Purchasing and Using iMetal Servers

Scenarios

Cloud Data Center (CloudDC) enables rapid transformation of traditional data centers into cloud environments. It allows you to deploy servers in Huawei Cloud equipment rooms, taking advantages of advanced Huawei Cloud capabilities like infrastructure management, cloud-based networks, bare metal server management, and deterministic O&M.

This section uses the cloud adoption of a DC as an example to describe how to purchase an intelligent rack and deploy an iMetal server into it.

Procedure

Preparations

• Sign up for a HUAWEI ID and complete real-name authentication. For details, see Signing Up for a HUAWEI ID and Enabling Huawei Cloud Services and Individual Real-Name Authentication.

Apply for OBT

When CloudDC is in OBT, if it is the first time for you to log in to the CloudDC console, you need to submit an application for the OBT. You can use the CloudDC service only after your application is approved.

1. Log in to the CloudDC console using your HUAWEI ID.
2. In the upper left corner, click to select a region.
3. Click Apply Now. The OBT information will be collected and submitted for approval.

   

   The OBT application will be reviewed within five working days.

Authorize the Use of Other Cloud Services

CloudDC works closely with other cloud services, such as compute and network services. When you log in to the CloudDC console for the first time, CloudDC automatically requests permission to access those cloud services in the region where you are. If you have been authorized in that region, skip this step.

1. Log in to the CloudDC console using your HUAWEI ID.
2. In the upper left corner, click to select a region.
3. If it is the first time for you to log in to the CloudDC console, the Authorization dialog box will be displayed. Read the information and click Authorize.

   After you agree to the authorization, CloudDC creates an agency named imetal_trust in IAM to authorize access to resources of other cloud services. You can go to the IAM console and choose Agencies in the navigation pane. Click the imetal_trust agency to check the authorization records of each region. For details, see Cloud Service Agency.

Purchase iRack, iMetal, and CloudDCN Resources

For the cloud adoption of a DC, you need to purchase iRack, iMetal, and CloudDCN resources.

1. Log in to the CloudDC console using your HUAWEI ID. In the upper left corner, click to select a region.
2. On the Overview page, click Buy Resources in the upper right corner. The Buy CloudDC page is displayed.
3. Set parameters for iRack, iMetal, and CloudDCN. Click Add to add this set of settings to the resource package list.

   Specifications	iRack	iMetal	CloudDCN
   Billing Mode	Yearly/Monthly	Yearly/Monthly	Yearly/Monthly
   Region	CN South-Guangzhou	CN South-Guangzhou	CN South-Guangzhou
   Package specifications	clouddc.irack.8kw	clouddc.imetal.host	CloudDCN.GeneralNetwork.25G
   Purchase Duration	1 month	1 month	1 month
   Auto-renew	Enable	Enable	Enable
   Quantity	1	1	1 NOTE: The number of CloudDCN subnets must be the same as that of intelligent racks.

   

4. Click Next. Check the settings in the Details area and click Pay.

   

   The Approval Required dialog box is displayed. You can pay for the order only after it is approved.

   

5. Click Back to My Orders. In the order list, the Order Status of your order is Pending approval.

   

6. Wait until your order is approved. The Order Status changes to Pending payment.
7. Click Pay on the right of the order to pay for it.

Send, Install, and Accept a Server

1. Send the server to the address specified by Huawei Cloud based on the contract.
2. Huawei Cloud O&M personnel install the server into the intelligent rack and connect cables in the Huawei Cloud equipment room.
3. Huawei Cloud O&M personnel help you import the iMetal server information.
   1. Log in to the CloudDC console.
   2. In the navigation pane, choose Servers > iMetal Servers.

      The iMetal Servers page is displayed.

   3. In the upper part of the iMetal server list, choose More > Import. The Import dialog box is displayed.
   4. Click Download Template to download the template.

      If you have filled in the server details based on the template requirements, go to step 3.f.

   5. Enter server information in the downloaded template based on the template requirements.
      

      Once the iMetal server information is imported, it cannot be modified. If the information is incorrect, import it again.

