OVA Tango Virtual Box for RedHat Virtualization RHVH 4.1

# 6 years ago
Po	Hi Everyone, We are working on a virtualization prototype which is built on RedHat Virtualization RHVH 4.1. We need a Tango OVA for this deployment which is compatible with RHVH 4.1. We tried downloading the Tango virtual box OVA already available for download on the Tango site, but it is not compatible with RHVH 4.1 setup. We want to create VMs by importing this OVA through the virtualization manager. But when we try to import it with the downloaded Tango virtual Box, it gives configuration error. The error screenshot can be found here. Any help/guidance is highly appreciated. Kind regards, Jyotin

# 6 years ago

Hi Everyone,

We are working on a virtualization prototype which is built on RedHat Virtualization RHVH 4.1.
We need a Tango OVA for this deployment which is compatible with RHVH 4.1. We tried downloading the Tango virtual box OVA already available for download on the Tango site, but it is not compatible with RHVH 4.1 setup.

We want to create VMs by importing this OVA through the virtualization manager. But when we try to import it with the downloaded Tango virtual Box, it gives configuration error.
The error screenshot can be found here. Any help/guidance is highly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Jyotin

# 6 years ago
Andy	Hi Jyotin, I am not an expert in VM and OVA formats but I was wondering what your exact need is concerning a Tango VM? The TangoBox 9.2 is a complete installation of basically ALL tools for Tango. This is useful for trying out everything but probably not ideal for production systems which only need some of the tools. What tools do you need for your VM? All or only some? If you only need some we could maybe give you some help on creating a smaller VM with only these tools. Cheers Andy

# 6 years ago

Andy

Hi Jyotin,

I am not an expert in VM and OVA formats but I was wondering what your exact need is concerning a Tango VM? The TangoBox 9.2 is a complete installation of basically ALL tools for Tango. This is useful for trying out everything but probably not ideal for production systems which only need some of the tools. What tools do you need for your VM? All or only some?

If you only need some we could maybe give you some help on creating a smaller VM with only these tools.

Cheers

Andy

# 6 years ago
Po	Hi Andy, Many thanks for the prompt reply. I think we missed to clarify what we aim to achieve with this prototype. Sorry for the miscommunication. We are working on a Virtualization prototype. And our aim is to instantiate as many VMs as possible and deploy Tango applications on each of them. Then we may test other routine operations such as failover, active-active setup, hot-standby setup etc. to check and identify the downtime associated with each process. Now, as we already have Tango VBox available, we thought to make use of it. Hence, we intended to create multiple VMs using the Tango OVA file that is available for download. With this file, we will create many Virtual Machines and then deploy Tango application simulators to test the reliability of applications. The problem we are facing is at the first step in creating the VMs using Tango OVA file. We can import the Tango VBox OVA file in the Virtual Box software, but this is not what we want. We want to instantiate new VMs using the Tango VBox OVA file so that we don't need to create a new VM from scratch and then install Tango, MySQL, and other tools every time. For this purpose, we are using Red Hat Virtualization Manager which is a tool to create new VMs in production quickly. But the Tango Virtual Box OVA file is not compatible with the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. So we are seeking some inputs from the Tango experts if they have any thoughts around it. Coming to your questions, we don't find any issue with the current Tango VBox nor we want to add/remove any other software on it. The Tango VBox is suited for our needs but the problem is simply we can't use it directly to create new VMs on RHVH 4.1. I hope I am able to clarify the background of the prototype and our issue. Please do let me know if you want more information. Kind regards, Jyotin Edited 6 years ago

# 6 years ago

Hi Andy,

Many thanks for the prompt reply.

I think we missed to clarify what we aim to achieve with this prototype. Sorry for the miscommunication.

We are working on a Virtualization prototype. And our aim is to instantiate as many VMs as possible and deploy Tango applications on each of them. Then we may test other routine operations such as failover, active-active setup, hot-standby setup etc. to check and identify the downtime associated with each process.

Now, as we already have Tango VBox available, we thought to make use of it. Hence, we intended to create multiple VMs using the Tango OVA file that is available for download. With this file, we will create many Virtual Machines and then deploy Tango application simulators to test the reliability of applications.

The problem we are facing is at the first step in creating the VMs using Tango OVA file. We can import the Tango VBox OVA file in the Virtual Box software, but this is not what we want. We want to instantiate new VMs using the Tango VBox OVA file so that we don't need to create a new VM from scratch and then install Tango, MySQL, and other tools every time.

For this purpose, we are using Red Hat Virtualization Manager which is a tool to create new VMs in production quickly. But the Tango Virtual Box OVA file is not compatible with the Red Hat Virtualization Manager. So we are seeking some inputs from the Tango experts if they have any thoughts around it.

