[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-07 Thread Bob Franzke
Thanks for the reply. I looked at the VDSM logs and found these entries:


2020-01-07 08:10:43,107-0600 INFO  (vmrecovery) [vds] recovery: waiting for 
storage pool to go up (clientIF:709)
2020-01-07 08:10:48,112-0600 INFO  (vmrecovery) [vdsm.api] START 
getConnectedStoragePoolsList(options=None) from=in
ternal, task_id=680125a0-7986-438b-a42a-2612bde04006 (api:48)
2020-01-07 08:10:48,112-0600 INFO  (vmrecovery) [vdsm.api] FINISH 
getConnectedStoragePoolsList return={'poollist':
[]} from=internal, task_id=680125a0-7986-438b-a42a-2612bde04006 (api:54)
2020-01-07 08:10:48,113-0600 INFO  (vmrecovery) [vds] recovery: waiting for 
storage pool to go up (clientIF:709)

Looks like something is wrong with a storage pool maybe?

I am really in the dark here. Not sure what this means.

-Original Message-
From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com)  
Sent: Tuesday, January 7, 2020 12:06 AM
To: Bob Franzke 
Cc: users 
Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the 
Ovirt Engine System

On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 6:01 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> I just had some VMs go offline over the weekend. I really cannot figure out 
> how to tell why without the engine working.

If you suspect that they failed, as opposed to being shut down from inside them 
(by an admin or whatever), then you can check vdsm logs on the host they ran 
on, and might find a clue.

> I don’t need to really 'control' the VMs but seems without the engine its not 
> just the control aspect. It’s the visibility it gives you into the state of 
> your environment. We used Ovirt as also a lab setup for users to access and 
> build VMs as needed. This is completely offline now without a working Engine. 
> Seems like having an engine available all the time would be pretty important 
> generally.
>
> I have never understood the idea of having the machine that controls VMs, 
> being in the same infrastructure its controlling. Seems very 'chicken or the 
> egg' sort of thing to me. If the engine decides to move itself from one host 
> to another, and it fails for some reason because the process of moving itself 
> caused a problem (stopping services, etc.)then not sure what you would end up 
> with there. Seems very iffy to me, but maybe I am reading too much into it. 
> Again I admittedly don’t know enough about Ovirt to know if this thinking is 
> off base or not. My own experience with networking systems means you would 
> never set things up like this. Each system is autonomous and can take over 
> for the other if one part fails. But then again, if Ovirt Engine had been set 
> up this way, maybe I wouldn't be in the position I am now with no working 
> engine. Lots to sort out. Thanks for the help.

Each host participating in the hosted-engine cluster has two small daemons, 
called agent and broker, in the package ovirt-hosted-engine-ha, that should 
take care of the engine VM.

You are right that this is a chicken-and-egg problem, and this is the solution 
that oVirt includes.

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 8:26 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
> > sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole 
> > organization can potentially come down to the availability of a single 
> > machine? Is this really correct?
>
> Correct.
>
> This does not mean that the engine itself is necessarily critical - if it's 
> down, your VMs should still be ok. If _controlling_ VMs is considered 
> critical for you, then yes - you do need to make sure your engine is alive 
> and well.
>
> > Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?
>
> The standard option is using hosted-engine with several hosts - you get HA 
> out-of-the-box.
>
> I also heard about people using standalone active/standby clustering/HA 
> solutions for the engine.
>
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
> > To: Bob Franzke 
> > Cc: users 
> > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> > >
> > > Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this 
> > > with. Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal 
> > > server, and was not a VM.
> > >
> > > In the mean t

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-06 Thread Yedidyah Bar David
On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 6:01 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> I just had some VMs go offline over the weekend. I really cannot figure out 
> how to tell why without the engine working.

If you suspect that they failed, as opposed to being shut down from
inside them (by an admin or whatever), then you can check vdsm logs on
the host they ran on, and might find a clue.

