOS updates

  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

Show status of HELIOS services

This menu item allows monitoring the status of all installed HELIOS services.

Underlying HELIOS tool: “srvutil status” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

Start HELIOS services

This menu item allows starting all installed HELIOS services.

Underlying HELIOS tool: “start-helios” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

Stop HELIOS services

This menu item allows stopping all installed HELIOS services.

Underlying HELIOS tool: “stop-helios” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

Enter HELIOS license

This menu item starts the HELIOS license program which allows entering or modifying the HELIOS licenses.

––––––––––––––––––––– License a HELIOS Product –––––––––––––––––––––––|
                                                                      |
                                                                      |
                                                                      |
  ––– Licensed Products ––        Serial Number: ee0004e0             |
 | ...New Entry           |                                           |
 |EtherShare              |     Expiration Date: 1-Dec-2015_________  |
 |PCShare                 |                                           |
 |WebShare                |  Base Serial Number: 06325304             |
  ––––––––––––––––––––––––                                            |
                                Number of Users: 20_________________  |
                                                                      |
                                       Checksum: fmgi-kiaa-dvaz-uihj  |
                                                                      |
                                                                      |
                                                                      |
                                                 ––––––––    ––––––   |
                                                | Cancel |  |  Ok  |  |
                                                 ––––––––    ––––––   |
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|

: In the Licensed Products section select ...New Entry and press RETURN.

Note:: HELIOS products that are already licensed are listed in the “Licensed Products” field (see figure above).

: In the dialog window of the HELIOS product to be licensed enter the product serial number, the number of users (i.e. the type of license you purchased with the software product), and the checksum which you get from the “Activation Key Reply” form. Then confirm with Ok.

: To leave the “License a HELIOS Product” dialog select Ok and press RETURN. Otherwise the changes you have applied to the server will not take effect.

The HELIOS services must now be stopped and restarted for the new license to take effect.

An already existing HELIOS license cannot be edited. In such cases it must be removed and then replaced by another. To remove a HELIOS software license do the following:

: In the “License a HELIOS Product” dialog highlight the software license you want to remove and press BACKSPACE or Ctrl+H.

: To leave the “License a HELIOS Product” dialog, select Ok and press RETURN. Otherwise the changes you have applied to the server will not take effect.

Note:

The following file is affected when entering or removing a HELIOS license:

– “HELIOSDIR/var/conf/license”

Underlying HELIOS tool: “license” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

Install HELIOS updates

This menu item starts the HELIOS Update Installer which allows you to download and install HELIOS updates (see HELIOS Base manual).

The “/updates” directory is pre-configured as the download directory and update search path, so no additional configuration is needed.

If you configured a proxy server in the network settings (4.2.2 “Network setup (hostname, IP addresses, DHCP, NFS)”), this is also automatically applied for the Update Installer.

Underlying HELIOS tool: “hupd” (see the HELIOS Base manual)

4.2.5 Server administration (shutdown, reboot, active users)

From this menu you can shut down or reboot the Virtual Server Appliance, switch it into single-user mode, and view all active users on this machine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Server administration
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Server administration:

  1 : Shut down the server
  2 : Reboot the server
  3 : Switch to single-user mode

  4 : List active UNIX and HELIOS users (who & swho)

  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

Shut down the server

This menu item allows shutting down the server. You can specify the time in minutes to wait for users to log off. Entering now or 0 shuts the server down immediately.

Underlying CLI tool: “shutdown”

Reboot the server

This menu item allows rebooting the server. You can specify the time in minutes to wait for users to log off. Entering now or 0 reboots the server immediately.

Underlying CLI tool: “shutdown”

Switch to single-user mode

This menu item allows switching the server into single-user mode.

Switching into single-user mode will stop all HELIOS and Linux services. This will allow maintenance or recovery measures. See also 6.1 “Single-user/recovery mode”.

Underlying CLI tool: “telinit”

List active Linux and HELIOS users (who & swho)

This menu item allows viewing all active Linux (Linux “who” command) and HELIOS users (HELIOS command “swho”).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => List active Linux and HELIOS users (who & swho)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

  ============= Linux users ===========================================

   root     tty1         Sep  3 14:00

  ============= HELIOS users ==========================================

   Server          PID Address          User     When      Comment
   heladmsrv      1651 172.16.2.208     alex     09:57:22
   afpsrv         1657 172.16.2.208     alex     09:58:18  HELIOS Demo
   pcshare        1662 172.16.3.89      rob      10:02:59  IPC$,/public

N ext, P revious, Q uit [N]

4.2.6 Show configuration summary

The Configuration summary menu item gives an overview of the current Virtual Server Appliance configuration.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 2.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Configuration summary (Tue Jun 16 16:10:09 2015, Europe/Berlin)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

System resources:         Storage:
  CPU cores  : 8 (2 * 4)    Configured disks (PVs)          : 2 (21.8G)
  Memory     : 1002M        Volume groups (VGs)             : 2 (21.8G)
  Swap space : 951M         Partitions / file systems (LVs) : 5 (8.20G)

Network configuration:
  Hostname        : vsa
  Interface eth0  : 172.16.3.228    (assigned by DHCP)
  Interface eth1  : 172.16.3.103    (static IP setup)

Installed HELIOS products:
  Base, EtherShare, PCShare, WebShare File Server, WebShare Web Server,
  IT Monitor Server

Configuration Assistant log file:
  /usr/local/helios/var/adm/configure.log

Press RETURN to continue ...

System resources
CPU cores: Number of used CPUs and their cores (in this example: 2 CPUs with 4 cores each = 8 cores)
Memory: Amount of RAM assigned to the virtual machine
Swap space: Disk space which is used for memory swapping

Storage
Configured disks (PVs): Total number of physical disks configured and their overall size
Volume groups (VGs): Total number of defined volume groups and their overall size
Partitions/filesystems(LVs): Total number of defined logical volumes and their overall size

Network configuration
Hostname: Hostname of the server
Interface <name>: Network interfaces and their current configuration

Installed HELIOS products: List of all HELIOS products installed on the virtual server

Configuration Assistant log file: Path to the configuration log file (see 4.2.8 “Configuration Assistant log file”)

4.2.7 Exit to shell

This menu exits the HELIOS Configuration Assistant and returns to a root shell. Typing configure allows you to return to the assistant program, or typing exit to logout.

4.2.8 Configuration Assistant log file

The Configuration Assistant log file “/usr/local/helios/var/adm/configure.log” lists all configuration actions that have been taken on the virtual server, including process ID number and remote user IP address (if available). The aim of this log file is that all changes that have been applied to the system configuration using the Configuration Assistant are logged, including external commands issued.

4.3 Known issues

After changing the keyboard layout the following warning is given out:

update-rc.d: warning: start and stop actions are no longer supported;
falling back to defaults

This is an uncritical warning issued by the Debian Linux system, which can be ignored.

HELIOS Manuals August 10, 2015