This section explains how to deploy Cloud Native Qumulo (CNQ) on Azure by creating the persistent storage and the cluster compute and cache resources by using Terraform. It also provides recommendations for Terraform deployments and information about post-deployment actions and optimization.

For an overview of CNQ on Azure, its prerequisites, and limits, see How Cloud Native Qumulo Works.

The azure-terraform-cnq-<x.y>.zip file (the version in the file name corresponds to the provisioning scripts, not to the version of Qumulo Core) contains comprehensive Terraform configurations that let you deploy storage accounts and then create a CNQ cluster with 3 to 24 instances and have fully elastic compute and capacity.

Prerequisites

This section explains the prerequisites to deploying CNQ on Azure.

  • To allow your Qumulo instance to report metrics to Qumulo, your Azure Virtual Network must have outbound Internet connectivity through a NAT gateway or a firewall. Your instance shares no file data during this process.

  • Before you configure your Terraform environment, you must sign in to the az CLI.

  • Ensure that your Azure subscription includes the Reader and Contributor role assignments.

  • For scenarios in which your CNQ cluster must run in a secure environment, you must make the following changes in the terraform.tfvars file before deploying your cluster’s persistent storage:

    • Set the disable_public_network_access variable to true

    • Specify the values for the privatelink_blob_dns_zone_resource_group_name and privatelink_blob_dns_zone_virtual_link_name variables

How the CNQ Provisioner Works

The CNQ Provisioner is an Azure Compute instance that configures your Qumulo cluster and any additional Azure environment requirements.

The Provisioner stores all necessary state information in Azure App Configuration (on the left navigation panel, click Operations > Configuration Explorer) and shuts down automatically when it completes its tasks.

Step 1: Deploying Cluster Persistent Storage

This section explains how to deploy the storage accounts that act as persistent storage for your Qumulo cluster.

Part 1: Prepare the Required Files

Before you can deploy the persistent storage for your cluster, you must download and prepare the required files.

  1. Log in to Nexus and click Downloads > Cloud Native Qumulo Downloads.

  2. On the Azure tab and, in the Download the required files section, select the Qumulo Core version that you want to deploy and then download the corresponding Terraform configuration, Debian package.

  3. In a storage account named qumulo, create the images directory. Within this directory, create another directory with the Qumulo Core version as its name. For example:

    my-storage-account/qumulo/images/7.2.3.2

  4. Copy qumulo-core.deb or qumulo-core.rpm into the directory named after the Qumulo Core version (in this example, it is 7.5.0).

  5. Copy azure-terraform-cnq-<x.y>.zip to your Terraform environment and decompress the file.

Part 2: Configure the Persistent Storage

  1. Navigate to the persistent-storage directory.

  2. Edit the provider.tf file:

    • To store the Terraform state remotely, add the storage account details to the section that begins with backend "azurerm" {.

    • To store the Terraform state locally, comment out the section that begins with backend "azurerm" { and uncomment the section that contains backend = "local".

  3. Run the terraform init command.

    Terraform prepares the environment and displays the message Terraform has been successfully initialized!

  4. Edit the terraform.tfvars file.

    • Specify the deployment_name, the az_subscription_id, and the correct az_location for your cluster’s persistent storage.

    • Specify the az_subnet_name, az_vnet_name, and the az_vnet_rg (resource group) for your Virtual Network.

    • Set the soft_capacity_limit to 500 (or higher).

    • If you have an existing resource group that must contain your CNQ on Azure deployment due to your organization’s policies or specific naming conventions, specify a value for the advanced_az_resource_group_name variable.

