4 Configuration Assistant

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.

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 vsa-config command.

4.1 Notes on using Configuration Assistant

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

Return	Confirm the current input or selection
Ctrl + C	Interrupt HELIOS Configuration Assistant and return to 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
Shift +	Scrolls the screen output on the local console. This might be different
Shift +	when you connect via SSH using a different terminal emulator

During the configuration process you may be asked to enter values. Many of these values are already suggested by 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 HELIOS Configuration Assistant!

4.2 Configure the Virtual Server Appliance

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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

  9 : Exit and log out
  0 : Exit to Linux shell

Task:

4.3 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 3.0.0 - 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:

4.3.1 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

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

4.3.2 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.

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

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

Used CLI tools: “dpkg-reconfigure tzdata”

4.3.4 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.

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

4.3.5 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.

Used CLI tool: “date”

4.4 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 3.0.0 - 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:

4.4.1 Set hostname

This menu item allows specifying a new hostname.

Note:

The following files are affected when setting/changing the hostname:

• /etc/hostname
• /etc/hosts

Used CLI tool: “hostname”

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

4.4.2 Configure network interfaces (TCP/IP settings)

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:: Configuration Assistant currently supports IPv4 configurations only.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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

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

4.4.3 Configure DNS client (name servers, domain names)

This menu item allows you to set up the DNS client. This is required for resolving hostnames 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, e.g. 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

4.4.4 Configure proxy server (internet update access)

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 specified proxy 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

4.4.5 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 (domain, IP, IP subnet, etc.).

Show shares

Lists shared paths and related hosts and options as defined in “/etc/exports”:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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

Host access lists and options for a directory path that are to be shared by NFS are stored in “/etc/exports”. Then “exportfs” is called to make it immediately available:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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 hostname)
  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. macOS 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/

Edit existing share

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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 3.0.0 - 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 “vsa-config.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 3.0.0 - 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 a 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

4.4.6 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 3.0.0 - 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 do not 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 “vsa-config.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 or whether 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.

4.4.7 Show network summary

This dialog summarizes all network related settings:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Network summary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

General:

  Hostname        : vsa
  DNS domain name : helios.de
  Proxy server    : (no proxy server set)

Network interface: eth0

  Current IP configuration:

    IP Addr       : 172.16.3.228
    IP Broadcast  : 172.16.3.255
    IP Mask       : 255.255.252.0

  Configuration settings:

    iface_auto    : allow-hotplug
    iface_net     : inet
    iface_mode    : dhcp

DNS client configuration:

  Configuration   : automatic (DHCP)
  Domain name     : helios.de
  Search domains  : dyn.helios.de
  Name servers    : 172.16.0.1

Press RETURN to continue …

4.5 Storage setup (data volumes)

Note:: Before configuring the storage, please read chapter 7 “Volume Management”. It includes fundamental basics on how the storage system works.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Storage setup (datavg)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Manage volume group: datavg (18.0G total / 3.25G unused)

  1 : List physical volumes (disks used for volume group)
  2 : Extend volume group (add disks as physical volume)
  3 : Reduce volume group (remove disks as physical volume)

  4 : Add logical volume (create file system)
  5 : Manage logical volumes (edit/remove file systems)

  6 : Remove volume group "datavg"

Other options:

  7 : Switch volume group (manage other volume groups)
  8 : Create new volume group
  9 : Show physical disk overview
  0 : Return to main menu

Task:

4.5.1 List physical volumes (disks used for volume group)

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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      18.0G    18.0G    3.25G  datavg

Press RETURN to continue ...

4.5.2 Extend volume group (add disks as physical volume)

Directly after importing the HELIOS Virtual Server Appliance there is no data disk. Using the hypervisor administration program, you need to add a new disk to the VM which will be is used for the data volume group “datavg”. 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 chapter 7.8 “Increase volume group size”.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Extend volume group: datavg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" selected for adding/extending storage.

  Total space:  18.0G (19323158528 bytes)
  Free space:   3.25G (3217031168 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 ...
Scanning for new disks ...
Scanning for unconfigured/new space on existing disks ...