      Table 1 Server template information

      Parameter	Mandatory	Description
      SN	Yes	Unique ID of an iMetal server.
      Equipment Room	Yes	Equipment room where the iMetal server is located.
      Rack	Yes	Rack where the iMetal server resides.
      Height (U)	Yes	Physical storage space required by the iMetal server in the rack.
      Vendor	Yes	Vendor of the iMetal server.
      Model	Yes	Model of the iMetal server.
      BMC IP Address	Yes	BMC IP address of the iMetal server.
      Server Name	Yes	Name of the iMetal server.
      BMC Username	Yes	BMC login username, which contains a maximum of 255 characters.
      BMC Password	Yes	BMC login password, which contains a maximum of 255 characters.
      Kernel Image ID	Yes	ID of the kernel image used by the iMetal server.
      RAM Disk Image ID	Yes	ID of the ramdisk image used by the iMetal server.
      Hardware Specifications	Yes	iMetal hardware specifications. The value can contain up to 255 characters, including letters, digits, plus signs (+), multiplication signs (x), parentheses (()), brackets ([]), hyphens (-), underscores (_), spaces, and periods (.).
      Provision Subnet Gateway IP	Yes	Subnet gateway IP address of the Provision plane of the iMetal server.
      Boot Mode	Yes	Boot mode of the iMetal server, which can be BIOS or UEFI. BIOS is used by default.
      Skip Formatting	No	Used to control a formatting policy for a bare metal server during capacity expansion and commissioning. Value: True (skip formatting) or False (format). Default: False)
      Formatting Policy Duration	No	Duration of the formatting policy, which must be a positive integer. If formatting is skipped, this parameter is mandatory. The maximum value is 120 and the unit is hours.

   6. Click Select File and select the file where the server information has been configured.

      The system automatically checks whether the imported data is valid.

      Figure 1 Checking data
      
   7. After checking the data, click Import to import the server information.

      After the import is complete, you can view the imported server information in the iMetal list. If Management Status of the iMetal server is Onboard, Verifying, or Ready, the import is successful. If it is Verification failed, check the server information in the uploaded file, modify the information, and upload the file again.

      It takes 10 to 15 minutes to verify the iMetal server.

4. Test the iMetal server and send an acceptance letter to Huawei Cloud. The billing starts.

Start the iMetal Server

1. Log in to the CloudDC console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Servers > iMetal Servers.
3. In the iMetal server list, locate your iMetal server and choose More > Start in the Operation column.
4. In the Start dialog box, confirm the information and click OK.

   The Power Status of this iMetal server will change to Started.

Create a Private Image

Only a private image can be used to install an iMetal server OS. For details, see Creating a Private Image for iMetal Servers.

Create a CloudDCN Subnet

1. Log in to the management console.
2. Click in the upper left corner and select the desired region and project.

3. In the upper left corner, click . In the service list, choose Networking > Virtual Private Cloud.
4. In the navigation pane, choose Virtual Private Cloud > CloudDCN Subnets.
5. Click Create CloudDCN Subnet.
6. Set the parameters based on the table below.

