RecoverPoint for VMs Deployment Automation – How to Deploy Complete RP4VMs Systems in Minutes
Wed, 21 Sep 2022 22:02:31 -0000
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I’m a firm believer in automating EVERYTHING, so in this blog we are going to show how we automate just about everything in RecoverPoint for VMs 😊.
In RP4VMs land, we have VM protection automation solutions, per-tag and per-cluster protection, use-case driven tasks, and so on. And now, I’m honored to present you a complete deployment automation solution.
So, first things first, what does it do?
- Automatically provisions vRPAs and the Plugin Server from OVA
- Automatically deploys an RP4VMs cluster based on the JSON configuration file
- Configures the Plugin Server (Optional)
- Connects to existing RP4VMs environments (Optional)
What is it?
It’s a Python-based script that operates with the RecoverPoint for VMs Deployment REST API and vCenter.
In terms of requirements, the following list should help:
- The script requires Python 3.x and supports every platform on which Python is supported.
- Requires the Python requests module. It can be installed using pip with the command: “pip install requests” or “python -m pip install requests”.
- RecoverPoint for VMs 5.3.x.
- Connectivity from the host on which the script is running to vCenter, vRPAs. It also requires connectivity to the plugin server and peer clusters if applicable.
- RP4VMs 5.3.x vRPA and Plugin Server OVA images must be located on the host that is running the script.
How do I use it?
The script accepts one mandatory parameter -configfile or --config-file and two optional parameters: (1) pluginserver and (2) connect to prevent configuration of the plugin server and to skip connection to other clusters accordingly.
Here is the full script syntax:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -h
Usage: rp4vms_deploy.py [-h] -configfile CONFIGFILE [-pluginserver] [-connect] Script to automate RP4VMs deployment options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -configfile CONFIGFILE, --config-file CONFIGFILE Full path to the JSON config file -pluginserver, --config-plugin-server Optionally prevents Plugin Server configuration -connect, --connect-another-cluster Optionally prevents connection to a different cluster
Use cases
I might be biased but there are so many cases where this solution can come in handy. Let’s look at some common use cases:
- Greenfield deployment of a two-cluster system:
In this case, we would run the script twice in the following manner:
a) Deploying the first cluster:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile clusterA_config.json -connect
b) Deploying the second cluster including cluster connect:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile clusterB_config.json
2. Adding a new cluster to an existing system:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile cluster_config.json
3. Scale out – adding new clusters to a separate system on the same vCenter and plugin server:
a) Deploying the first cluster:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile clusterA_config.json -pluginserver -connect
b) Deploying the second cluster including cluster connect:
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile clusterB_config.json -pluginserver
Script output
# python rp4vms_deploy.py -configfile config.json -> Provisioning Plugin Server from OVA Opening OVA source: C:\Users\idan\Downloads\RecoverPoint-PluginServer_v5.3.3_282.ova Opening VI target: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Deploying to VI: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Transfer Completed Powering on VM: Manchester_Plugin-Server Task Completed Completed successfully ---> OVA deployment completed successfully -> Provisioning vRPA1 from OVA Opening OVA source: C:\Users\idan\Downloads\EMC_RecoverPoint_vRPA-RP4VMs_rel5.3.SP3_m.348.ova Opening VI target: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Deploying to VI: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Transfer Completed Powering on VM: Manchester_vRPA1 Task Completed Completed successfully ---> OVA deployment completed successfully -> Provisioning vRPA2 from OVA Opening OVA source: C:\Users\idan\Downloads\EMC_RecoverPoint_vRPA-RP4VMs_rel5.3.SP3_m.348.ova Opening VI target: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Deploying to VI: vi://Administrator%40vsphere.local@10.0.0.10:443/Hopkinton/host/Hop_HA1/ Transfer Completed Powering on VM: Manchester_vRPA2 Task Completed Completed successfully ---> OVA deployment completed successfully -> Checking connectivity to vRPAs ---> vRPA Mgmt IP 10.247.8.118 is reachable ---> vRPA Mgmt IP 10.247.8.119 is reachable ---> All vRPAs are reachable -> Running deployment pre-validation checks ---> Transaction LOCAL_1 RUNNING 0% ---> Pre-installation validation passed successfully -> Timezone detected: Europe/London -> Searching for available vRPAs ---> Transaction LOCAL_2 RUNNING 0% ---> Transaction LOCAL_2 RUNNING 50% ---> Transaction LOCAL_2 RUNNING 50% ---> Transaction LOCAL_2 RUNNING 50% -> DS for Repository Volume detected -> Mgmt Network detected -> Building deployment configuration -> Deploying RP4VMs cluster ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 0% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 52% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 52% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 52% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 53% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 53% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 84% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 84% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 84% ---> Transaction DEPLOY_3 RUNNING 84% -> Cluster deployed successfully -> Checking connectivity to cluster Mgmt IP ---> vRPA Cluster is reachable -> Checking connectivity to Plugin Server ---> Plugin Server is reachable -> Configuring Plugin Server -> Plugin Server configured successfully -> Running connectivity checks to peer cluster ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 0% ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 14% ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 44% ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 48% ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 52% ---> Transaction LOCAL_28 RUNNING 84% ---> Connectivity checks to peer cluster completed successfully -> Connecting clusters ---> Transaction LOCAL_29 RUNNING 0% ---> Transaction LOCAL_29 RUNNING 51% ---> Transaction LOCAL_29 RUNNING 51% ---> Clusters Connect completed successfully -> All tasks completed successfully
Where can I find it?
The script and the config file can be found at GitHub:
https://github.com/IdanKen/Dell-EMC-RecoverPoint4VMs
How can I get help?
You are more than welcome to file an issue in GitHub or reach out to me via email:
Idan.kentor@dell.com
Thanks for reading!
Idan
Author: Idan Kentor