Found 1 new/empty disk(s):
  sdc (/dev/sdc) [SCSI ID 2:0:2:0] - size: 10.0G (10737418240 bytes)

Enter the disks to add or extend, separated by space.
    Example: sdb sdc

Enter the disks to add/extend [sdc]:
Creating LVM physical volumes ...
Extending LVM volume group "datavg" ...

Volume group "datavg" successfully extended.
 Before: 18.0G (19323158528 bytes) total/3.25G (3485466624 bytes) free
 Now:    28.0G (30056382464 bytes) total/13.2G (14218690560 bytes) free

You may also want to extend the LVs to make the extra space available.
Press RETURN to continue ...

4.5.3 Reduce volume group (remove disks as physical volume)

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 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 3.0.0 - 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      18.0G    18.0G    3.25G  datavg
  sdc    SCSI 2:0:2:0      10.0G   10.00G   10.00G  datavg

Free space on volume group: 13.2G

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

Enter the disks to remove: sdc

The following disks are selected for removal:
  sdc (/dev/sdc) [SCSI ID 2:0:2:0] - size: 10.0G (10737418240 bytes)

Total size of disks to remove: 10.00G

Current volume group free space: 13.2G
Volume group free space after removal: 3.25G

Is this correct? [Y/n]

Emptying /dev/sdc - moving data ... (this may take a while)
Removing /dev/sdc from volume group ...
Removing physical volume /dev/sdc (wiping disk) ...

The following disks have been removed from volume group "datavg":
  sdc (/dev/sdc) [SCSI ID 2:0:2:0] - size: 10.0G (10737418240 bytes)


Press RETURN to continue ...

4.5.4 Add logical volume (create file system)

Adds a new logical volume to the “datavg” volume group.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Create logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This will create a new logical volume (LV) on volume group "datavg".
  Free space on volume group:  3.25G (3485466624 bytes)

LV / partition name (will be "/dev/datavg/<name>") [data1]: Alpha
Volume size (e.g. "10G", "500M") [1.50G]:
Mount point (will be created) [/Alpha]:
Use BTRFS [Y/n]:
Creating LV "Alpha" with size 1.5G ...
Checking LV path "/dev/datavg/Alpha" ...
Creating file system ...
Creating btrfs master volume ...
Enabling quota ...
Enabling snapshots ...
Creating mount point at "/Alpha" (volume) ...
Updating "/etc/fstab" (volume) ...
Mounting "/Alpha" ...

Logical volume "Alpha" successfully created.
  Size:        1.5G (1610612736 bytes)
  File system: btrfs
  Mounted on:  /Alpha

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

AFP volume name [Alpha]:
SMB volume name [Alpha]:

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 ...

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.

4.5.5 Manage logical volumes (edit/remove file systems)

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Logical volumes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (18.0G total / 3.25G unused)

  Logical volume     Type  LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  Alpha              btrfs   6.50G     6.50G    5.83G    1
  Beta               btrfs   5.00G     5.00G    4.48G    1
  Gamma              btrfs   3.25G     3.25G    2.91G    1

Enter the logical volume name to manage (empty to return):

After entering the desired logical volume name several options become available:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Logical volume: datavg/Alpha
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Logical volume: datavg/Alpha    Type: btrfs    Size: 6.50G

Volume options:

  1 : Extend volume
  2 : Remove volume

Snapshots:

  3 : Create snapshot
  4 : List/manage snapshots
  5 : Remove multiple snapshots
  6 : Automatic snapshot configuration

Other options:

  0 : Return to previous menu

Task:

Extend logical volume

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Extend logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Free space on volume group "datavg": 2.75G (2948595712 bytes)

Selected logical volume: Alpha
  Current size:  6.50G (6979321856 bytes)
  Maximum size:  9.75G (10464788480 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: 7.0G

Extend logical volume: Alpha
  Old size:  6.50G (6979321856 bytes)
  New size:  7.00G (7516192768 bytes)

Is this correct? [Y/n]

Extending LV ...
Resizing btrfs file system ...

Logical volume "Alpha" successfully extended.
  New size: 7.00G (7516192768 bytes)

Press RETURN to continue ...

Remove logical volume from VSA

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Remove logical volume
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT:
  All data on the logical volume "Gamma" will be REMOVED.
  This CANNOT be undone!