Part 3: Create the Necessary Resources

  1. To authenticate to your Azure account, use the az CLI.

  2. Run the terraform apply command.

  3. Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform creates resources according to the execution plan and displays:

    • The names of the created persistent storage accounts

    • Your persistent storage resource group’s unique name

    For example:

    persistent_storage_accounts = tolist([
  "ab5cdefghij1",
  "ab4cdefghij2",
  "ab3cdefghij3",
  "ab2cdefghij4",
])
persistent_storage_resource_group = "mynamePStore-abcde"

Step 2: Deploying Cluster Compute and Cache Resources

This section explains how to deploy compute and cache resources for a Qumulo cluster by using a Ubuntu image and the Qumulo Core .deb installer.

Recommendations

  • Provisioning completes successfully when the Provisioner shuts down automatically. If the Provisioner doesn’t shut down, the provisioning cycle has failed and you must troubleshoot it. To monitor the provisioner’s status, you can watch the Terraform status posts in your terminal or in Azure App Configuration (on the left navigation panel, click Operations > Configuration Explorer).

  • The first variable in the example configuration files in the azure-terraform-cnq repository is deployment_name. To help avoid conflicts between resource groups and other deployment components, Terraform ignores the deployment_name value and generates a deployment_unique_name variable. Terraform appends a random, alphanumeric value to the variable and then tags all future resources with this value. The deployment_unique_name variable never changes during subsequent Terraform deployments.

  • If you plan to deploy multiple Qumulo clusters, give the q_cluster_name variable a unique name for each cluster.

  • We recommend forwarding DNS queries to Qumulo Authoritative DNS (QDNS). For a single-AZ deployment, to allow Qumulo Core to create an Amazon Route 53 outbound resolver, specify values for the q_cluster_fqdn and second_private_subnet_id variables. The resolver uses the q_cluster_fqdn variable to forward DNS requests to your cluster, where Qumulo Core resolves DNS for your floating IP addresses.

Part 1: To Deploy the Cluster Compute and Cache Resources

  1. To ensure that your Virtual Network subnet has the required service endpoints, take the following steps:

    1. In the Azure Portal, search for Virtual networks and then select your Virtual Network.

    2. On the left panel, click Settings > Service endpoints.

    3. On the Service endpoints page, ensure that the Microsoft.KeyVault and Microsoft.Storage service endpoints are added and enabled for the subnet where CNQ on Azure is to be deployed.

  2. Edit the provider.tf file:

    • To store the Terraform state remotely, add the name of an S3 bucket to the sections that begin with backend "azurerm" { and data "terraform_remote_state" "persistent_storage" {.

    • To store the Terraform state locally, comment out the sections that begin with backend "azurerm" { and data "terraform_remote_state" "persistent_storage" { and uncomment the section that contains backend = "local".

  3. Navigate to the azure-terraform-cnq-<x.y> directory and then run the terraform init command.

    Terraform prepares the environment and displays the message Terraform has been successfully initialized!

  4. Edit the terraform.tfvars file and specify the values for all variables.

    For more information, see README.pdf in azure-terraform-cnq-<x.y>.zip.

  5. Run the terraform apply command.

  6. Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform creates resources according to the execution plan and displays:

    • Your deployment’s unique name

    • The IP address for your Provisioner

    • The floating IP addresses for your Qumulo cluster

    • The primary (static) IP addresses for your Qumulo cluster

    • The Qumulo Core Web UI endpoint

    For example:

    deployment_unique_name = "mynameCompute-ABCDEFG"
provisioner = {
  "provisioner_ip_address" = "203.0.113.0"
  "qumulo_cluster_floating_ips" = tolist([
    "203.0.113.42",
    "203.0.113.84",
    ...
  ])
}
...
qumulo_primary_ips = tolist([
  "203.0.113.1",
  "203.0.113.2",
  "203.0.113.3",
  "203.0.113.4"
])
...
qumulo_private_url_node1 = "https://203.0.113.10"

Part 2: To Mount the Qumulo File System

  1. To log in to your cluster’s Web UI, use the endpoint from the Terraform output as the endpoint and the username and password that you have configured during deployment as the credentials.

