Apex Block for Azure module Guide

APEX Block Storage deployment on Microsoft Azure

This will guide you through how to deploy Dell APEX Block Storage for Microsoft Azure with terraform cli.

Prerequisites

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/developer/terraform/quickstart-configure

Required: terraform >= 1.5, azure cli, ssh key pair

Electronically sign and acknowledge the EULA

• Software Evaluation License Agreement

Install and Configure Terraform

• Configure in Azure Cloud Shell with Bash
• Configure in Azure Cloud Shell with PowerShell
• Configure in Windows with Bash
• Configure in Windows with PowerShell

Install Terraform on Windows with Bash

1. Install the Azure CLI
2. Authenticate Terraform to Azure
   • Authenticate with a Microsoft account using Cloud Shell (with Bash)
   • Authenticate with a Microsoft account using Windows (with Bash)
   • Authenticate with a service principal
   • Authenticate with a managed identity for Azure services

Create an SSH key pair

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/glint/setup/sftp-ssh-key-gen

Deployment Tiers

Within examples/azure_pfmp/terraform.tfvars there is a deployment_type variable, defined as:

• balanced - Standard_F48s_v2 20 x 512 GiB (20 recommended for a base POC)
• optimized_v1 - Standard_L32as_v3 provides 4 x 1.92 TiB NVMe disks
• optimized_v2 - Standard_L64as_v3 provides 8 x 1.92 TiB NVMe disks

Deployment Steps

It involves two parts to deploy Powerflex block storage in Azure environment.

Note: If your are using VS Code on a Windows OS, use a Git Bash Terminal session within VS Code for all of Step 1 listed below.

1. Setup the azure infrastructure and install PowerFlex management platform

For this part, please run the following steps locally.

1. Authenticate with Microsoft azure account

   az login
   
   ## verify the result
   az account show
   

   Alternatively set the following environment variables for terraform if to authenticate with service principal, and sign in azure cli with service principal by running az login --service-principal -u <client-id> -p <client-secret> --tenant <tenant>

   • ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID
   • ARM_TENANT_ID
   • ARM_CLIENT_ID
   • ARM_CLIENT_SECRET

2. Initialize terraform

   cd examples/azure_pfmp
   terraform init -upgrade
   

3. Copy ssh key pair into examples/azure_pfmp/ssh with public key name of azure.pem.pub and private key name of azure.pem, adjust terraform.tfvars and create a terraform execution plan

   terraform plan -out main.tfplan
   

4. Apply the terraform execution plan

   terraform apply main.tfplan
   

   PS: Once the pfmp installation finishes, it will generate the terraform.tfvars file in the /root folder on intaller for part 2.

   Copy the examples/azure_pfmp/ssh/azure.pem file to your SSH connection location. Jump host as an example.

   You can SSH into the installer node with the .pem ssh -i azure.pem pflexuser@<InstallerIP> The installer IP address can be found within the Azure portal.

   As an additional SSH connection option, the username and password can be used. pflexuser/PowerFlex123! ssh pflexuser@<InstallerIP>

   You can track the bedrock log tail -f /tmp/bundle/atlantic/logs/bedrock.log for detailed progress.

   When step 1 is complete you can browse to the PowerFlex UI if desired. From the Azure portal, get the frontend load balancer IP address which will be the PowerFlex UI. Currently set as “https://10.2.0.200”

   PowerFlex UI default credentials admin / Admin123! … you will be asked to change the password.

2. Deploy PowerFlex on installer

For this part, the following steps need to be executed inside of installer. As a second option, you can use the az network bastion tunnel steps defined in the Misc section below.

1. Check /root folder, make sure terraform.tfvars for PowerFlex core deployment has been automatically generated.

   sudo -i
   cd /root & ls
   

2. See below for the link to the PowerFlex software. Login required. The process will need the proper PowerFlex bits in the /root folder to continue.

