Quick Setup Guide

Introduction

This article summarizes the operations to be performed to make your emulator running with the CHARON Linux Toolkit.

Preparation

• Create a folder to store the CHARON products and CHARON Linux Toolkit(s)
  Example:

  # mkdir /charon

  .

• Download the kits in this folder from the Stromasys sftp server using 'sftp' or your browser with the link provided by Stromasys.

  .

• Optionally create a folder where to store your licenses (C2V and V2C files)
  Example:

  # mkdir /charon/licenses

  .

• Install the CHARON Linux Toolkit as described in the Setup page.
  .

• Install the CHARON product(s) you need from menu option "Install/Upgrade/Remove CHARON"
  .

• Dedicate network interfaces to CHARON using menu option "Network Configuration Utility" (ncu) or configure the ifcfg files accordingly (see your CHARON product documentation / networking chapter).

  In both cases, offloading parameters will be disabled.
  .

• Check the license can be read using the "License key display/email" menu option
  .

• Prepare your configuration file(s) or use the clone utility available from the "Service management - Update guests list" menu (see further).
  .

• Prepare your storage configuration and create your vdisk files using the "mkdskcmd" command if needed.
  Example:

  # mkdskcmd -o /data/vms0_rz28.dsk -d rz28

  .

Virtual machines creation

• Use the "Service management - Update guests list" option from the "Service management (Start, Stop, Manage automatic boot & shutdown)" menu option to add and start your new virtual machine (guest)
  .
  
  • If you're running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, first install the service using the "Install or update service" option.
    .
  • Optionally, use option "Enable/Disable start at server boot" to prevent the guest from starting automatically when the Linux server is booted
    .
  • Optionally (but highly recommended), use option "Create/Edit guest stop script" to define the stop script that will be used to perform a clean shutdown of the virtual machine at service stop. See examples provided in the '/opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.stop.example' file.
    It is recommended to test your shutdown scripts before going on production
    .
  • Optionally, create the '/opt/charon/utils/charon_gstart.chkrun' file, by copying the 'charon_gstart.chkrun.example' file for example, to add information about the guest state when displaying the guests list. See Optional guest display status script
    .
  • The log file monitoring service is created automatically.

   

• Connect to the guest console using the "Connect to guest console" menu option and install or restore the operating system. If 'telnet' is not installed, you can connect via putty for example ( in this case some firewall settings will have to be set, see CHARON Linux server - Connection to guest console blocked by firewall )
  .

Post installation checks

• You can remove the USB dongle, if any, to verify the dongle removal is identified by the askusbd log monitor service:
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  • If you enabled the 'wall' alerts from the "Alerts management" menu, you should receive an immediate 'wall' message.
    .

  • If you disabled the 'wall' alerts from the "Alerts management" menu (default), you can have a look at the alerts history from the "Alerts management" menu
    .
  • If the mail has been correctly configured, you will receive an alert with subject: "[CHARON] License dongle disconnected" quite immediately. The immediate alert can be followed by an alert coming from the virtual machine log monitoring announcing the time remaining before stop