    You can use the Qumulo Core Web UI to create and manage NFS exports, SMB shares, snapshots, and continuous replication relationships You can also join your cluster to Active Directory, configure LDAP, and perform many other operations.

  2. Mount your Qumulo file system by using NFS or SMB and your cluster’s DNS name or IP address.

Step 3: Performing Post-Deployment Actions

This section describes the common actions you can perform on a CNQ cluster after deploying it.

Adding Nodes to an Existing Cluster

  1. Edit terraform.tfvars and change the value of q_node_count to a new value.
  2. Run the terraform apply command.

  3. Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform changes resources according to the execution plan and displays an additional primary (static) IP for the new node. For example:

    qumulo_primary_ips = tolist([
  "203.0.113.1",
  "203.0.113.2",
  "203.0.113.3",
  "203.0.113.4",
  "203.0.113.5"
])
  4. To ensure that the Provisioner shuts down automatically, review the last-run-status parameter in Azure App Configuration (on the left navigation panel, click Operations > Configuration Explorer).
  5. To check that the cluster is healthy and has the needed number of nodes, log in to the Qumulo Core Web UI.

Removing Nodes from an Existing Cluster

Removing nodes from an existing cluster is a two-step process in which you remove the nodes from your cluster’s quorum and then tidy up the Azure resources for the removed nodes.

Step 1: Remove Nodes from the Cluster’s Quorum

  1. Edit the terraform.tfvars file and set the value of q_target_node_count to a lower number of nodes.

  2. Run the terraform apply command.

  3. Review the nodes to be removed and then enter yes.

    Terraform removes the nodes and displays:

    • Your deployment’s unique name

    • The remaining primary (static) IP addresses for your Qumulo cluster

    • The Qumulo Core Web UI endpoint

    For example:

    deployment_unique_name = "mynameCompute-ABCDEFG"
qumulo_cluster_uuid = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"
qumulo_primary_ips = tolist([
  "203.0.113.1",
  "203.0.113.2",
  "203.0.113.3"
])
qumulo_private_url_node1 = "https://203.0.113.1"

Step 2: Tidy Up Azure Resources for Removed Nodes

  1. Edit the terraform.tfvars file:

    1. Set the value of the q_node_count variable to a lower number of nodes in the cluster.

    2. Set the value of the q_target_node_count to null.

  2. Run the terraform apply command.

  3. Review the resources to be removed and then enter yes.

  4. To check that the cluster is healthy and has the needed number of nodes, log in to the Qumulo Core Web UI.

    Terraform tidies up the resources for removed nodes and displays:

    • Your deployment’s unique name

    • The remaining primary (static) IP addresses for your Qumulo cluster

    • The Qumulo Core Web UI endpoint

    For example:

    deployment_unique_name = "mynameCompute-ABCDEFG"
qumulo_cluster_uuid = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"
qumulo_primary_ips = [
  "203.0.113.1",
  "203.0.113.2"
]
qumulo_private_url_node1 = "https://203.0.113.1"

Increasing the Soft Capacity Limit for an Existing Cluster

Increasing the soft capacity limit for an existing cluster is a two-step process in which you configure new persistent storage parameters and then configure new compute and cache deployment parameters.

Step 1: Set New Persistent Storage Parameters

  1. Edit the terraform.tfvars file in the persistent-storage directory and set the q_cluster_soft_capacity_limit variable to a higher value.

  2. Run the terraform apply command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform creates new storage accounts as necessary and displays:

    • The names of the created storage accounts

    • Your persistent storage resource group’s unique name

    • The new soft capacity limit

    For example:

    Outputs:

persistent_storage_accounts = [
  "ab5cdefghij1",
  "ab4cdefghij2",
  "ab3cdefghij3",
  "ab2cdefghij4",
]
persistent_storage_resource_group = "mynamePStore-abcde"
...
soft_capacity_limit = "1000 TB"

Step 2: Update Existing Compute and Cache Resource Deployment

  1. Navigate to the root directory of the azure-terraform-cnq-<x.y> repository.

  2. Run the terraform apply -var-file config-standard.tfvars command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform updates the necessary roles and storage account policies, adds storage accounts to the persistent storage list for the cluster, increases the soft capacity limit, and displays the Apply complete! message.

