Deployment on Azure using Terraform

This guide outlines the customization process for Terraform configurations to deploy the WEKA cluster on Azure. It is designed for system engineers with expertise in Azure and Terraform.

If you are new to Azure and Terraform, refer to the Detailed deployment tutorial: WEKA on Azure using Terraform

The Terraform package contains modules that can be tailored to suit your specific deployment requirements. The installation is based on applying the customized Terraform variables file to a predefined Azure subscription.

Applying the Terraform module performs the following:

Creates resources in a predefined resource group, such as virtual machines, network interfaces, function apps, load balancer, and more.
Deploys Azure virtual machines.
Installs the WEKA software.
Configures the WEKA cluster.

The total deployment time is about 30 minutes. Half of that time is for resource deployment. The remainder is for the WEKA cluster installation and configuration.

Prerequisites

Before installing the WEKA software on Azure, the following prerequisites must be met:

The following must be installed on the workstation used for the deployment:
- Azure CLI
- Terraform (check the minimum required Terraform version specified in the Requirements section of Azure-WEKA deployment Terraform package.
For an ARM-based MAC workstation (for example, M1 or M2), see specific instructions below.
Initialize the Terraform-Azure-WEKA module using terraform init from the local directory. This command initializes a new or existing Terraform working directory by creating initial files, loading any remote state, downloading modules, and more.
Required permissions on Azure:
- Privileged Role Administrator
- Storage Blob Data Owner
- Storage Account Contributor
- Key Vault Administrator
To login to the Azure account using Azure CLI, use the az login command.
You need to create an Azure resource group within your subscription, which includes the Azure region.

Arm-based Mac workstation additional requirements

Follow these additional requirements to get Terraform working on an Arm-based Mac:

Run brew install tfenv
Run TFENV_ARCH=amd64 tfenv install 1.3.7
Run tfenv use 1.3.7
Run brew install kreuzwerker/taps/m1-terraform-provider-helper

Create a main.tf file

The main Terraform configuration settings are included in the main.tf file. You can create it by following this procedure or using the WEKA Cloud Deployment Manager. See WEKA Cloud Deployment Manager Web (CDM Web) User Guide.

Procedure

Review the Terraform-Azure-WEKA example and use it as a reference for creating the main.tf according to your Azure deployment specifics.
Tailor the main.tf file to create SMB-W or NFS protocol clusters by adding the relevant code snippet. Adjust parameters like the number of gateways, instance types, domain name, and share naming:

SMB-W

smb_protocol_gateways_number = 3
smb_protocol_gateway_instance_type = "Standard_L48s_v3" 
smbw_enabled = true
smb_domain_name = "CUSTOMER_DOMAIN"
smb_share_name = "SPECIFY_SMB_SHARE_NAMING"
smb_setup_protocol = true

NFS

nfs_protocol_gateways_number = 1
nfs_protocol_gateway_instance_type = "Standard_L48s_v3"
nfs_setup_protocol = true

Add WEKA POSIX clients (optional): If needed, add WEKA POSIX clients to support your workload by incorporating the specified variables into the main.tf file:

clients_number = 2
client_instance_type = "Standard_L48s_v3"

Apply the main.tf file

Once you complete the main.tf settings, apply it: Run terraform apply

Cluster help commands

The system displays the cluster help commands enabling you to perform the following:

Get the clusterization status
Get the cluster status
Fetch the WEKA cluster password
View the path to SSH keys
View the virtual machine IP addresses
Resize the cluster

Cluster help commands output example

In the following example, the prefix is v41, and the cluster name is jack.

get-cluster-helpers-commands = <<EOT
########################################## Get clusterization status #####################################################################
function_key=$(az functionapp keys list --name v41-jack-function-app --resource-group jackm-rg --subscription d2f248b9-d054-477f-b7e8-413921532c2a --query functionKeys -o tsv)
curl --fail  -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"type": "progress"}'

########################################## Get cluster status ############################################################################
function_key=$(az functionapp keys list --name v41-jack-function-app --resource-group jackm-rg --subscription d2f248b9-d054-477f-b7e8-413921532c2a --query functionKeys -o tsv)
curl --fail 

######################################### Fetch weka cluster password ####################################################################
az keyvault secret show --vault-name v41-jack-key-vault --name weka-password | jq .value

