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Manual Chapter : OpenStack Cloud Integration

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BIG-IQ Cloud

  • 4.2.0
Manual Chapter
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About OpenStack servers

BIG-IQ Cloud includes a feature that provides you with the tools you need to manage OpenStack private cloud resources. These management tasks include discovering, creating, starting, and stopping BIG-IP VE virtual machines and application servers running in the private cloud.

You can use this feature to accommodate seasonal traffic fluctuations for which you might need to periodically add devices or application servers (referred to as, cloud bursting) or retract devices or application servers.

Task summary

Network requirements for communication with OpenStack cloud services

Before you can manage devices residing in an OpenStack private cloud, you must establish proper communication between the BIG-IQ Cloud and OpenStack controller node. Generally, this means defining a network route between the BIG-IQ Cloud internal VLAN and the public Internet, or the OpenStack private cloud endpoint.

The BIG-IQ Cloud connector for OpenStack parses the OpenStack cloud's network naming convention as follows:

  • Any network that contains the name mgmt, management, internal, or external is assumed to indicate a network type (management always-on management network, internal network, and external network, respectively). If there are multiple networks, BIG-IQ Cloud uses the first network it finds with those names to communicate with the OpenStack cloud.
  • If there are no networks with those names, BIG-IQ Cloud assigns the network type based on the order in which the network was discovered. For example, if BIG-IQ Cloud discovers networks 10.10.10.0/24, 20.20.20.0/24, and 30.30.30/24, it assigns them as follows:
  • Management network 10.10.10.0/24
  • External network 20.20.20.0/24
  • Internal network 30.30.30.0/24

This is important to know, because when you create a new application server in OpenStack through BIG-IQ Cloud, you are allowed to select the internal or external network, but not the management network.

Tip: If you deploy a BIG-IP device in the OpenStack cloud and you want to discover it from BIG-IQ Cloud, you must have an external or interface route from BIG-IQ Cloud to the OpenStack cloud network. If BIG-IQ Cloud is not on same network as OpenStack, you may need to add a floating IP address to the interface to make it accessible. While either external or internal interfaces are acceptable, we recommend using the external interface.

For specific instructions about how to configure your network for OpenStack, refer to the OpenStack documentation.

OpenStack Compute edits required to use BIG-IP VE systems

Before you create BIG-IP VE systems in an OpenStack environment, you must edit a file on each OpenStack Compute node. If you do not edit this file, any BIG-IP VE system you configure fails to start.

  1. Log in to the command line of each OpenStack Compute node and edit /etc/nova/release to read as follows: [Nova] vendor = Red Hat product = Bochs package = RHEL 6.3.0 PC
  2. Restart the OpenStack Compute node services.
This edit provides the BIG-IP VE system required access to the OpenStack hypervisor. Any BIG-IP VE systems you create in the OpenStack environment can now properly start.

Associating an OpenStack connector with devices

BIG-IQ Cloud must be able to collect statistics to provide server diagnostics to tenants. By default, most OpenStack deployments are configured to disallow data collection. For successful deployment, you must change this option by editing the Nova policy.json file (typically located in the /etc/nova/ directory) and changing the following line: compute_extension:server_diagnostics": "rule:admin_api to compute_extension:server_diagnostics": "rule:admin_or _owner.
To provide cloud tenant users with access to resources, you must configure a cloud connector. A cloud connector provides two services. First, you can use it to identify a specific set of resources, much like a virtual container, and second, it provides integration with third-party cloud services.
  1. Log in to BIG-IQ Cloud with your administrator user name and password.
  2. Hover on the Connectors header and click the + icon when it appears.
  3. In the Name and Description fields, type a name and description. You can use the name and description to help you organize network resources into logical groups based on certain criteria, such as the location or application.
  4. From the Cloud Provider list, select OpenStack.
  5. In the OpenStack Controller Node URI field, type the URI for the OpenStack controller node.
  6. In the OpenStack User Name field, type the user name for the OpenStack administrator.
  7. In the OpenStack Tenant Name and OpenStack Password fields, type the tenant (also known as, project) name and password.
  8. Click the Save button at the top of the New Connector header.
BIG-IQ Cloud discovers all associated OpenStack servers and populates them in the Servers panel.
To complete discovery of BIG-IP devices and populate the Devices panel, provide the administrator user name and password when requested. You can then associate tenants with the OpenStack connector.
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