   1. 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6 are supported builds.
      1. 4.5.1 = 4.5.1000.103
      2. 4.5.2 = 4.5.2000.135
      3. 4.6.0 = 4.5.2100.105 (default build for this current Terraform)
   2. Extract Software_Only_Complete_4.6.0_105.zip
   3. Extract PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_Complete_Core_SW.zip
   4. Extract and copy PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip to installer /root folder and unzip.

   unzip PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip
   cp -r PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4 /root
   

3. Check out this repo, copy this repo to the installer, and initialize terraform

   cd examples/azure_core
   terraform init -upgrade
   

4. Copy terraform.tfvars and create a terraform execution plan

   cp /root/terraform.tfvars .
   terraform plan -out main.tfplan
   

5. Apply the terraform execution plan. This process will execute for roughly 5 minutes. +/-.

   terraform apply main.tfplan
   

   1. This step can be monitored via the PowerFlex Manager UI under Monitoring | Events

Misc

1. Accept marketplace terms

2. Upload and download files via bastion tunnel

   az network bastion tunnel --name "<BastionName>" --resource-group "<ResourceGroupName>" --target-resource-id "<VMResourceId>" --resource-port "<TargetVMPort>" --port "<LocalMachinePort>"
   scp -P <LocalMachinePort>  <local machine file path>  <username>@127.0.0.1:<target VM file path>
   

   Detailed steps to use the az network bastion tunnel

   1. For the initial install, two files will need to be copied to the installer
      • PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip (current build default)
      • terraform-powerflex-modules-azure-block-storage.zip (this repo)
   2. Open the tunnel the with az network bastion tunnel output from the Terraform step 1 execution.
   3. Open a new connection and SSH into the installer:

      ssh -p 1111 pflexuser@127.0.0.1
      

   4. You can now scp files directly into the installer with this tunnel. Open a new connection and scp the files to the installer. Transfer the two files and unzip within the installer when the transfers are complete. The scp connection will ask for the password.

      Example:   
      scp -P <LocalMachinePort>  <local machine file path>  <username>@127.0.0.1:<target VM file path>
      
      scp -P 1111  "C:\temp\PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip" pflexuser@127.0.0.1:/home/pflexuser
      scp -P 1111  "C:\temp\terraform-powerflex-modules-azure-block-storage.zip" pflexuser@127.0.0.1:/home/pflexuser
      

   5. When the transfers are complete, copy the zip files to root. Use the previously opened ssh connection from step 3. The PWD should be /home/pflexuser

      sudo cp -r PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip /root
      sudo cp -r terraform-powerflex-modules-azure-block-storage.zip /root
      sudo -i
      cd /root & ls -l
      unzip PowerFlex_4.5.2100.105_SLES15.4.zip
      unzip terraform-powerflex-modules-azure-block-storage.zip
      

   6. Prepare Terraform execution - Change Directory

      cd terraform-powerflex-modules-azure-block-storage/examples/azure_core
      

   7. Copy the dynmically created terraform.tfvars into your PWD which is now /azure_core

      cp /root/terraform.tfvars .
      

   8. Terraform init

      terraform init -upgrade
      

   9. Create the Terraform plan

      terraform plan -out main.tfplan
      

   10. Apply the Terraform execution plan

       terraform apply main.tfplan
       

   11. This step can be monitored via the PowerFlex Manager UI under Monitoring | Events
   12. Close the bastion tunnel conection when terraform is complete

3. Tools

   • Terraform v1.9.5
   • MobaXterm v24.2
   • WinSCP v6.3.5 (optional)

4. PFMP installation troubleshooting

   1. Try ssh connection within the docker container

      sudo docker exec -it atlantic_installer /bin/bash
      ssh pflexuser@yulan-balanced-vm-0
      

   2. Check PFMP installation log

      sudo docker container logs -f atlantic_installer
      

5. PowerFlex Software

   • PowerFlex 4.5.2.1 Build 105 Complete Software Download. Publish date: 30 May 2024

6. PowerFlex Documentation

   • APEX Block Storage for Azure: Management and Operations Guide