########################################## Download ssh keys command from blob ###########################################################
 az keyvault secret download --file private.pem --encoding utf-8 --vault-name  v41-jack-key-vault --name private-key --query "value"
 az keyvault secret download --file public.pub --encoding utf-8 --vault-name  v41-jack-key-vault --name public-key --query "value"

############################################## Path to ssh keys  ##########################################################################
/tmp/v41-jack-public-key.pub
 /tmp/v41-jack-private-key.pem

################################################ Vms ips ##################################################################################
az vmss list-instance-public-ips -g jackm-rg --name v41-jack-vmss --subscription <azure subscription id> --query "[].ipAddress"


########################################## Resize cluster #################################################################################
function_key=$(az functionapp keys list --name v41-jack-function-app --resource-group jackm-rg --subscription <azure subscription id> --query functionKeys -o tsv)
curl --fail  -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"value":ENTER_NEW_VALUE_HERE}'

EOT

Troubleshooting

Check the deployment progress

Once Terraform applies the configuration and deploys all the required resources, you can use the cluster help commands to check the progress of the cluster deployment.

The following is the command syntax for checking the cluster status during the deployment progress:

curl --fail https://<prefix>-<cluster name>-function-app.azurewebsites.net/api/status?code=$function_key

Example

Explore the following phases to check the deployment progress:

Preparation

Once the VM starts, it prepares all the required objects, such as setting the partition to /opt/weka, downloading the Weka release, and deploying the container drives.

You can track the progress of the preparation, which can take about 10 minutes.

Get your function key by running the command:

function_key=$(az functionapp keys list --name v41-jack-function-app --resource-group jackm-rg --subscription <your Azure subscription id> --query functionKeys -o tsv)

Track the preparation progress by running the command:

curl --fail https://v41-jack-function-app.azurewebsites.net/api/status?code=$function_key -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"type": "progress"}'

Response example:

{
  "ready_for_clusterization": [],
  "progress": {
    "v41-jack-backend000001": [
      "10:02:55 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:17 UTC: Installing weka"
    ],
    "v41-jack-backend000002": [
      "10:02:56 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:18 UTC: Installing weka"
    ],
    "v41-jack-backend000003": [
      "10:02:54 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:16 UTC: Installing weka",
      "10:08:32 UTC: Weka installation completed",
      "10:08:34 UTC: Setting deletion protection authorization error, going to sleep for 2M"
    ],
    "v41-jack-backend000004": [
      "10:02:57 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:27 UTC: Installing weka",
      "10:09:07 UTC: Weka installation completed",
      "10:09:09 UTC: Setting deletion protection authorization error, going to sleep for 2M"
    ],
    "v41-jack-backend000005": [
      "10:02:55 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:17 UTC: Installing weka"
    ],
    "v41-jack-backend000006": [
      "10:02:54 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:24 UTC: Installing weka"
    ]
  },
  "errors": null
}

Cluster formation status update

Once the preparation phase completes, the list of requested virtual machines appears. The number of servers ready for clusterization depends on the required cluster size.

Run the following command to track the clusterization status:

curl --fail https://v41-jack-function-app.azurewebsites.net/api/status?code=$function_key -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"type": "progress"}'

The "ready for clusterization" section provides the list of virtual machines to be clusterized. In the following response example, the last backend v41-jack-vmss_3 runs the cluster formation:

{
  "ready_for_clusterization": [
    "v41-jack-vmss_4:v41-jack-backend000004:20.228.235.225",
    "v41-jack-vmss_6:v41-jack-backend000006:20.228.234.98",
    "v41-jack-vmss_1:v41-jack-backend000001:20.228.234.225",
    "v41-jack-vmss_5:v41-jack-backend000005:20.228.236.6",
    "v41-jack-vmss_2:v41-jack-backend000002:20.228.235.126",
    "v41-jack-vmss_3:v41-jack-backend000003:20.228.235.38"
  ],
  "progress": {
    "v41-jack-backend000001": [
      "10:02:55 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:17 UTC: Installing weka",
      "10:09:43 UTC: Weka installation completed",
      "10:09:46 UTC: Setting deletion protection authorization error, going to sleep for 2M",
      "10:11:47 UTC: Deletion protection was set successfully"
    ],
    
    .
    .
    .
    
