C.0 Integrating Cloud Manager with the Nixu IP Address Management System

In the Nixu NameSurfer environment, you need to create values to match specific Cloud Manager networking settings. This enables IPAM option at the network level.

The following steps assume you are familiar with the Nixu NameSurfer environment:

1. Create an NSAPI key to enable Nixu to communicate with the Cloud Manager Web Service.

   1. From the NameSurfer Configuration menu, click Keys > Add NSAPI key to open the New NSAPI key view.

   2. Specify a Key name, then save the Key secret part value for use later when you configure Cloud Manager for the IPAM integration.

   3. (Optional) You can check the Restrict access rights with groups check box to restrict access rights associated with a defined Nixu user group.

2. Create a forward lookup zone to contain your IP address block.

   1. From the NameSurfer DNS menu, click Forward zones > Create zone.

   2. Configure the zone as required.

3. Add (or identify an existing) an IP address block to associate with each Cloud Manager network you will be using.

   1. (Conditional) To add an IP address block, from the NameSurfer IP Address menu, click Add block, then configure the new block as required.

      or

   2. (Conditional) From the NameSurfer IP Address menu, click Root Blocks to open the list of blocks, then select an unused block.

4. Configure the block with required DNS information for Cloud Manager integration.

   1. From the Blocks list, select the block you want to configure, then select the DNS tab for this block.

   2. Specify the DNS zone information. This is the name you gave to the forward lookup zone in Step 2.

   3. (Optional) If you want Nixu to automatically generate a host name for the block, follow the pattern listed in the interface and enter the Host name pattern.

      NOTE:This value is co-dependent with a value in the Cloud Manager configuration file. See autoHostname below, for more information.

5. From the block details page, select the Information tab, then select the Add information menu option to open an Information dialog box.

6. Create the following name/value pair in the Information dialog box for this block:

   • Name: NCMNetworkID

     This is the Cloud Manager network ID, as displayed in the upper left-hand corner of the Edit Network dialog of the Cloud Manager Application Server Web console. Note that Cloud Manager configures this name without a period (.) in the string.

     Value: (example) 362:Network:digitalAirlines-Prod

     This value is co-dependent with a value in the Cloud Manager configuration file. If you have set value of the NCMNetworkIDValueIsName property to TRUE in the configuration file, you need to provide only the Cloud Manager network name (for example, DigitalAirlines-Prod) instead of the Cloud Manager network ID.

7. Continue configuring the block to return the values that, if matched, are used to configure a corresponding Cloud Manager vNIC.

   Open and complete information for each of the following name/value pairs:

   • Name: NCM.DNSServers

     Value: (example) 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.2

     What you specify for this value depends on your individual network setup. More than one value can be listed, with each value separated by a space.

   • Name: NCM.DNSSuffixes

     Value: (example) acme.com test.com da.com

     What you specify for this value depends on your individual network setup. More than one value can be listed, with each value separated by a space.

   • Name: NCM.Gateways

     Value: (example) 192.168.0.3 192.168.0.4

     What you specify for this value depends on your individual network setup. More than one value can be listed, with each value separated by a space.

   • Name: NCM.NetMask

     Value: (example) 255.355.255.0

     What you specify for this value depends on your individual network setup.

1. From the Cloud Manager Application Server, open /opt/netiq/cloudmanager/etc/cloudmanager-ipam-nixu.cfg

2. Edit the configuration file:

   1. Edit the properties that specify the Nixu Server connection information:

      Configuration Property and Default Value	Value Detail	Example
      url=<server:port>/SOAP	Specify the Nixu Server URL, without the "http" connection protocol.	url=mynixuserver.mydomain.com:8443/SOAP/
      secureConnection=true	Specify whether the connection is secure. If http, specify false. If https, specify true.	secureConnection=true
      keyname=<keyname>	This is the name of the NSAPI key configured in the Nixu NameSurfer console. It is needed for Web Service API access.	keyname=EngKey
      keyvalue=<keyvalue>	This is the value of the NSAPI key specified in "keyname" property, as configured in the Nixu NameSurfer console. It is needed for Web Service API access.	keyvalue=KrqcCHySczwIFfshSMfrPoCESY3ip8Nh90egtrmouTg=

   2. Edit the properties that specify the Cloud Manager options:

      Configuration Property and Default Value	Value Detail
      autoHostname=TRUE	Specifies whether Nixu NameSurfer should auto-create a hostname for the requested address. Hostname auto-generation follows the rules specified on the Address Block in the Nixu NameSurfer console.
      addToDNS=FALSE	Specifies whether Nixu NameSurfer should auto-register the hostname with Nixu NameSurfer's DNS service. If you are not using Nixu NameSurfer for your DNS server, set this to FALSE.
      defaultToDHCP=FALSE	Specifies behavior in the case of a Nixu NameSurfer integration failure. Failures can occur because of inability to connect to the server, inability to find a Nixu Address Block that is correctly configured to provide an address for a specified Cloud Manager Zone, etc. In case of a failure, if this value is TRUE, the Cloud Manager workload is configured to obtain its network information from DHCP.
      NCMNetworkIDValueIsName=FALSE	Specifies whether to use the full Cloud Manager Network ID or the simple Network Name as the match string in Nixu NameSurfer Address Blocks. Using the full Cloud Manager Network ID is preferable, because it provides a greater probability of uniqueness. NOTE:This property is codependent with a Nixu IP Address block setting. See NCMNetworkID, above, for more information. Do not set this value to TRUE unless you are sure that all network interfaces have unique names.
      defaultVMNameFromHostName=FALSE	Specifies whether to set the workload's PreferredVMName from the hostname provided by Nixu NameSurfer. We recommend that you set this value to FALSE, because the VM's name is now attached to a network name or IP address, which could change in the future if the Cloud Manager Network is deleted or modified. If TRUE, the PreferredVMName that will be set (the filename and display name of the VM) follows the pattern: <hostname>.<workloadid> NOTE:The PreferredVMName does not change in change requests, even if the hostname changes as a result of an altered NIC configuration.
      failBusinessServiceRequestOnIPAMFailure=TRUE	Specifies what Cloud Manager should do in the case of a failure to obtain a valid NIC configuration from the IPAM system. the case of such a failure. If the value is set to TRUE, the business service is placed in a BUILD_FAILED state and the administrator can reconfigure the NIC and resubmit the business service. If the value is set to FALSE, the business service advances to the pre-build configuration phase. The administrator can then override the network type and specify a different NIC configuration.
      nixuIntegrationEnabled=FALSE	Leave the value at FALSE until you finish setting all of the properties above. Setting the value to TRUE enables Cloud Manager to detect the Nixu IPAM integration and to display it as a network option.

3. Restart the Cloud Manager Application Server to refresh the configuration settings and enable IPAM integration.