> I don’t need to really 'control' the VMs but seems without the engine its not 
> just the control aspect. It’s the visibility it gives you into the state of 
> your environment. We used Ovirt as also a lab setup for users to access and 
> build VMs as needed. This is completely offline now without a working Engine. 
> Seems like having an engine available all the time would be pretty important 
> generally.
>
> I have never understood the idea of having the machine that controls VMs, 
> being in the same infrastructure its controlling. Seems very 'chicken or the 
> egg' sort of thing to me. If the engine decides to move itself from one host 
> to another, and it fails for some reason because the process of moving itself 
> caused a problem (stopping services, etc.)then not sure what you would end up 
> with there. Seems very iffy to me, but maybe I am reading too much into it. 
> Again I admittedly don’t know enough about Ovirt to know if this thinking is 
> off base or not. My own experience with networking systems means you would 
> never set things up like this. Each system is autonomous and can take over 
> for the other if one part fails. But then again, if Ovirt Engine had been set 
> up this way, maybe I wouldn't be in the position I am now with no working 
> engine. Lots to sort out. Thanks for the help.

Each host participating in the hosted-engine cluster has two small
daemons, called agent and broker, in the package
ovirt-hosted-engine-ha, that should take care of the engine VM.

You are right that this is a chicken-and-egg problem, and this is the
solution that oVirt includes.

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 8:26 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding 
> the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
> > sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole 
> > organization can potentially come down to the availability of a single 
> > machine? Is this really correct?
>
> Correct.
>
> This does not mean that the engine itself is necessarily critical - if it's 
> down, your VMs should still be ok. If _controlling_ VMs is considered 
> critical for you, then yes - you do need to make sure your engine is alive 
> and well.
>
> > Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?
>
> The standard option is using hosted-engine with several hosts - you get HA 
> out-of-the-box.
>
> I also heard about people using standalone active/standby clustering/HA 
> solutions for the engine.
>
> >
> > -----Original Message-
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
> > To: Bob Franzke 
> > Cc: users 
> > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for
> > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> > >
> > > Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this 
> > > with. Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal 
> > > server, and was not a VM.
> > >
> > > In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> > > discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. 
> > > Is there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM 
> > > hosts? Is the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working 
> > > engine?
> >
> > It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because the 
> > engine will not know what you do.
> >
> > See also e.g.:
> >
> > https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/
> > cockpit.html
> >
> > >
> > > -Original Message-
> > > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > > Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> > > To: Bob Franzke 
> > > Cc: users 
> > > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for
> > > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> > >
> > > On Mon, Dec 

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-06 Thread Strahil Nikolov
 It's necessary to mention , that having the xml of each VM can let you define 
and start your VM even without the HostedEngine VM.
So , if you implement snapshot-based backup , consider having a dump of the 
configuration of each VM.
Best Regards,Strahil Nikolov
В понеделник, 6 януари 2020 г., 16:29:21 ч. Гринуич+2, Yedidyah Bar David 
 написа:  
 
 On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
> sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole 
> organization can potentially come down to the availability of a single 
> machine? Is this really correct?

Correct.

This does not mean that the engine itself is necessarily critical - if
it's down, your VMs should still be ok. If _controlling_ VMs is
considered critical for you, then yes - you do need to make sure your
engine is alive and well.

> Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?

The standard option is using hosted-engine with several hosts - you
get HA out-of-the-box.

I also heard about people using standalone active/standby
clustering/HA solutions for the engine.

