Virtual Providers
Users can add and remove virtual providers through the portal through the hub integrations form. To get there:
- Click on Hub from the main, left-hand navigation
- Select Integrations
- From the list of providers select Virtual Provider
Beta Access
At this time the virtual providers feature is in open beta. While it has been in closed beta for a few months and has been stable, caution is advised for the most important of workloads.
Have a question, request, or want to see what others are doing with virtual providers? Head over to the Cycle Community !
Add a Virtual Provider
After navigating to the hub integrations and selecting the virtual provider option, use the button Add Integration to open the virtual providers create form.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| name | A name for the virtual provider, each hub supports 1 or more. |
| vendor | This value is fixed to virtual-provider and the value is used by the platform. |
| identifier | An identifier for the virtual provider. See platform docs |
| location code | Code representing the location of the nodes planned to be used with this virtual provider. |
Once the fields are filled out, submit to create the virtual provider.
Adding a Server from a Virtual Provider
There are two additional steps after uploading the ISO to the virtual provider server:
- Remove from quarantine and restart.
- Add to a specific cluster
When the virtual provider server checks in with the Cycle hub for the first time it is put in quarantine. Remove the server from quarantine by finding it on the servers page under infrastructure and then add the server to the desired cluster and it will be ready for use.
Managing a Virtual Provider
Managing a virtual provider is done through the row entry on the virtual providers integration page for the hub.
Update Virtual Provider
Users can update the information associated with a given virtual provider by selecting a created virtual provider opening the edit form and then submitting changes via the Update button.
Delete Virtual Provider
If a virtual provider needs to be deleted, select the trash can icon on the virtual provider entry and click it.
Creating an ISO
In order to join a server into a cluster in the hub, an ISO must be created and then made available to the joining server so that it can be used on boot. This is most practically achieved by burning the ISO to a thumb drive but can also be served via technology like iPXE.
To create a new ISO associated with a virtual provider open the ISO create form by pressing the + button next to the ISO's tile.
Below is an image outlining custom iPXE if needed. iPXE is NOT required for the ISO to boot and the iPXE section can be skipped completely if using a thumb drive.
The two required fields on this page of the form are name and token and they are in the initialization section
Changes to ISO's
After creating the ISO, most fields can be changed through an update to the ISO. If an update is made to the ISO the ISO needs to be re-downloaded and either burned to the thumb again or added to your iPXE solution.
Initialization Options
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| name | A name for the given ISO. |
| token | Generated by the platform and used for authentication. |
iPXE Option Definitions
Using DHCP
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| VLAN ID | VLAN ID for the IPXE boot. |
| Network Interface | Network interface for the IPXE boot. |
Using Static
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| VLAN ID | VLAN ID for the IPXE boot. |
| Network Interface | Network interface for the IPXE boot. |
| Static IP | Static IP assigned to the IPXE boot. |
| Netmask | Netmask assigned to the IPXE boot. |
| Gateway IP | Gateway IP assigned to the IPXE boot. |
| DNS IP | DNS IP assigned to the IPXE boot. |
Moving to page 2 of the form there are options for the server, NIC, and bonds.
Server
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| SDN Neighbor Preference | A preference for SDN neighbors which can be set to IPv4, IPv6, or not set and uses current platform default. |
| Conditionally Format Storage | If this option is enabled, on first boot the storage drives of the underlying server are wiped. |
Format Storage
The format storage option will check to see if there's no cycle LVM volume group. If there is not, it will format the disk. This action cannot be reverted.
Server Network Interfaces
Optionally configure server NIC's.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Match | Interface name or Mac address for the NIC. |
| VLAN ID | VLAN ID for the server. |
| DHCP Config | DHCP mode. |
| Static IP | Static IP assigned to the server. |
| Network CIDR | Network CIDR assigned to the server. |
| Gateway IP | An IP address is a numerical label that uniquely identifies a device on a network and enables it to send and receive data. |
| L2 Config | L2 options for private, public, or shared. |
Server Network bonds
Create a bonded (a.k.a. teamed) network interface, which aggregates two or more physical NICs into one logical interface for improved performance, redundancy, or load balancing.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Interface Name | Name of the bonded (virtual) interface, e.g., bond0. |
| Mode | Bonding mode strategy, see below. |
| Interface 1 | Name of the first physical network interface or Mac address to include in the bond. |
| Interface 2 | Name of the second physical network interface or Mac address to include in the bond. |
| + Add Bond Interface | Adds additional physical interfaces to the bond. |
Mode
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Round Robin | Sends packets in sequential order across all interfaces. Simple load balancing. |
| Active-Backup | One link is active at a time. Fails over to a backup if the active link goes down. |
| XOR Load Balancing | Uses a hash of MAC/IP/port to consistently choose one interface per traffic flow. |
| LACP | IEEE 802.3ad dynamic link aggregation. Requires switch support. Balances load and adds failover. |
| Transmit Load Balancing (TLB) | Load balances outbound traffic adaptively; no switch configuration required. |
| Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB) | Adds receive-side balancing on top of TLB; no switch configuration required. |
Review
Once all desired fields are set, a review page is shown confirming all selections. If the selections are confirmed, use the Create ISO button.
Generate and Download ISO
After creating the ISO it must be generated and then downloaded. Use the Generate button to generate and once completed a Download button will take its place. Download the ISO and use either iPXE or burn to thumb drive to consume.
Managing ISO's
After the ISO is created, it can be changed by clicking on the pencil icon next to the ISO. This will open a modal where changes can be made. After changes are made the ISO must be re-downloaded for an updated copy.