Please enter "delete" to confirm: delete
Unmounting "/Gamma" (volume) ...
Deactivating LV "Gamma" ...
Removing LV "Gamma" ...
Removing mount point "/Gamma" ...
Removing volume preferences ...
Logical volume not mounted. Leaving any mountpoints untouched.
Updating "/etc/fstab" ...

Logical volume "Gamma" successfully removed.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Note:: The following section addresses Btrfs file systems only. For ext4-based file systems please refer to the VSA 2.0 user manual.

Snapshot creation

Creating a snapshot of the selected logical volume and publishing it as a HELIOS volume:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Create snapshot for volume: Beta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Logical volume: datavg/Beta
Type: btrfs   Size: 5.00G

A manual named snapshot is created for this BTRFS volume. Please note:

Please note: Snapshots will continue to occupy disk space when data on
   the original volume is modified or deleted. Manual snapshots must be
   removed manually to free disk space.

Snapshot name: Beta-11am
Creating snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/Beta" ...
Snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" successfully created.

Snapshots can be in a published or unpublished state.

A published snapshot is automatically mounted and published as a HELIOS
volume for quick access to older states by authorized users without
administrator interaction.

Unpublished snapshots are not mounted automatically and are not
accessible unless you decide to publish them later.

Publish the snapshot now? [Y/n]
Snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" was mounted and published as HELIOS volume.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Detailed information on snapshots and how they work can be found in 7.5 “File system snapshots”.

List existing snapshots

Note the automatically created snapshots (“monthly…”, “weekly…”, “daily…”, “hourly…”) besides the manually created snapshot “snap-Beta-11am”:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Snapshots for volume: datavg/Beta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

  Snapshot name        Type     Created                    Clean   Pub
  monthly-2019-10      Monthly  2019-10-14 10:00:01 +0200  Auto    No
  weekly-2019-41       Weekly   2019-10-14 10:00:01 +0200  Auto    No
  daily-2019-10-14     Daily    2019-10-14 10:00:01 +0200  Auto    Auto
  hourly-2019-10-14-10 Hourly   2019-10-14 10:00:01 +0200  Auto    No
  snap-Beta-11am       Manual   2019-10-07 11:00:02 +0200  Manual  Yes

Enter the snapshot name to manage (empty to return)

A snapshot can have three different states:

No: The snapshot is not published
Auto: The snapshot was published automatically, and will be unpublished according to time schedule
Yes: The snapshot has been published manually and will not be unpublished (or removed) until explicitly unpublished by the admin

Note:: When a scheduled snapshot (e.g. daily) is published manually, e.g. for the restoration of data from a specific time, the publish state will switch to Yes instead of Auto, meaning that the snapshot will stay published until it is manually unpublished.

Manage snapshots

This menu item allows publishing/unpublishing, deleting, or reverting the file system to the snapshot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Snapshot: snap-Beta-11am (datavg/Beta)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Logical volume:  datavg/Beta
Snapshot name:   snap-Beta-11am
Created at:      2019-10-07 13:57:02 +0200
Published:       Yes

Manage snapshot:

  1 : Unpublish snapshot
  2 : Revert file system to this snapshot
  3 : Remove snapshot

Other options:

  0 : Return to previous menu

Task:

Publish/unpublish selected snapshot

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Unpublish snapshot
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Unpublishing snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" ...

Snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" successfully
unpublished.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Revert file system to current snapshot

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Revert file system
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This allows you to revert the file system to the state of the selected
snapshot.

Please note:
- In order to revert the file system, it will be deactivated/unmounted
  temporarily. Make sure all clients disconnect from the volume and no
  other processes use any files on this file system.
- During reverting, the current state of the file system is preserved
  as another snapshot, prefixed with "revert". This additional snapshot
  is not removed automatically over time and must be removed manually
  when no longer needed.

Logical volume:  datavg/Beta
Snapshot name:   hourly-2019-11-28-15
Created at:      2019-11-28 15:00:01 +0100

Revert file system to the selected snapshot now? [y/N]

Remove selected snapshot from system

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Remove snapshot
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" will be REMOVED.

Remove snapshot "snap-Beta-11am"? [y/N]
Unpublishing snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" ...
Removing snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" ...

Snapshot "snap-Beta-11am" of volume "datavg/lv" successfully removed.