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding 
> the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
> > Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and 
> > was not a VM.
> >
> > In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> > discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. 
> > Is there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? 
> > Is the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working engine?
>
> It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because the 
> engine will not know what you do.
>
> See also e.g.:
>
> https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/cockpit.html
>
> >
> > -Original Message-----
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> > To: Bob Franzke 
> > Cc: users 
> > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for
> > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> > >
> > > > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
> > >
> > > Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the 
> > > engine-backup script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off 
> > > onto different storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc 
> > > directory as well just in case there was something needed in there that 
> > > is not included in the engine-backup solution.
> > >
> > > > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first 
> > > > test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
> > >
> > > This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered 
> > > and built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old 
> > > and needs to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore 
> > > the data from my backups.
> >
> > I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the 
> > engine, and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
> > Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by 
> > itself.
> >
> > For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to wait 
> > for your new server to arrive.
> >
> > >
> > > I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather 
> > > I need to basically:
> > >
> > > 1. reinstall CentOS
> > > 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached 
> > > to currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).
> >
> > I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements, but 
> > this is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run VMs. The 
> > engine machine's storage is (normally) not used for that, only for the 
> > engine itself (and its db, etc.).
> >
> > > 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do
> > > this for you?) 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?
> >

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-06 Thread Bob Franzke
I just had some VMs go offline over the weekend. I really cannot figure out how 
to tell why without the engine working. I don’t need to really 'control' the 
VMs but seems without the engine its not just the control aspect. It’s the 
visibility it gives you into the state of your environment. We used Ovirt as 
also a lab setup for users to access and build VMs as needed. This is 
completely offline now without a working Engine. Seems like having an engine 
available all the time would be pretty important generally.

I have never understood the idea of having the machine that controls VMs, being 
in the same infrastructure its controlling. Seems very 'chicken or the egg' 
sort of thing to me. If the engine decides to move itself from one host to 
another, and it fails for some reason because the process of moving itself 
caused a problem (stopping services, etc.)then not sure what you would end up 
with there. Seems very iffy to me, but maybe I am reading too much into it. 
Again I admittedly don’t know enough about Ovirt to know if this thinking is 
off base or not. My own experience with networking systems means you would 
never set things up like this. Each system is autonomous and can take over for 
the other if one part fails. But then again, if Ovirt Engine had been set up 
this way, maybe I wouldn't be in the position I am now with no working engine. 
Lots to sort out. Thanks for the help.

-Original Message-
From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com)  
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 8:26 AM
To: Bob Franzke 
Cc: users 
Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the 
Ovirt Engine System

On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
> sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole 
> organization can potentially come down to the availability of a single 
> machine? Is this really correct?

Correct.

This does not mean that the engine itself is necessarily critical - if it's 
down, your VMs should still be ok. If _controlling_ VMs is considered critical 
for you, then yes - you do need to make sure your engine is alive and well.

> Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?

The standard option is using hosted-engine with several hosts - you get HA 
out-of-the-box.

I also heard about people using standalone active/standby clustering/HA 
solutions for the engine.

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
> > Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and 
> > was not a VM.
> >
> > In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> > discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. 
> > Is there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? 
> > Is the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working engine?
>
> It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because the 
> engine will not know what you do.
>
> See also e.g.:
>
> https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/
> cockpit.html
>
> >
> > -Original Message-----
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> > To: Bob Franzke 
> > Cc: users 
> > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> > >
> > > > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
> > >
> > > Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the 
> > > engine-backup script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off 
> > > onto different storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc 
> > > directory as well just in case there was something needed in there that 
> > > is not included in the engine-backup solution.
> > >
> > > > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first 
> > > > test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
> > >
> > > This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered 
> > > and built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old 
> > > and needs to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ov

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-06 Thread Yedidyah Bar David
On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 4:19 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
> sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole 
> organization can potentially come down to the availability of a single 
> machine? Is this really correct?

Correct.

This does not mean that the engine itself is necessarily critical - if
it's down, your VMs should still be ok. If _controlling_ VMs is
considered critical for you, then yes - you do need to make sure your
engine is alive and well.

> Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?

The standard option is using hosted-engine with several hosts - you
get HA out-of-the-box.

I also heard about people using standalone active/standby
clustering/HA solutions for the engine.

