Performing first-time installation of Spectrum Connect

You can install the IBM Spectrum Connect software on a compatible version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or CentOS. For more information, refer to the release notes.

Before you begin

  • Verify that the following TCP ports are open to ensure network connectivity between VMware resources, Spectrum Connect and IBM storage systems:
    • 8440 (vCenter, vROps and vRO servers). Refer to the installation procedure below for details on opening the 8440 port for the 'iptables' (RHEL 6.x) or 'firewall-cmd' (RHEL 7.x, CentOS 7.x). In addition, Spectrum Connect must be allowed to bind to port 8440, if Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is enabled.
    • 7778 (XIV, Spectrum Accelerate, FlashSystem A9000/A9000R).
    • 22 (storage systems that run IBM Spectrum Virtualize™).
    • 8452 (DS8000).
  • Verify that the TCP ports 5672 and 4369 are open. These ports are used by the 'rabbitmq' and 'ampq' internal processes, respectively. Refer to the installation procedure below for the port opening procedures.
  • Make sure that the 'ibmsc' user can access the /opt/ibm and /var/log/sc folders.
  • Check that the 'policycoreutils-python' package has been installed for RHEL 6.x.
  • Check that the 'zlib' library has been installed for RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x.
  • Check that the 'bzip2' program has been installed for all operating systems.
  • Verify that the 'postgresql' package is not installed on your host. Your server may have a package of 'postgresql' version 8 installed, as a part of operation system distribution. This may result in a conflict with version of the package, installed during the Spectrum Connect deployment. Use the >> rpm -qa | grep postgres command to search for the 'postgresql' package.
  • A new Linux username – ibmsc – is created during installation to be used for the Spectrum Connect management operations. You can customize the user ID for ibmsc by adding a Linux user (useradd command in RHEL) prior to the package installation. In this case, create the /home/ibmsc directory before starting the installation process.

Procedure

Follow these steps to install Spectrum Connect:

  1. Open the 8440 TCP port:
    • RHEL 6.x:
      • iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 8440 -j ACCEPT
      • iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 8440 -j ACCEPT
      • service iptables save
      • service iptables restart
    • RHEL 7.x, CentOS 7.x:
      • firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8440/tcp
      • firewall-cmd --reload
  2. If you are using SELinux, allow Spectrum Connect to bind to the 8440 TCP port:
    • RHEL 6.x: semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 8440
    • RHEL 7.x, CentOS 7.x: setsebool -P nis_enabled 1
  3. Open the 5672 and 4369 TCP ports under RHEL 7.x and CentOS 7.x:
    • firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=trusted --add-interface=lo
    • firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=trusted --add-port=5672/tcp
    • firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=trusted --add-port=4369/tcp
  4. Download the installation package and the IBM_Spectrum_Connect_Signing_Key_Pub.key file, used for the package validation. See Downloading IBM Spectrum Connect software).
  5. Copy the installation package and the public key files to a local folder on the Linux host that will be used as Spectrum Connect.
  6. Go to the local folder and then use the gpg --import IBM_Spectrum_Connect_Signing_Key_Pub.key to import the IBM® GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) public key to validate the installation files. This ensures that the files were received from IBM and were not manipulated in any way by a third party.
  7. Extract the installation package file ('* ' represents the build number) : 
    # tar -xzvf IBM_Spectrum_Connect-3.4.0-*-x86_64.tar.gz
    Depending on the operating system type, the following files are extracted:
    • RHEL 6.x:
      • erlang-18.1-1.el6.x86_64.rpm
      • nginx-1.8.0-1.el6.ngx.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel6.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-contrib-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel6.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-libs-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel6.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-server-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel6.x86_64.rpm
      • rabbitmq-server-3.6.0-1.noarch.rpm
      • uuid-1.6.1-10.el6.x86_64.rpm
    • RHEL 7.x:
      • erlang-18.1-1.el7.centos.x86_64.rpm
      • nginx-1.8.0-1.el7.ngx.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-contrib-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-libs-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-server-9.2.14-1PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • rabbitmq-server-3.6.0-1.noarch.rpm
      • uuid-1.6.2-26.el7.x86_64.rpm
    • CentOS 7.x:
      • erlang-19.3.0-1.el7.centos.x86_64.rpm
      • jemalloc-3.6.0-1.el7.x86_64.rpm
      • libxslt-1.1.28-5.el7.x86_64.rpm
      • nginx-1.10.3-1.el7.ngx.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-9.2.24-5PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-contrib-9.2.24-5PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-docs-9.2.24-5PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-libs-9.2.24-5PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • postgresql92-server-9.2.24-5PGDG.rhel7.x86_64.rpm
      • rabbitmq-server-3.6.0-1.noarch.rpm
      • redis-3.2.5-1.el7.x86_64.rpm
      • uuid-1.6.2-26.el7.x86_64.rpm
    • ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-*.bin – product BIN file.
    • ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-xxxx-x86_64.bin.asc– digital signature file for the BIN file verification.
  8. Enter # gpg --verify ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-xxxx-x86_64.bin.asc ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-xxxx-x86_64.bin to verify the digital signature of the installation files.
  9. Go to the extracted directory and then use the rpm -iv *.rpm command to run and install all the complementary RPM files. The IBM Storage Provider service starts automatically after the installation (for more information, see Checking and controlling the Spectrum Connect Linux service) and a new Linux username – ibmsc – is created so that you can use it for the Spectrum Connect management operations.
  10. Enter chmod +x ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-*.bin to authorize the installation of the product BIN file.
  11. Enter ./ibm_spectrum_connect-3.4.0-*.bin to start the installation.
  12. Review the license agreement which is displayed after you run the installation file.
  13. Enter 1 to accept the license agreement and complete the installation: 
    Press Enter to continue viewing the license agreement, or enter "1" to accept 
the agreement, "2" to decline it, "3" to print it, "4" to read non-IBM terms, 
or "99" to go back.

1

Preparing for new installation...
Creating system user ibmsc...
Configuring rsyslog...
Setting up nginx...
Generating SSL certificate...
Configuring postgresql database...
Creating IBM Spectrum Connect user...
Configuring IBM Spectrum Connect...
Adding iptables rules...
Starting Celery services... [OK]
Starting Django service... [OK]
NOTE: An initial username 'admin' with an initial password 'admin1!' 
has been defined for the initial access (via the CLI or GUI) to the IBM Spectrum Connect.
IMPORTANT: To avoid unauthorized access to the IBM Spectrum Connect, 
the password for this username should be changed as soon as possible.
You can control IBM Spectrum Connect services using the 
'service ibm_spectrum_connect {start|stop|status}' command.

Installation completed successfully.
  14. To avoid unauthorized access to Spectrum Connect via GUI, it is strongly recommended to change the default password for the 'admin' user as soon as possible, as described in Changing the password of a Spectrum Connect user.
    Table 1. Configuration files renamed during Spectrum Connect installation
    File name Location
    40-ibmsyslog.conf /etc/rsyslog.d/
    500.html /etc/nginx/conf.d/
    sc_fastcgi_params /etc/nginx/conf.d/
    sc_nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/