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E2E Deployment and Operations Guide - Cluster Creation Using Windows Admin Center (WAC)
Introduction Solution Overview Solution deployment
Solution deployment
Introduction
Deployment prerequisites
Predeployment configuration
Deploying and configuring a host cluster using Windows Admin Center
Postdeployment configuration
References Day 1 operations Managing and monitoring clusters with Windows Admin Center Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center Updates and maintenance References

Predeployment configuration

Predeployment configuration

  • Complete the following predeployment configurations before deploying the Azure Stack HCI solution:


    Installing Windows Admin Center and OMIMSWAC

    Windows Admin Center build 2103 or higher is available from the Microsoft Download Center (download starts if you click this link) and installable on any computer or VM running Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, or Windows Server version 1709. Windows Admin Center may also be installed directly on a managed node to manage itself. It is possible to implement high availability for Windows Admin Center by using failover clustering. When Windows Admin Center is deployed on nodes in a failover cluster, it acts as an active/passive cluster, providing a highly available Windows Admin Center instance.

    Note: The Windows Admin Center management computer should be on the same Active Directory domain where you create the cluster or alternatively, on a fully trusted domain.

    The Windows Admin Center installer wizard performs the configuration tasks that are required for Windows Admin Center functionality. These tasks include creating a self-signed certificate and configuring trusted hosts for remote node access.

    Optionally, you can supply the certificate thumbprint that is already present in the target node local certificate store. By default, Windows Admin Center listens on port 443—you can change this port during the installation process.

    Note: The automatically generated self-signed certificate expires in 60 days. Ensure that you use a certificate authority (CA)-provided SSL certificate if you intend to use Windows Admin Center in a production environment.

    For complete guidance on installing Windows Admin Center on an Azure Stack HCI operating system with desktop experience or Server Core, see Install Windows Admin Center.

    After the installation is complete, you can access Windows Admin Center at https://managementstationname:<PortNumber> and install the Dell OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center (OMIMSWAC) extension. For more information about the installation procedure, see the Installing Dell OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center section in the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center Installation Guide.


    Azure subscription

    The Azure Stack HCI solution requires registration with an Azure subscription within 30 days of deployment. Once the Azure Stack HCI cluster is registered, all the hybrid services that are supported as a part of the integration can be used along with the hyper-converged infrastructure services. To complete Azure registration, Azure authentication credentials, subscription ID, and an optional tenant ID are required.


    Configuring network switches

    Based on the selected network topology from the recommended configurations, configure the top-of-rack (ToR) network switches to enable storage and VM/management traffic. A standard Storage Spaces Direct deployment requires three basic types of networks: out-of-band (OOB) management, host management, and storage.

    For sample switch configurations with Mellanox RoCE, see Reference Guide: Switch Configurations - RoCE Only (Mellanox Cards).

    For sample switch configurations with Qlogic iWARP, see Reference Guide: Switch Configurations - iWARP Only (Qlogic Cards).

    For configuration choices and instructions about different network topologies and host network configurations, see HCI Deployment and Network Configuration guides.


    Deploying the Azure Stack HCI operating system

    These instructions are for manual deployment of the Azure Stack HCI operating system on AX nodes. Unless specified otherwise, perform the steps on each physical node in the infrastructure that will be a part of Azure Stack HCI.


    Manual operating system deployment

    Dell Lifecycle Controller and integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) provide options for operating system deployment. Options include manual installation or unattended installation by using virtual media and the operating system deployment feature in Dell Lifecycle Controller.

    The step-by-step procedure for deploying the operating system is not within the scope of this guide. The remainder of this guide assumes that:

    • The Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system installation on the physical server is complete.
    • You have access to the iDRAC virtual console of the physical server.
    Note: For information about installing the operating system using the iDRAC virtual media feature, see the "Using the Virtual Media function on iDRAC 6, 7, 8 and 9" Knowledge Base article.

    Note: The Azure Stack HCI operating system is based on Server Core and does not have the full user interface. For information about using sconfig in the Azure Stack HCI operating system, see Deploy the Azure Stack HCI operating system.


    Enabling the firewall rule

    If the nodes do not have a fully qualified domain name, set the firewall rule for each node to ensure that the firewall port for Windows Remote Management allows you to add inbound traffic on additional nodes. Setting this rule allows Windows Admin Center to reach the nodes and add them to the cluster creation wizard.

    Run the following PowerShell command as an administrator on each node:

    Set-NetFirewallRule -Name WINRM-HTTP-In-TCP-PUBLIC -RemoteAddress Any
    Note: The recommended best practice is to use the Windows Admin Center IP address as the parameter for -RemoteAddress.

    Enabling CredSSP

    Perform the following steps to enable CredSSP on the management station where Windows Admin Center is installed.

    1. From a PowerShell window, run gpedit.
    2. In the Group Policy Editor window, go to Computer Configurations > Administrative Templates > System > Credentials Delegation.
    3. Select Allow delegating fresh credentials with NTLM-only server authentication and enable it.
    4. Under Options, add servers to the list by clicking Show...
    5. Add a fully qualified domain name entry that begins with wsman/hostname.mydomain.com (single host entry) or wsman/*.mydomain.com (wild card entry for all the hosts in this domain).
    6. Apply the settings.
    7. Run gpupdate /force in the PowerShell window.