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding 
> the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
> > Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and 
> > was not a VM.
> >
> > In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> > discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. 
> > Is there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? 
> > Is the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working engine?
>
> It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because the 
> engine will not know what you do.
>
> See also e.g.:
>
> https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/cockpit.html
>
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> > To: Bob Franzke 
> > Cc: users 
> > Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for
> > Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> > >
> > > > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
> > >
> > > Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the 
> > > engine-backup script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off 
> > > onto different storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc 
> > > directory as well just in case there was something needed in there that 
> > > is not included in the engine-backup solution.
> > >
> > > > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first 
> > > > test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
> > >
> > > This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered 
> > > and built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old 
> > > and needs to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore 
> > > the data from my backups.
> >
> > I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the 
> > engine, and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
> > Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by 
> > itself.
> >
> > For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to wait 
> > for your new server to arrive.
> >
> > >
> > > I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather 
> > > I need to basically:
> > >
> > > 1. reinstall CentOS
> > > 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached 
> > > to currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).
> >
> > I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements, but 
> > this is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run VMs. The 
> > engine machine's storage is (normally) not used for that, only for the 
> > engine itself (and its db, etc.).
> >
> > > 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do
> > > this for you?) 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?
> >
> > Add relevant repo, by installing relevant ovirt-releast* package (see the 
> > web site), and then 'yum install ovirt-engine' - this should grab for you 
> > postgresql etc.
> >
> > > 4. Restore DB and data
> >
> > Yes. Run basically 'engine-backup --mode=restore' and then 'engine-setup'.

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-06 Thread Bob Franzke
So I am getting the impression that without a working ovirt engine, you are 
sort of cooked from being able to control VMs such that your whole organization 
can potentially come down to the availability of a single machine? Is this 
really correct? Are there HA options available for the engine server itself?

-Original Message-
From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com)  
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2020 12:57 AM
To: Bob Franzke 
Cc: users 
Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the 
Ovirt Engine System

On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
> Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and was 
> not a VM.
>
> In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. Is 
> there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? Is 
> the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working engine?

It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because the engine 
will not know what you do.

See also e.g.:

https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/cockpit.html

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
> >
> > Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the 
> > engine-backup script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off onto 
> > different storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc directory as 
> > well just in case there was something needed in there that is not included 
> > in the engine-backup solution.
> >
> > > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first 
> > > test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
> >
> > This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered 
> > and built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old and 
> > needs to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore the 
> > data from my backups.
>
> I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the 
> engine, and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
> Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by itself.
>
> For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to wait 
> for your new server to arrive.
>
> >
> > I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather I 
> > need to basically:
> >
> > 1. reinstall CentOS
> > 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached to 
> > currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).
>
> I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements, but 
> this is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run VMs. The 
> engine machine's storage is (normally) not used for that, only for the engine 
> itself (and its db, etc.).
>
> > 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do 
> > this for you?) 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?
>
> Add relevant repo, by installing relevant ovirt-releast* package (see the web 
> site), and then 'yum install ovirt-engine' - this should grab for you 
> postgresql etc.
>
> > 4. Restore DB and data
>
> Yes. Run basically 'engine-backup --mode=restore' and then 'engine-setup'. 
> Please check the backup/restore documentation on the web site.
> If your current engine used only defaults (meaning, engine+dwh+their DBs all 
> on the engine machine, provisioned by engine-setup), then the restore command 
> should be something like:
>
> engine-backup --mode=restore --file=your-backup-file 
> --provision-all-databases
>
> Again, please test on a test VM somewhere, and make sure it's isolated
> - that it can't reach your hosts and start to manage them (unless that's what 
> you want, of course).
>
> >
> > I am not sure the details of the list outlined above (what to run where, 
> > etc.). I am looking for consultants to help me out here as its clear I am a 
> > bit behind the curve on this one. So far not much has worked out on that 
> > front. Does the above list seem reasonable in terms of needed steps to get 
> > this 

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-05 Thread Yedidyah Bar David
On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
> Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and was 
> not a VM.
>
> In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I 
> discovered the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. Is 
> there any way I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? Is 
> the vdsm-client command the way to do this without a working engine?