Press RETURN to continue ...

Remove multiple snapshots

Allows batch-removing several snapshots at once:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Clean snapshots (Btrfs)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This allows bulk removal of snapshots. Use this to remove multiple
snapshots at once to reclaim free disk space.

  Snapshot name         Type     Created                    Remove  Pub
  monthly-2019-11       Monthly  2019-11-27 17:00:03 +0100  Auto    No
  weekly-2019-47        Weekly   2019-11-27 17:00:04 +0100  Auto    No
  daily-2019-11-27      Daily    2019-11-27 17:00:04 +0100  Auto    No
  daily-2019-11-28      Daily    2019-11-28 12:00:02 +0100  Auto    Auto
  hourly-2019-11-27-17  Hourly   2019-11-27 17:00:04 +0100  Auto    No
  hourly-2019-11-28-12  Hourly   2019-11-28 12:00:02 +0100  Auto    No
  hourly-2019-11-28-13  Hourly   2019-11-28 13:00:01 +0100  Auto    No
  Beta_10-7-19          Manual   2019-10-07 14:19:30 +0200  Manual  No

Specify the snapshots you want to remove, separated by space or comma.
You can also use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard.
Example: manualsnap1 manualsnap2 monthly-2019-*

Snapshots to remove: hourly*

...

...

The following snapshots have been selected for removal:
  hourly-2019-11-27-17
  hourly-2019-11-28-12
  hourly-2019-11-28-13

Remove 3 snapshot(s) permanently? [y/N] y

Removing snapshot "hourly-2019-11-27-17" of volume "datavg/lv" ...
Removing snapshot "hourly-2019-11-28-12" of volume "datavg/lv" ...
Removing snapshot "hourly-2019-11-28-13" of volume "datavg/lv" ...

Success: 3 snapshots have been removed:
  hourly-2019-11-27-17
  hourly-2019-11-28-12
  hourly-2019-11-28-13

Press RETURN to continue ...

Define interval and type of automatic snapshot creation

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Automatic snapshots for volume: datavg/Beta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This will enable or disable automatic snapshots. When enabled,
snapshots are created automatically hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly.
This will take up additional disk space, but will allow you to access
older states of the volume to recover deleted or changed files at any
time or to revert the whole volume.

Enable automatic snapshots? [Y/n]

Older snapshots are deleted automatically when new ones are created.
Please specify how many snapshots you want to keep of each type.
Entering "0" (zero) disables the corresponding snapshot type for this
volume.

MONTHLY snapshots to be kept [12]:
WEEKLY snapshots to be kept [4]:
DAILY snapshots to be kept [7]:
HOURLY snapshots to be kept [24]:

Snapshots can be mounted and published as HELIOS volume automatically
for quick access to older states by authorized users without
administrator interaction.

However, publishing many snapshots can quickly populate the volume
list, so it is recommended to keep the following numbers as low as
needed. Other snapshots that are kept but not mounted automatically
can be mounted and published on demand by the administrator using the
"Manage snapshots" menu.

MONTHLY snapshots to be published automatically [0]:
WEEKLY snapshots to be published automatically [0]:
DAILY snapshots to be published automatically [1]:
HOURLY snapshots to be published automatically [0]:

Access to snapshots can be limited to specific users to avoid
confusion with large volume lists. You can specify one or more user
groups, separated by comma.
Using an asterisk (*) will allow access for all users.

Groups for snapshot access (separated by comma): [snaprestore]

Automatic snapshots have been enabled for volume "datavg/Beta".

...

...

You can apply the new settings now to clean up snapshots or to create
monthly, weekly, daily, and hourly snapshots immediately. Otherwise the
configuration will be applied with the next hourly schedule.

Apply snapshot configuration immediately? [Y/n]

Applying snapshot configuration...
The snapshot configuration has been applied.

Press RETURN to continue ...

4.5.6 Remove volume group “<name>”

Removes an existing volume group and frees up all connected disks of this volume group.

Important:: All logical volumes must be removed before the volume group can be removed!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Remove volume group: datavg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (18.0G total / 6.50G unused)

  Logical volume     Type  LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  Alpha              btrfs   6.50G     6.50G    5.83G    1
  Beta               btrfs   5.00G     5.00G    4.48G    1

These logical volumes must be removed before the volume group can
be removed.