Coming to your questions, we don't find any issue with the current Tango VBox nor we want to add/remove any other software on it. The Tango VBox is suited for our needs but the problem is simply we can't use it directly to create new VMs on RHVH 4.1.

I hope I am able to clarify the background of the prototype and our issue. Please do let me know if you want more information.

Kind regards,
Jyotin

Edited 6 years ago

# 6 years ago
Andy	I understand. I have no solution except maybe you could try import / open the OVA file with VirtualBox and try exporting it in a different format as described here: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-export-virtualbox-virtual-machines-as-appliances/ BTW if you have multiple copies of the TangoBox image running you will have multiple Tango database servers running. This is not a problem but not necessary. You could start only a database server on one of the TangoBox VMs and then let all device servers and clients specify this TANGO_HOST. Just a thought. Andy

# 6 years ago

Andy

I understand. I have no solution except maybe you could try import / open the OVA file with VirtualBox and try exporting it in a different format as described here:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-export-virtualbox-virtual-machines-as-appliances/

BTW if you have multiple copies of the TangoBox image running you will have multiple Tango database servers running. This is not a problem but not necessary. You could start only a database server on one of the TangoBox VMs and then let all device servers and clients specify this TANGO_HOST. Just a thought.

Andy

# 6 years ago
Po	Hi Andy We tried importing the OVA and exporting it in different formats and then re-importing those formats in our RedHat setup, but we are still facing the same issue. Actually any OVA/OVF build or created from Virtual Box is not compatible with RedHat Virtualization. RHVH only supports OVA derived from Vmware or Xen Server virtualization platforms. Let us know if you have any other solution Kind regards, Jyotin

# 6 years ago

Hi Andy

We tried importing the OVA and exporting it in different formats and then re-importing those formats in our RedHat setup, but we are still facing the same issue. Actually any OVA/OVF build or created from Virtual Box is not compatible with RedHat Virtualization. RHVH only supports OVA derived from Vmware or Xen Server virtualization platforms.

Let us know if you have any other solution

Kind regards,
Jyotin

# 6 years ago
Nick	Hi Jyotin, As Andy says, I think the Tango VirtualBox is a specific system for a specific purpose (mainly training and providing an easy ramp up for trivial tests). I think you are doing a bit more than this. If you are the Jyotin I know, would the any of the containerisation work done by the South Africans be more suitable place to start - or is this specific VM tests? I suspect, long term, we may be relying on containers more than VMs. Cheers, Nick Rees Nick Rees

# 6 years ago

Nick

Hi Jyotin,

As Andy says, I think the Tango VirtualBox is a specific system for a specific purpose (mainly training and providing an easy ramp up for trivial tests). I think you are doing a bit more than this. If you are the Jyotin I know, would the any of the containerisation work done by the South Africans be more suitable place to start - or is this specific VM tests? I suspect, long term, we may be relying on containers more than VMs.

Cheers,

Nick Rees

Nick Rees

# 6 years ago
pgoryl	Hi Jyotin, I know that some labs(MAX-IV and Solaris) are using virtualisation heavily. However they use VMware. You may contact Wojciech or Michał from Solaris (Wojciech.kitka@uj.edu.pl, michal.ostoja-gajewski@uj.edu.pl ) to ask for their solution. Regarding this vm it is using containers for Tango services (except for Tango DB) and sources of image files and configuration are on github . You may use them to build your vm. See: https://github.com/tango-controls/tangobox Br. Piotr Edited 6 years ago

# 6 years ago

pgoryl

Hi Jyotin,
I know that some labs(MAX-IV and Solaris) are using virtualisation heavily. However they use VMware. You may contact Wojciech or Michał from Solaris (Wojciech.kitka@uj.edu.pl, michal.ostoja-gajewski@uj.edu.pl ) to ask for their solution.

Regarding this vm it is using containers for Tango services (except for Tango DB) and sources of image files and configuration are on github . You may use them to build your vm. See: https://github.com/tango-controls/tangobox
Br.
Piotr

Edited 6 years ago

# 6 years ago
Po	Hi Nick, Thank you for the response. I agree that going forward, we may be using containers rather than VMs for SKA. We were exploring alternative setup for demo/prototype involving simulators and other TANGO applications. In the past, we had success using the virtual box for hosting basic applications and thought it may be possible. Hi Piotr, Thank you for sharing this information. I will check it. Kind regards, Jyotin Edited 6 years ago

# 6 years ago

Hi Nick,

Thank you for the response.

I agree that going forward, we may be using containers rather than VMs for SKA.

We were exploring alternative setup for demo/prototype involving simulators and other TANGO applications. In the past, we had success using the virtual box for hosting basic applications and thought it may be possible.

Hi Piotr,

Thank you for sharing this information. I will check it.

Kind regards,
Jyotin

Edited 6 years ago