This section explains how to create a Qumulo Core USB drive installer and configure a Qumulo cluster on your hardware platform.

This section explains how to create a Qumulo Core USB drive installer and configure a Qumulo cluster on your hardware platform.

Prerequisites

Before creating a cluster, ensure that:

  • All nodes are racked and cabled according to your hardware vendor’s specifications
  • Out-of-band management (IPMI or iLO) is configured on each node
  • Network switches are configured for your environment
  • You have the Qumulo Core USB installer or network boot configured

Creating a Qumulo Core USB Drive Installer

How is the Qumulo Core Product Package Different from the Qumulo USB Installer?

Whereas the Qumulo USB Installer is designed for specific models of third-party hardware bundled with Qumulo Core, the Qumulo Core Product Package is designed for installation on your own hardware.

Because Qumulo has no control over the host operating system (OS), the following are the main differences in functionality between the two.

Click to expand
  • Web UI: The Qumulo Core Product Package has no kiosk mode. The Qumulo Core Web UI runs directly on your node.
  • Well-Known admin User: When you use the Qumulo Core Product Package, changing the admin user's password has no effect on the host OS. You must create your own users on the host OS.
  • Automatic SSH Configuration: Any SSH configuration set by using multitenancy REST APIs have no effect on the host OS. You must configure SSH on the host OS.
  • System Partitions and Directories: The Qumulo Core Product Package has no /config partition for storing logs and container images or /history partitions for storing configuration files.

    The Qumulo Core container stores logs and container images in the /var/opt/qumulo/history directory and configuration files in the /etc/qumulo directory. You can also configure your own mounts and partitions on the host OS.

  • Core Dump Handler: You must configure the core dump handler on the host OS. For more information, see core Linux Manual Page.

For more information, see Installing the Qumulo Core Product Package in the Qumulo On-Premises Administrator Guide.

Prerequisites

To Create a USB Drive Installer on macOS

  1. Open Terminal and log in as root by using the sudo -s command.

  2. Insert your USB drive and then find its disk label by using the diskutil list command.

    In the following example, the USB drive’s device label is disk2.

    /dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:             Windows_FAT_32 MY_USB_DRIVE            *32.0 GB    disk2

  3. To unmount the USB drive, use your USB drive’s device label. For example:

    diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

  4. To write the Qumulo Core USB installer image to your USB drive, specify the path to your image file and the USB drive’s device label. For example:

    dd if=/path-to-image-file/ of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=2m

  5. Eject your Qumulo Core USB Drive Installer. For example:

    diskutil eject disk2

To Create a USB Drive Installer on Windows

To create a USB Drive Installer on Windows, you must use a third-party application such as Rufus. We recommend Rufus because it can detect many USB storage devices (rather than only Windows-compatible ones).

  1. Insert your USB drive and run Rufus.

  2. Under Drive Properties, select a device and the path to the Qumulo Core USB installer image.

  3. For Partition scheme, select MBR and for Target System, select BIOS or UEFI.

  4. Under Format Options, ensure that the File system is set to NTFS.

  5. Click Start.

  6. If prompted to download a new version of GRUB or vesamenu.c32, click No.

  7. When the ISOHybrid image detected dialog box appears, click Write in DD Image mode and then click OK.

  8. To confirm the operation, destroy all data on the USB drive, and image the drive click OK.

Booting from the Qumulo Core USB Drive Installer

  1. Insert a USB drive with the Qumulo Core installer into an available port and power on the node.

  2. When the node begins to boot, enter the boot menu.

  3. On the boot drive selection screen, select your USB drive (usually labeled with UEFI OS) and boot into it.

    The Qumulo Core installation begins.

  4. Repeat this process for each node in your cluster.

Creating and Configuring Your Cluster

  1. Review the End User Agreement, click I agree to the End User Agreement, and then click Submit.

  2. Name your cluster.

  3. On the 1. Set up cluster page, select the nodes to add to your cluster.

    As you select nodes, the installer updates the total capacity of your cluster at the bottom of the page.

  4. Confirm that the individual nodes have the expected capacity.

  5. On the 2. Confirm cluster protection level page, Qumulo Core selects the recommended 2, 3, or 4-drive protection level based on your cluster size and node type.

  6. If the Customize Protection Level option appears, you can increase your system resilience by selecting 3- or 4-drive protection.

  7. Enter a password for the administrative account and click Create Cluster.

  8. To access the Qumulo Core Web UI, connect to any node by entering its IP address into a browser.

Next Steps

After the cluster is created:

  1. Log in to the Qumulo Web UI.

  2. Configure the following settings as needed:

    • DNS servers
    • NTP servers
    • SMB and NFS exports
    • Active Directory integration
    • LDAP configuration

For detailed configuration instructions, see the Qumulo On-Premises Administrator Guide.