   Table 2 Parameters

   Parameter	Description	Example Value
   VPC	VPC where you want to create a CloudDCN subnet. If there is no VPC available, create one. For details see Creating a VPC and Subnet.	vpc-test
   Subnet Name	CloudDCN subnet name. The name can contain 1 to 64 characters. Only letters, digits, underscores (_), hyphens (-), and periods (.) are allowed.	subnet-clouddcn-01
   AZ	An availability zone (AZ) is a geographic location with independent power supply and network facilities in a region. AZs are physically isolated, and AZs in the same VPC are interconnected through an internal network. Each region contains multiple AZs. If one AZ is faulty, other AZs in the same region continue to provide services. By default, all instances in different subnets of the same VPC can communicate with each other and the subnets can be in different AZs. For example, if you have a VPC with two subnets, subnet A01 in AZ 1 and CloudDCN subnet A02 in AZ 2. A01 and A02 can communicate with each other by default. A cloud resource can be in a different AZ from its subnet. For example, a physical server in AZ 1 can use a subnet in AZ 3. If AZ 3 is faulty, the server in AZ 1 can still use the subnet in AZ3, and the services are not interrupted. For details, see Region and AZ.	AZ 1
   IPv4 CIDR Block	IPv4 CIDR block of the CloudDCN subnet. A CloudDCN subnet is a unique CIDR block with a range of IP addresses in a VPC. A subnet mask can be between the netmask of its VPC CIDR block and /28 netmask. If a VPC CIDR block is 10.0.0.0/16, its subnet mask can between 16 to 28. If the VPC has a secondary CIDR block, you can select the primary or the secondary CIDR block that the subnet will belong to based on service requirements.	10.0.0.0/24
   Associated Route Table	A route table contains a set of routes that are used to control traffic routing for your subnets in a VPC. Each VPC comes with a default route table that will be automatically associated with CloudDCN subnets. This allows CloudDCN subnets in a VPC to communicate with each other.	-
   Gateway	Click next to Advanced Settings (Optional) to set this parameter. Retain the default value unless there are special requirements.	10.0.0.1
   DNS Server Address	Click next to Advanced Settings (Optional) to set this parameter. A DNS server is used for domain name resolution. Servers can use private domain names to access each other in a VPC, and access cloud services with no need to connect to the Internet. A DNS server address is preset by default. You can change the default DNS server address if needed. This may interrupt your access to cloud services. You can click Reset on the right to restore the DNS server address to the default value. A maximum of two DNS server IP addresses are allowed. Separate them by commas (,).	100.125.x.x
   Tag	Click next to Advanced Settings (Optional) to set this parameter. Add tags to help you quickly identify, classify, and search for your CloudDCN subnets.	Key: test Value: 01
   Description	Click next to Advanced Settings (Optional) to set this parameter. Describe the CloudDCN subnet as needed. You can enter a maximum of 255 characters. Angle brackets (< or >) are not allowed.	-

7. Click Create Now.

   Go back to the CloudDCN subnet list and check the new subnet.

Install an OS on the iMetal Server

1. Log in to the CloudDC console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Servers > iMetal Servers.
3. In the iMetal server list, select your iMetal server.
4. Click Install OS above the server list.
   A page is displayed for you to set parameters for installing an OS.

   Figure 2 Installing an OS
   

5. Set the parameters as follows:

   Table 3 OS parameters

   Parameter		Description
   OS	Image	Only private images are available. A private image is created by a user and is only available to the user who created it. A private image contains an OS, preinstalled public applications, and a user's personal applications.
   Network	VPC	In a VPC, you can create a CloudDCN subnet to quickly set up an isolated, private, and high-performance virtual network environment for your iMetal servers. Select an available VPC from the drop-down list or create one.
   	CloudDCN Subnet	After you select a VPC, the system does not automatically associate a primary NIC for you. You need to select a CloudDCN subnet and specify how private IP addresses are allocated.
   Login	Login Credentials	Select what kind of credentials you want to use to log in to the iMetal server. Password: You can use a username and a password you set to log in to the iMetal server. Key pair: You can use a key pair to log in to the iMetal server. Currently, only Password is available.
   	Username and Password	Set a password and confirm it. You need to enter the same password twice, exactly the same both times. The password must comply with the rules listed in Table 4.

   Table 4 Password complexity requirements

   Parameter	Rule
   Password	Consists of 8 characters to 26 characters. Must contain at least three of the following character types: Uppercase letters Lowercase letters Digits Special characters Linux: !@%^-_=+[]{}:,./? Cannot be the username or the username spelled backwards. Cannot contain the username or the username spelled backwards.

6. Click Install OS.

   When the Management Status of the iMetal server changes to Running, the OS is installed successfully.

Log In to the iMetal Server

1. Log in to the CloudDC console.
2. In the navigation pane, choose Servers > iMetal Servers.

   The iMetal Servers page is displayed.

   Figure 3 iMetal server list
   

3. In the iMetal server list, locate your iMetal server and click Remote Login in the Operation column.

   After about one minute, the login page is displayed. Press Enter and enter username root and password to log in.

   

   • If you do not log in within 10 minutes, the login page becomes invalid. You need to click Remote Login again.

   • If you do not perform any operation for 10 minutes after you log in, the page will expire, and you need to log in again.