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HP CloudSystem Foundation and Enterprise Software

This paper describes the process for creating Windows VMDK images

to use with ESXi cluster compute nodes in a CloudSystem

environment. Images are the basis for virtual machine (VM) instances

in HP CloudSystem. You can create and import images from

underlying hypervisor platforms into CloudSystem.

An overview of image concepts

CloudSystem is based on HP Cloud OS and OpenStack technology

HP CloudSystem Foundation is based on HP Cloud OS, which is based on open source OpenStack cloud technology. Images are

uploaded into the CloudSystem image repository, and then users can launch VM instances based on those images. The

OpenStack service that manages images is called ‘Glance’. Images are disk files with pre-installed, bootable Windows or Linux

operating systems. Images may also have pre-installed applications.

Supported image formats and guest operating systems in CloudSystem

CloudSystem supports the guest operating systems that are supported by the underlying hypervisor platform. Consult VMware

and Red Hat documentation for a list of supported guest operating systems.

The following image formats are supported:

• For ESXi, images must be in VMDK format.

• For KVM, images must be in qcow2 format.

CloudSystem Foundation and CloudSystem Enterprise

The CloudSystem solution is offered in two packages. Foundation is an Openstack-centric IaaS solution, where images are loaded

and used to launch individual VM instances within the OpenStack paradigm. Enterprise is centered on HP Cloud Service

Automation (CSA), offering advanced orchestration, complex service design, and a Market place Portal user experience. When

provisioning VMs defined in an Enterprise service offering against the CloudSystem Foundation provider, you can use images that

were previously uploaded into Foundation.

What makes an image “cloud ready”?

When creating images to use with virtual machines (VMs) in CloudSystem, keep the following details in mind:

• Disk partitions must be able to be resized during launch. OpenStack allows users to select multiple ‘flavors’, which

define different sizes of compute resources and boot disks.

• The operating system (OS) in the image must support new MAC addresses. Each time an image is launched as a VM,

it is assigned new MAC addresses for virtual NICs.

• A user login mechanism must be part of the image’s software and configuration. Typically, Remote Desktop

Protocol (RDP) is used for Windows and Secure Shell (SSH) is used for Linux.

• The root/Administrator account can be disabled and logins can be prohibited. This makes it easier to support the

VM instances from central IT.

Creating

Microsoft Windows

Virtual Machine

Images for U

ith ESXi Compute Clusters in

HP CloudSystem

Summary of content (16 pages)

PAGE 1
HP CloudSystem Foundation and Enterprise Software Creating Microsoft Windows Virtual Machine Images for Use with ESXi Compute Clusters in HP CloudSystem This paper describes the process for creating Windows VMDK images to use with ESXi cluster compute nodes in a CloudSystem environment. Images are the basis for virtual machine (VM) instances in HP CloudSystem. You can create and import images from underlying hypervisor platforms into CloudSystem.
PAGE 2
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem • Firewalls are often disabled. OpenStack security groups provide a method for creating and applying firewalls as each VM is instantiated by the end user. If default or minimum firewalls are already set in the image, network troubleshooting can be difficult. • Use a secure user login authentication mechanism that provides each end user with a unique password or key.
PAGE 3
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Option 2: Downloading images from a public source Pre-created images for use in OpenStack based clouds are available from various sources. The OpenStack documentation provides a list of some of these publically available images at http://docs.openstack.org/imageguide/content/ch_obtaining_images.html. Many are Linux images supplied directly by the major Linux vendors.
PAGE 4
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem For sparse images, make sure they are already configured as sparse or convert them to sparse using the vmware-vdiskmanager with ‘-t 0’ option. Step 8 Upload the image to CloudSystem o You can upload an image by copying it to the CloudSystem Glance image repository or by entering a link to an HTTP server that hosts the image.
PAGE 5
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem f. g. h. Memory size -> In CloudSystem, the actual value of RAM is a function of the OpenStack Nova flavor selected for the VM instance and any min_ram value that was set as a property of the image in CloudSystem. Setting the min_ram size is covered in step 7. At this point, just enter a value that allows you to develop the virtual machine image.
PAGE 6
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Installing Windows and customizing options 1. Install Windows according to the standard procedures for the version of Windows you plan to use. 2. Customize Windows. a. Enable RDP If the VM is a server with only automated network access, then the CloudSystem Portal console access may be sufficient for troubleshooting and setup tasks.
PAGE 7
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem • Additional user accounts An IT organization may or may not want users to control the default administrator account. Alternative administrative accounts or user accounts with restricted privileges are set here. The passwords are defined here or set to force the user to set the password on first login.
PAGE 8
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem • • • Microsoft – Windows – Shell – Setup o LogonCommands | FirstLogonCommands o LocalAccount  Description=  DisplayName=  Group=  Name=  Password • Value= Microsoft – Windows – Internationalization – core – WinPE o InputLocale= o SystemLocale= o UILanguage= o UserLocale= o SetupUILanguage  UILanguage= Microsoft –
PAGE 9
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem ii. Use this field to prompt the cloud-init package to create a user account with this name. This account will not appear in the unattended file and should not be added there.
PAGE 10
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem a. Review the unattended file created by the Cloudbase tool at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Cloudbase Solutions\Cloudbase-Init\conf. The highlighted section in the following example shows the clause that invokes the cloud-int python script. Copy your own custom unattended file to this directory. Sample unattended file created by Cloudbase tool b.
PAGE 11
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Sample with Administrator password c. Merge the two files and make any final modifications, then create a unique name for the file, such as mergedunattended.xml. In the following example, the clause to set the Administrator password in the custom unattended.xml has been merged into the Cloudbase_unattended.xml.
PAGE 12
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Sample merged unattended file 3. Run Sysprep: a. Mount the distribution media as the first DVD of the VM. b. Open a command or powershell CLI window. c. Change directory to the Cloudbase configuration directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Cloudbase Solutions\Cloudbase-Init\conf. d. Run Sysprep: c:\windows\system32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /oobe /generalize /unattend:MergedUnattend.
PAGE 13
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Step 7: Set required VMware image properties with VMware tools CloudSystem supports two VMDK formats: flat and sparse. • Flat files are generally larger and slower to upload. They consume more storage than a sparse VMDK. To prepare a flat image, you must use vmkfstools with -d eagerzeroedthick. Unlike a sparse image, you do not have to set a specific flat property for use with CloudSystem.
PAGE 14
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Step 8: Load images into CloudSystem There are two ways to make images available for users in CloudSystem: • Upload the image into the CloudSystem Glance repository on the CloudSystem management appliance. • Present the image on an accessible HTTP server to CloudSystem. There are three tools available for image upload: • CLI option for images 20 GB or greater.
PAGE 15
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Using the CloudSystem Console to upload an image 1. Open a supported browser to https://. Check the browser upload limitations. Chrome tends to support the largest upload size at 20 GB. If the image is larger than this, you must use the CLI upload option. 2. From the CloudSystem Console, select Images→Actions→Add. 3. Enter the image details: a.
PAGE 16
Creating Windows Virtual Machine images for use with ESXi compute clusters in HP CloudSystem Setting required CloudSystem properties 1. Install the CLI package you plan to use. To set the required properties you will need to use the command line. For instructions on installing the CLI packages for Windows and Linux, see the HP CloudSystem 8.1 Installation and Configuration Guide in the Enterprise Information Library. 2.