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Setting up a Proxmox cluster on Elastic Metal servers using Private Networks

ProxmoxElastic-MetalKVMcontainers

Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a server virtualization platform, based on Debian Linux. It allows the deployment and management of KVM-based virtual machines or LXC containers. The tool provides a REST API and a graphical web interface to manage the virtual machines. It is also licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

Installing Proxmox

Note

Repeat these steps for each Elastic Metal Server you want to add to your cluster.

  1. In the Bare Metal section of the console side menu, click Elastic Metal to select your Elastic Metal server.
  2. From the list, select the Proxmox-compatible server you want to install and click its name to open the server dashboard.
  3. Select Proxmox from the list of available images.
  4. Enter your credentials. The service username is root. The service password must be at least eight characters long.
  5. Enter a name and optional tags for your server.
  6. Enable the Private Networks feature for the server.
  7. Click Create Elastic Metal server to launch the installation.
    Note

    The installation of your Elastic Metal server may take up to one hour.

Accessing Proxmox

Once the server has rebooted, the Proxmox web interface is available.

  1. Open a web browser and go to https://your_elastic_metal_server_ip:8006/. The Proxmox login screen opens.

  2. Enter your credentials and click Login.

    Enter the credentials to log in:

    • User name: root
    • Password: The password set during the installation of Proxmox
    • Realm: Linux PAM standard authentication
    • Language: The display language of the Proxmox interface (i.e., English)

    The Proxmox dashboard displays.

Configuring the Private Network

You must configure the Private Network interface from the Proxmox interface, not from your server's command line.

  1. In the Data center menu on the left, click the Proxmox host. The server's dashboard appears.

  2. In the System section of the menu, click Network. The network dashboard appears.

  3. Click Create > Linux VLAN.

  4. Enter the VLAN details for your Private Network:

    • Name: The name of your primary network interface followed by a dot and the VLAN ID of your Private Network (e.g., eno1.1918 for the primary network interface eno1 and the VLAN ID 1918)
    • (Optional) IPv4/CIDR: The private IP of your server will be configured through DHCP if IPAM is configured correctly. Optionally, set the IP address of the machine in your Private Network followed by its CIDR netmask (e.g., 192.168.1.101/24).
    • (Optional) Gateway (IPv4): The IP address of your Public Gateway, if you want to use one.
    • Autostart: Tick this box to automatically bring up the interface during system startup.

  5. Click Create to create the Private Network interface.

  6. Click Apply configuration to activate the Private Network and to save the configuration.

    Note

    Repeat the steps above on each node (in our case, each Elastic Metal server) you want to add to your Private Network.

Network configuration on the console

  1. Open the file /etc/network/interfaces in a text editor and update any lines generated by Proxmox. Change lines such as iface eno1.3010 inet manual to iface eno1.3010 inet dhcp.
  2. In the same file, ensure that all lines generated by the Proxmox web UI are placed after the vmbr0 interface declaration. Failing to do so will prevent both static and DHCP configurations from working correctly.
  3. Save the file and exit the text editor.
    • Example of a /etc/network/interfaces file:
    auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

iface eno1 inet manual

iface eno2 inet manual

iface eno3 inet manual

iface eno4 inet manual

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
        address 51.159.111.2/24
        gateway 51.159.111.1
        bridge-ports eno1
        bridge-stp off
        bridge-fd 0
        hwaddress 44:a8:42:44:38:b4

# generated configuration that must be after vmbr0 declaration
auto eno1.3010
iface eno1.3010 inet dhcp
    Note

    If you choose to use DHCP, note that no DHCP client process runs automatically on the newly added interface. To resolve this, either run dhclient on the interface manually or reboot the server.

Creating a cluster

  1. In the data center view of the Proxmox interface of your first node, click Cluster. The cluster dashboard displays.
  2. Click Create cluster.
  3. Enter a name for the cluster and select your Private Network as the cluster network. Then click Create.
  4. Select the cluster in the list and click Join Information. The cluster join information displays.
  5. Click Copy Information to copy the cluster join information into the clipboard.
  6. Go to the Proxmox interface of your second node and click Cluster to enter the cluster configuration from the data center view of the machine.
  7. Click Join cluster and paste the cluster join information in the form.
  8. Enter your first node's root password and click Join to link the machine to the cluster.

The second node now appears in the cluster in the Data center view of Proxmox. You can manage both machines using a single interface. The communication between members of the cluster is entirely in your Private Network, ensuring the highest level of security and the lowest latency.

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