STIG-compliant OL8
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Version 6.30
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This document describes the process of uploading a VHD image of the Nexthink Appliance to Microsoft Azure. While Nexthink provides a set of scripts and installation packages to streamline the process, some of the required steps are manual.
Requirements:
A Microsoft Azure subscription, configured and primed for authentication
A storage account linked to the intended resource group
A Blob container with the intended level of Anonymous access
Requirements:
The VM generation is set to "Gen 1"
Requirements:
An Azure Virtual Network (VNet) with a corresponding subnet
A security group configured according to the Connectivity requirements
The VM creation menu in the Networking section can fulfil both requirements.
After creating an image, Create VM.
Nexthink recommends setting up remote access to your VM using SSH keys. Create a new user or use the nexthink default.
Set inbound port rules to None. You will configure these through the security group.
Set license type to Other.
Set OS disk size to 64GB.
Set source type to None (Empty disk).
Create a VNet, subnet, and public IP.
Set NIC network security group to Advanced.
Select the previously created security group, or create a new one following the same requirements.
Change the rest of the settings as needed.
Review and create to finalize the process.
When creating a new set of SSH credentials, Azure will prompt you to store the information. Be sure to do so, as this information is lost otherwise.
Run the following command to store the private key in your local .ssh folder, such as .ssh/nexthink_portal.pem. The file should be accessible only to the current user.
The VHD installation process requires a default dynamic private IP, which must be made static to prevent DHCP lease expiration and subsequent connectivity issues.
From the Virtual Machines tab, select your VM.
Select Networking > Networking Settings.
Select the primary network interface.
Select Settings > IP configurations.
Select the default IP configuration assigned to this interface.
Select Static and insert an IP address that belongs to the VNet's network. You can use the IP given by the DHCP server.
Save and wait for Azure to finish configurations.
Avoid editing network configurations through the Webconsole as if it were a local machine. This can cause loss of connectivity and render the VM unusable, as the only possible access is through SSH.
Run the following command to access the VM from the Nexthink image in your Azure Compute Gallery (Gallery) using SSH:
Run the lsblk command to ensure the system can use the entire disk. An example output:
In this example, sda is the OS disk, sdb is the data disk, and sdc is a temporary operations disk managed by Azure. The order of these can change in each appliance built.
Configure the OS disk with the following commands:
Configure the data disk with the following commands:
Verify the partition sizes and mounting with the following command:
Ensure the Azure temporary resource is mounted through GUID. This is important as the VM may not restart due to Azure changing the disk names around.
Find the GUID value of /mnt/resource with the following command:
Modify or add an entry into /etc/fstab with the UUID value returned for the /mnt/resource filesystem:
Create a temporary directory and change into that directory with the following command:
Unpack the package with the following command:
Install the package contents with the following commands. Use the -p parameter to install the Portal or the -e parameter to install the Engine.
Verify the components are running with the following command:
Change the default root password with the following command:
Compared to an on-premise installation of Nexthink, Nexthink Appliance faces a public connection and an internal network. Regarding the Portal to Engine Configuration, both the public and private IP/DNS of the machines must be configured in:
Internal and External DNS on the Webconsole parameters
Portal IP/Hostname on the Engine's Webconsole
Engine DNS name when performing Appliance federation. The same name must be resolved as the Engine's:
Internal IP address by the Portal machine.
External IP address using the Finder, so the Finder can have access to the Engine
Check the Appliance VM hardware requirements before creating Nexthink Portal or Engine instances in Azure. Refer to the Hardware Requirements PDF file from the documentation.
Data disk size must be configured according to the .
Use any SCP client to download the Nexthink-offline-install-6.X.tgz installation package onto the VM. Alternatively, visit the to download the package.