    "v41-jack-backend000006": [
      "10:02:54 UTC: Running init script",
      "10:03:24 UTC: Installing weka",
      "10:09:20 UTC: Weka installation completed",
      "10:09:23 UTC: Setting deletion protection authorization error, going to sleep for 2M",
      "10:11:23 UTC: Deletion protection was set successfully"
    ]
  },
  "errors": null

Cluster formation

Run the following command to check the cluster status:

$ curl https://v41-jack-function-app.azurewebsites.net/api/status?code=$function_key

In the following response example, the cluster formation is completed as shown in the third line "clusterized": true:

{
  "initial_size": 6,
  "desired_size": 6,
  "clusterized": true,
  "weka_status": {
    "hot_spare": 1,
    "io_status": "STARTED",
    "drives": {
      "active": 6,
      "total": 6
    },
    "name": "jack",
    "io_status_changed_time": "2023-04-16T10:15:53.35355Z",
    "io_nodes": {
      "active": 18,
      "total": 18
    },
    "cloud": {
      "enabled": true,
      "healthy": true,
      "proxy": "",
      "url": "https://api.home.weka.io"
    },
    "release_hash": "9756a1524e629d6c02c91bfb63d8239a2b4cce5f",
    "hosts": {
      "active_count": 18,
      "backends": {
        "active": 18,
        "total": 18
      },
      "clients": {
        "active": 0,
        "total": 0
      },
      "total_count": 18
    },
    "stripe_data_drives": 3,
    "release": "4.1.0.71",
    "active_alerts_count": 2,
    "capacity": {
      "total_bytes": 5182871000000,
      "hot_spare_bytes": 1036429300000,
      "unprovisioned_bytes": 0
    },
    "is_cluster": true,
    "status": "OK",
    "stripe_protection_drives": 2,
    "guid": "d4363615-bbae-416b-92f8-2d7304904996",
    "nodes": {
      "black_listed": 0,
      "total": 36
    },
    "licensing": {
      "io_start_eligibility": true,
      "usage": {
        "drive_capacity_gb": 11522,
        "usable_capacity_gb": 5182,
        "obs_capacity_gb": 0
      },
      "mode": "Unlicensed"
    }
  }

You can also track the cluster formation progress on the last backend by opening the /tmp/cluster_creation.log file.

Validate the deployment

Once the deployment is completed, access the WEKA cluster GUI using the URL: http://<backend server DNS name or IP address>:14000 and get started with the WEKA cluster.

Related topics

Manage the system using the WEKA GUI

Manage the system using the WEKA CLI

Run first IOs with WEKA filesystem

Update the admin user password

When deploying a WEKA cluster on the cloud using Terraform, a default username (admin) is automatically generated, and Terraform creates the password. Only the password is stored in the Key Vault of the Azure console. This user facilitates communication between the cloud and the WEKA cluster, particularly during scale-up and scale-down operations.

As a best practice, it’s recommended to update the admin password in the WEKA cluster and the .

Procedure

In the WEKA cluster, update the admin user's password.
In the Azure console, navigate to Key Vault.
Update the weka_password service with the newly updated password.
Validate the changes by checking the results in the platform and ensuring they pass successfully.

Related topic

Change a local user password

Set the license

To run IOs against the cluster, a valid license must be applied. Obtain a valid license and apply it to the WEKA cluster. For details, see License overview.

Set up the WEKA cluster to work with your Azure Blob storage

If you create an Azure Blob storage without using Terraform, you can set up the WEKA cluster to work with it.

Procedure

Gather the following details from your Azure account (refer to the Azure documentation for guidance):
- Storage account name
- Storage account container name
- Storage account access key
Connect to one of the instances in your WEKA cluster and run the following command line, replacing the placeholders with your storage account details:

weka fs tier s3 add azure-obs --site local --obs-name default-local --obs-type AZURE --hostname <Storage account name>.blob.core.windows.net --port 443 --bucket <Storage account container name> --access-key-id <Storage account name> --secret-key <Storage account access key> --protocol https --auth-method AWSSignature4

Related information

Official Azure documentation

Clean up the deployment

If the WEKA cluster is no longer required on Azure or you need to clean up the deployment, use the terraform destroy action (a token from get.weka.io is required). The object storage and storage account are not deleted.

The destroy command does not work properly if the Terraform deployment fails for any reason, such as dependencies not being present and Azure resource starvation. Manually remove any resources created at the beginning of the Terraform script using the Azure console or Azure CLI before re-running the Terraform script.

If you need to preserve your data, create a snapshot using snap-to-object.

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