It is, in principle, but that's not supported and is risky - because
the engine will not know what you do.

See also e.g.:

https://www.ovirt.org/develop/release-management/features/integration/cockpit.html

>
> -Original Message-
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
> To: Bob Franzke 
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding 
> the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
> >
> > > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
> >
> > Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the 
> > engine-backup script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off onto 
> > different storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc directory as 
> > well just in case there was something needed in there that is not included 
> > in the engine-backup solution.
> >
> > > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first 
> > > test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
> >
> > This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered 
> > and built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old and 
> > needs to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore the 
> > data from my backups.
>
> I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the 
> engine, and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
> Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by itself.
>
> For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to wait 
> for your new server to arrive.
>
> >
> > I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather I 
> > need to basically:
> >
> > 1. reinstall CentOS
> > 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached to 
> > currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).
>
> I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements, but 
> this is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run VMs. The 
> engine machine's storage is (normally) not used for that, only for the engine 
> itself (and its db, etc.).
>
> > 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do this
> > for you?) 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?
>
> Add relevant repo, by installing relevant ovirt-releast* package (see the web 
> site), and then 'yum install ovirt-engine' - this should grab for you 
> postgresql etc.
>
> > 4. Restore DB and data
>
> Yes. Run basically 'engine-backup --mode=restore' and then 'engine-setup'. 
> Please check the backup/restore documentation on the web site.
> If your current engine used only defaults (meaning, engine+dwh+their DBs all 
> on the engine machine, provisioned by engine-setup), then the restore command 
> should be something like:
>
> engine-backup --mode=restore --file=your-backup-file --provision-all-databases
>
> Again, please test on a test VM somewhere, and make sure it's isolated
> - that it can't reach your hosts and start to manage them (unless that's what 
> you want, of course).
>
> >
> > I am not sure the details of the list outlined above (what to run where, 
> > etc.). I am looking for consultants to help me out here as its clear I am a 
> > bit behind the curve on this one. So far not much has worked out on that 
> > front. Does the above list seem reasonable in terms of needed steps to get 
> > this going again?
>
> See above.
>
> For consultants, you might want to check:
>
> https://www.ovirt.org/community/user-stories/users-and-providers.html
>
> And/or post again to the list with a subject line that's more likely to 
> attract them ("Looking for an oVirt consultant...").
>
> Good luck and best regards,
>
> >
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> > Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 1:58 AM
> > To: bob.fran...@

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2020-01-05 Thread Bob Franzke
Thanks for the reply here. Still waiting on a server to rebuild this with. 
Should be here tomorrow. The engine was running on bare metal server, and was 
not a VM.

In the mean time we had a few of the VMs go dark for some reason. I discovered 
the vdsm-client commands and tried figuring out what happened. Is there any way 
I can start a VM via command line on one of the VM hosts? Is the vdsm-client 
command the way to do this without a working engine?

-Original Message-
From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com)  
Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2019 1:50 AM
To: Bob Franzke 
Cc: users 
Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the 
Ovirt Engine System

On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
>
> Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the engine-backup 
> script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off onto different 
> storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc directory as well just in 
> case there was something needed in there that is not included in the 
> engine-backup solution.
>
> > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first test 
> > on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
>
> This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered and 
> built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old and needs 
> to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore the data from 
> my backups.

I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the engine, 
and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by itself.

For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to wait for 
your new server to arrive.

>
> I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather I 
> need to basically:
>
> 1. reinstall CentOS
> 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached to 
> currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).

I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements, but this 
is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run VMs. The engine 
machine's storage is (normally) not used for that, only for the engine itself 
(and its db, etc.).

> 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do this 
> for you?) 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?

Add relevant repo, by installing relevant ovirt-releast* package (see the web 
site), and then 'yum install ovirt-engine' - this should grab for you 
postgresql etc.