Press RETURN to continue ...

4.5.7 Switch volume group (manage other volume groups)

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 the advanced mode is not required.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Select volume group
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group "datavg" (18.0G total / 6.50G unused)

  Logical volume     Type  LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  Alpha              btrfs   6.50G     6.50G    5.83G    1
  Beta               btrfs   5.00G     5.00G    4.48G    1

Volume group "rootvg" (19.5G total / 15.2G unused)

  Logical volume     Type  LV Size  FS Total  FS Free  Used  Mounted on
  home               ext4    1.00G      975M     906M    1
  swap               swap    1.00G         -        -     -  -
  system             ext4    2.33G     2.23G     517M   76

Enter the volume group name [datavg]:

4.5.8 Create new volume group

Allows creating a new volume group, for example “heliosvg”. 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:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Create new volume group
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume group name (will be "/dev/<name>"): heliosvg

We will now scan for suitable disks to be used as physical volumes (PVs)
for the new volume group. The disks must be attached and online.

Press RETURN to continue ...
Scanning for new disks ...

Found 1 new/empty disk(s):
  sdc (/dev/sdc) [SCSI ID 2:0:2:0] - size: 10.0G (10737418240 bytes)

Enter the disks to use for the volume group, separated by space.
    Example: sdb sdc

Leave empty to add all disks listed above.

Enter the disks to use [sdc]:
Creating LVM physical volumes ...
Creating LVM volume group "heliosvg" ...
Checking volume group "heliosvg" ...

Volume group "heliosvg" was successfully created.
  Total space:  10.00G (10733223936 bytes)

Create a first logical volume now? [Y/n]

See the instructions on how to create a first logical volume in the new volume group in section 4.5.4 “Add logical volume (create file system)”.

4.5.9 Show physical disk overview

Lists all physical disks that have been detected by 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.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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      20.0G  partitioned disk (msdos)
    sda1     /dev/sda1    partition     476M    ext4, mounted on "/boot"
    sda2     /dev/sda2    partition    19.5G    LVM PV for "rootvg"
  sdb        /dev/sdb     2:0:1:0      18.0G  LVM PV for "datavg"
  sdc        /dev/sdc     2:0:2:0      10.0G  LVM PV for "heliosvg"

Press RETURN to continue ...

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - 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:

4.6.1 Show the status of HELIOS services

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

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

4.6.2 Start HELIOS services

This menu item allows starting all installed HELIOS services.

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

4.6.3 Stop HELIOS services

This menu item allows stopping all installed HELIOS services.

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

4.6.4 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-2019_________  |
 |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

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

4.6.5 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 download directory and update search path, so no additional configuration is needed.

If you configured a proxy server in the network settings (4.4 “Network setup (hostname, IP addresses, DHCP, NFS)”), this is also automatically applied for the Update Installer.

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

4.7 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 3.0.0 - 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:

4.7.1 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.

Used CLI tool: “shutdown”

4.7.2 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.

Used CLI tool: “shutdown”

4.7.3 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”.

Used CLI tool: “telinit”

4.7.4 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 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => List active Linux and HELIOS users (who & swho)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Linux users (who):

   root     tty1         Sep  3 14:00 (172.16.3.128)

HELIOS users (swho):

   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

Press RETURN to continue ...

4.8 Show configuration summary

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HELIOS VIRTUAL SERVER APPLIANCE 3.0.0 - CONFIGURATION
  => Configuration summary (Tue Jun 18 16:10:09 2019, 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,

Configuration Assistant log file:
  /usr/local/helios/var/adm/vsa-config.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 4.11 “Log file”)

4.9 Exit and log out

This menu exits HELIOS Configuration Assistant and logs the user out from the system. It is only available when Configuration Assistant was started on login, and not when started from the Linux shell.

4.10 Exit to Linux shell

This menu exits HELIOS Configuration Assistant and drops the user on a Linux shell. Typing vsa-config there allows you to return to the assistant program, or typing exit to log out.

4.11 Log file

The Configuration Assistant log file “/usr/local/helios/var/adm/vsa-config.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 Configuration Assistant are logged, including external commands issued.

HELIOS Manuals November 19, 2020