    When the Provisioner shuts down automatically, this process is complete.

Changing the VM Instance Type of Your CNQ on Azure Cluster

You can change the VM instance type, node count, and convert your cluster from single-AZ to multi-AZ, or the other way around.

Changing the VM instance type of your CNQ on Azure cluster is a three-step process in which you create a new deployment in a new Terraform workspace and join the new VMs to a quorum, remove the existing VMs, and then clean up your storage account policies.

Step 1: Create a New Deployment in a New Terraform Workspace

  1. To create a new Terraform workspace, run the terraform workspace new my-new-workspace-name command.

  2. Edit the terraform.tfvars file:

    1. Specify the value for the az_subnet_name variable.

    2. Specify the value for the q_vm_type variable.
    3. Set the value of the q_replacement_cluster variable to true.
    4. Set the value of the q_existing_deployment_unique_name variable to the current deployment’s name.
    5. (Optional) To change the number of nodes, specify the value for the q_node_count variable.

  3. Run the terraform apply command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform creates resources according to the execution plan and displays:

    • Your deployment’s unique name

    • New primary (static) IP addresses for your Qumulo cluster

    • The Qumulo Core Web UI endpoint

    For example:

    deployment_unique_name = "mynameCompute-ABCDEFG"
qumulo_cluster_uuid = "87654321-4321-4321-4321-210987654321"
qumulo_primary_ips = tolist([
  "203.0.113.4",
  "203.0.113.5",
  "203.0.113.6",
  "203.0.113.7"
])
qumulo_private_url_node1 = "https://203.0.113.4"
  4. To ensure that the Provisioner shuts down automatically, review the last-run-status parameter in Azure App Configuration (on the left navigation panel, click Operations > Configuration Explorer).
  5. To check that the cluster is healthy and has the needed number of nodes, log in to the Qumulo Core Web UI.

Step 2: Remove the Previous Deployment

  1. To select the previous Terraform workspace (for example, default), run the terraform workspace select default command.
  2. To ensure that the correct workspace is selected, run the terraform workspace show command.

  3. Run the terraform destroy command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform displays the Destroy complete! message with a count of destroyed resources.

    The previous deployment is deleted.

Step 3: Clean Up Storage Account Policies

  1. To list your Terraform workspaces, run the terraform workspace list command.
  2. To select your new Terraform workspace, run the terraform workspace select <my-new-workspace-name> command.
  3. Edit the terraform.tfvars file and set the q_replacement_cluster variable to false.

  4. Run the terraform apply command. This ensures that the storage account policies have least privilege.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform displays the Apply complete! message with a count of destroyed resources.

Deleting an Existing Cluster

Deleting a cluster is a two-step process in which you delete your cluster’s compute and cache resources and then delete your persistent storage.

Step 1: To Delete Your Cluster’s Compute and Cache Resources

  1. After you back up your data safely, edit your terraform.tfvars file and set the term_protection variable to false.

  2. Run the terraform apply command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform displays the Apply complete! message with a count of changed resources.

  3. Run the terraform destroy command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform deletes all of your cluster’s compute and cache resources and displays the Destroy complete! message and a count of destroyed resources.

Step 2: To Delete Your Cluster’s Persistent Storage

  1. Navigate to the persistent-storage directory.
  2. Edit your terraform.tfvars file and set the prevent_destroy parameter to false.

  3. Run the terraform apply command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform displays the Apply complete! message with a count of changed resources.

  4. Run the terraform destroy command.

    Review the Terraform execution plan and then enter yes.

    Terraform deletes all of your cluster’s persistent storage and displays the Destroy complete! message and a count of destroyed resources.