> 4. Restore DB and data

Yes. Run basically 'engine-backup --mode=restore' and then 'engine-setup'. 
Please check the backup/restore documentation on the web site.
If your current engine used only defaults (meaning, engine+dwh+their DBs all on 
the engine machine, provisioned by engine-setup), then the restore command 
should be something like:

engine-backup --mode=restore --file=your-backup-file --provision-all-databases

Again, please test on a test VM somewhere, and make sure it's isolated
- that it can't reach your hosts and start to manage them (unless that's what 
you want, of course).

>
> I am not sure the details of the list outlined above (what to run where, 
> etc.). I am looking for consultants to help me out here as its clear I am a 
> bit behind the curve on this one. So far not much has worked out on that 
> front. Does the above list seem reasonable in terms of needed steps to get 
> this going again?

See above.

For consultants, you might want to check:

https://www.ovirt.org/community/user-stories/users-and-providers.html

And/or post again to the list with a subject line that's more likely to attract 
them ("Looking for an oVirt consultant...").

Good luck and best regards,

>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 1:58 AM
> To: bob.fran...@mdaemon.com
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for 
> Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 8:55 PM  wrote:
> >
> > Full disclosure here.I am not an Ovirt Expert. I am a network Engineer 
> > that has been forced to take over sysadmin duties for a departed co-worker. 
> > I have little experience with Ovirt so apologies up front for anything I 
> > say that comes across as stupid or "RTM" questions. Normally I would do 
> > just that but I am in a bind and am trying to figure this out quickly. We 
> > have an OVirt installation setup that consists of 4 nodes and a server that 
> > hosts the ovirt-engine all

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2019-12-23 Thread Yedidyah Bar David
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 7:08 PM Bob Franzke  wrote:
>
> > Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
>
> Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the engine-backup 
> script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off onto different 
> storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc directory as well just in 
> case there was something needed in there that is not included in the 
> engine-backup solution.
>
> > In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first test 
> > on a separate env to see how it all looks like.
>
> This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered and 
> built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old and needs 
> to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore the data from 
> my backups.

I assume, from your first post, that you refer to the host running the
engine, and that this is a standalone engine, not hosted-engine.
Right? Meaning, it's running on bare-metal, not inside a VM managed by
itself.

For testing you can try stuff on an isolated VM somewhere, no need to
wait for your new server to arrive.

>
> I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather I 
> need to basically:
>
> 1. reinstall CentOS
> 2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached to 
> currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).

I obviously have no idea what is your storage design and requirements,
but this is largely a local matter, unrelated to the hosts that run
VMs. The engine machine's storage is (normally) not used for that,
only for the engine itself (and its db, etc.).

> 3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do this for 
> you?)
> 3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?

Add relevant repo, by installing relevant ovirt-releast* package (see
the web site), and then 'yum install ovirt-engine' - this should grab
for you postgresql etc.

> 4. Restore DB and data

Yes. Run basically 'engine-backup --mode=restore' and then
'engine-setup'. Please check the backup/restore documentation on the
web site.
If your current engine used only defaults (meaning, engine+dwh+their
DBs all on the engine machine, provisioned by engine-setup), then the
restore command should be something like:

engine-backup --mode=restore --file=your-backup-file --provision-all-databases

Again, please test on a test VM somewhere, and make sure it's isolated
- that it can't reach your hosts and start to manage them (unless
that's what you want, of course).

>
> I am not sure the details of the list outlined above (what to run where, 
> etc.). I am looking for consultants to help me out here as its clear I am a 
> bit behind the curve on this one. So far not much has worked out on that 
> front. Does the above list seem reasonable in terms of needed steps to get 
> this going again?

See above.

For consultants, you might want to check:

https://www.ovirt.org/community/user-stories/users-and-providers.html

And/or post again to the list with a subject line that's more likely
to attract them ("Looking for an oVirt consultant...").

Good luck and best regards,

>
>
> -Original Message-----
> From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com) 
> Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 1:58 AM
> To: bob.fran...@mdaemon.com
> Cc: users 
> Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding 
> the Ovirt Engine System
>
> On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 8:55 PM  wrote:
> >
> > Full disclosure here.I am not an Ovirt Expert. I am a network Engineer 
> > that has been forced to take over sysadmin duties for a departed co-worker. 
> > I have little experience with Ovirt so apologies up front for anything I 
> > say that comes across as stupid or "RTM" questions. Normally I would do 
> > just that but I am in a bind and am trying to figure this out quickly. We 
> > have an OVirt installation setup that consists of 4 nodes and a server that 
> > hosts the ovirt-engine all running CentOS 7. The server that hosts the 
> > engine has a pair of failing hard drives and I need to replace the hardware 
> > ASAP. Need to outline the steps needed to build a new server to serve as 
> > and replace the ovirt engine server. I have backed up the entire /etc 
> > directory and the backups being done nightly by the engine itself.
>
> Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?
>
> > I also backed up the iscsi info and took a printout of all the disk 
> > arrangement . The disk has gotten so bad at this point that the DB won't 
> > back up any longer. Get fatal:backup failed error when
> >   trying to run the ovirt

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2019-12-23 Thread Bob Franzke
> Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?

Yes sorry. The backups are the backups created when running the engine-backup 
script. So I have the files and the DB backed up and off onto different 
storage. I just grabbed a copy of the entire /etc directory as well just in 
case there was something needed in there that is not included in the 
engine-backup solution.

> In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first test on 
> a separate env to see how it all looks like.

This is a production environment. My plan is to get a new server ordered and 
built, removing the old server from the equation (old server is old and needs 
to be replaced anyway). Then rebuild the Ovirt bits and restore the data from 
my backups.

I just more needed a quick set up steps to take here. From what I gather I need 
to basically:

1. reinstall CentOS
2. Reconfigure storage (this server has several ISCSI LUNs its attached to 
currently. I don’t know if they are required for this or what).
3. Install PostGreSQL (maybe? Or does the ovirt engine script do this for you?)
3. Install Ovirt/run ovirt-engine script maybe?
4. Restore DB and data

I am not sure the details of the list outlined above (what to run where, etc.). 
I am looking for consultants to help me out here as its clear I am a bit behind 
the curve on this one. So far not much has worked out on that front. Does the 
above list seem reasonable in terms of needed steps to get this going again?


-Original Message-
From: Yedidyah Bar David (d...@redhat.com)  
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 1:58 AM
To: bob.fran...@mdaemon.com
Cc: users 
Subject: [ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the 
Ovirt Engine System

On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 8:55 PM  wrote:
>
> Full disclosure here.I am not an Ovirt Expert. I am a network Engineer 
> that has been forced to take over sysadmin duties for a departed co-worker. I 
> have little experience with Ovirt so apologies up front for anything I say 
> that comes across as stupid or "RTM" questions. Normally I would do just that 
> but I am in a bind and am trying to figure this out quickly. We have an OVirt 
> installation setup that consists of 4 nodes and a server that hosts the 
> ovirt-engine all running CentOS 7. The server that hosts the engine has a 
> pair of failing hard drives and I need to replace the hardware ASAP. Need to 
> outline the steps needed to build a new server to serve as and replace the 
> ovirt engine server. I have backed up the entire /etc directory and the 
> backups being done nightly by the engine itself.

Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?

> I also backed up the iscsi info and took a printout of all the disk 
> arrangement . The disk has gotten so bad at this point that the DB won't back 
> up any longer. Get fatal:backup failed error when
>   trying to run the ovirt backup tool. Also the Ovirt management site is not 
> rendering and I am not sure why.
>
> Is there anything else I need to make sure I backup in order to migrate the 
> engine from one server to another?

Generally speaking, if you used engine-backup for backups, it should be enough 
- it backs up all it needs from /etc.

If you didn't use that, /etc won't be enough. You also need a database backup.

If you do not have a backup of the database, you'll need to create a new engine 
from scratch. You can then import the existing storage domains and add the 
hosts. This will require downtime, and you'll loose some stuff, so if you do 
have an engine-backup backup, better use that.

In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first test on a 
separate env to see how it all looks like.

> Also, until I can get the engine running again, is there any tool available 
> to manage the VMs on the hosts themselves. The VMs on the hosts are running 
> but need a way to manage them if needed in case something happens while the 
> engine is being repaired.

Some management is possible via cockpit. It's much less than what the engine 
allows.

If you search the list archives, you can find suggestions by people to directly 
use libvirt/virsh after poking a bit inside your storage domain. I'd not 
recommend doing that, unless you know very well what you are doing and have no 
other solution (e.g. if storage is corrupted enough so that import to a new 
engine fails).

> Any info on this as well as what to backup and the steps to move the engine 
> from one server to another would be much much appreciated.

You can search the site for backup, restore, and import storage domain, and 
should find the relevant pages. Please note that the pages under /develop are 
written during development and are usually not updated after a feature is 
complete. The official documentation is under /documentation. That, in turn, is 
often outdated as well 

[ovirt-users] Re: OVirt Engine Server Died - Steps for Rebuilding the Ovirt Engine System

2019-12-21 Thread Yedidyah Bar David
On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 8:55 PM  wrote:
>
> Full disclosure here.I am not an Ovirt Expert. I am a network Engineer 
> that has been forced to take over sysadmin duties for a departed co-worker. I 
> have little experience with Ovirt so apologies up front for anything I say 
> that comes across as stupid or "RTM" questions. Normally I would do just that 
> but I am in a bind and am trying to figure this out quickly. We have an OVirt 
> installation setup that consists of 4 nodes and a server that hosts the 
> ovirt-engine all running CentOS 7. The server that hosts the engine has a 
> pair of failing hard drives and I need to replace the hardware ASAP. Need to 
> outline the steps needed to build a new server to serve as and replace the 
> ovirt engine server. I have backed up the entire /etc directory and the 
> backups being done nightly by the engine itself.

Which nightly backups? Do they run engine-backup?

> I also backed up the iscsi info and took a printout of all the disk 
> arrangement . The disk has gotten so bad at this point that the DB won't back 
> up any longer. Get fatal:backup failed error when
>   trying to run the ovirt backup tool. Also the Ovirt management site is not 
> rendering and I am not sure why.
>
> Is there anything else I need to make sure I backup in order to migrate the 
> engine from one server to another?

Generally speaking, if you used engine-backup for backups, it should
be enough - it backs up all it needs from /etc.

If you didn't use that, /etc won't be enough. You also need a database backup.

If you do not have a backup of the database, you'll need to create a
new engine from scratch. You can then import the existing storage
domains and add the hosts. This will require downtime, and you'll
loose some stuff, so if you do have an engine-backup backup, better
use that.

In either case, assuming this is a production env, I suggest to first
test on a separate env to see how it all looks like.

> Also, until I can get the engine running again, is there any tool available 
> to manage the VMs on the hosts themselves. The VMs on the hosts are running 
> but need a way to manage them if needed in case something happens while the 
> engine is being repaired.

Some management is possible via cockpit. It's much less than what the
engine allows.

If you search the list archives, you can find suggestions by people to
directly use libvirt/virsh after poking a bit inside your storage
domain. I'd not recommend doing that, unless you know very well what
you are doing and have no other solution (e.g. if storage is corrupted
enough so that import to a new engine fails).

> Any info on this as well as what to backup and the steps to move the engine 
> from one server to another would be much much appreciated.

You can search the site for backup, restore, and import storage
domain, and should find the relevant pages. Please note that the pages
under /develop are written during development and are usually not
updated after a feature is complete. The official documentation is
under /documentation. That, in turn, is often outdated as well :-(.
You can use RHV docs in addition. These are more up-to-date and should
be 99% applicable to oVirt.

> Sorry I know this a real RTM type post but I am in a bind and need a solution 
> rather quickly. Thanks in advance.

Good luck!
-- 
Didi
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