Deployment into the Azure Cloud#

VOSS Automate can be deployed into the Azure cloud by means of terraform scripts.

Hardware Requirements#

For details on Standard and Modular Topologies, refer to the VOSS Automate Architecture and Hardware Specification Guide and Platform Guide.

Unified or Database Nodes:

  • VM Size: E4ds_v4 Standard

  • CPU: 4

  • RAM: 32

  • OS disk: 30GB, Premium_LRS

  • application disk: 50GB, Standard_LRS

  • backup disk: 55 GB, Standard_LRS

  • DB disk: 250 GB, Premium_LRS

  • Total disk size: 385GB

Application Nodes:

  • VM Size: E4ds_v4 Standard

  • CPU: 4

  • RAM: 32

  • OS disk: 30GB, Premium_LRS

  • application disk: 50GB, Standard_LRS

  • Total disk size: 80GB

Web Proxies:

  • Web Proxies are replaced by an Azure Load Balancer

Network Communications External to the Cluster#

The following details are all based on the default settings. These can vary depending on the application setup and network design (such as NAT) of the solution, so may need adjustment accordingly. Where a dependent is noted, this is fully dependent on the configuration with no default.

These communications are all related to communications with devices external to the cluster.

  • Outbound Communications to Devices from the Application/Unified nodes:

    Communication

    Protocol

    Port

    Cisco Unified Communications Manager (UCM)

    HTTPS

    TCP 8443

    Cisco Unity Connection (CUXN)

    HTTPS

    TCP 443

    Webex

    HTTPS

    TCP 443

    LDAP directory

    LDAP

    TCP/UDP 389 and/or 636(TLS/SSL)

    Cisco HCM-F

    HTTPS

    TCP 8443

  • VOSS Automate Communications

The cluster contains multiple nodes which can be contained in separate secured networks. Network ports need to be opened on firewalls and/or network security groups to allow inter-node communication – these are described in more detail in the Platform Guide.

All communication between nodes are encrypted.

Communication

Protocol

Port

Database access

Database

TCP 27020 and 27030 bi-directional

Cluster Communications

HTTPS

TCP 8443

Remote Administration

SSH

TCP 22

Web Server Communication

HTTP/HTTPS

TCP 80/443

Simple Network Management Protocol

SNMP

UDP 161 and 162

Network Time Protocol

NTP

UDP 123

Domain Name System

DNS

UDP 53

VOSS Automate Azure Deployment Procedure#

  1. The supplied terraform deployment configuration requires the following:

    • Existing resources

      • Resource group

      • Virtual Network

      • Virtual Network Subnet

      • Disk Encryption Set

        • Create an access policy for the “disk encryption set” granting get, wrap and unwrap key permissions on the key vault being used

    • App Registration with a role assignment of “Contributor” on the Resource Group to allow terraform to deploy

      • Record “client_id”

      • Record “client_secret”

    • Ensure that you run terraform from a VM or device with routing to the virtual network subnet

      • Install terraform version 1.3.2 or later

  2. Extract the terraform.zip contents

  3. Update values.yaml with appropriate information

  4. Deployment Type

    The defaults are configured as follows:

    Unified:
       Availibility Zone 1
       1x Unified Node
    
    Modular: 2x Application, 3x Database
       Availibility Zone 1
          App Node 1, Database Node 1
       Availibility Zone 2
          App Node 2, Database Node 2
       Availibility Zone 3
          Database Node 3
    

    If the requirement is to deploy more than the defaulted Unified or Application(Modular) Nodes, edit the terraform/modules/voss-deployment/main.tf file.

    module "voss-unified-node" {
       count = var.deployment_type == "Unified" ? 1 : 0
    }
    
    module "voss-app-node" {
       count = var.deployment_type == "Modular" ? 2 : 0
    }
    
  5. Configure the state backend in main.tf (defaults to a local file)

  6. Run terraform

    • From the root terraform directory

      • Run: terraform init

      • Run: terraform plan (Validate plan)

        • Default total resources to be created:

          Unified (1 Node):     Plan: 10 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
          Modular (2 App 3 DB): Plan: 39 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
          
      • Run: terraform apply

VOSS Automate Platform Config and Template Install Procedure#

  1. On each of the newly deployed node(s), log in as the platform user, using the password configured in values.yaml (voss_password)

    1.1. Run: system reboot. Alternatively you can reset the Virtual Machine from the Azure Portal. This is to ensure all services are running before proceeding with the cluster configuration.

  2. On a unified or application node, log in as the platform user:

    2.1. Run: cluster run all prepnode –force

    2.2. Obtain the IP address. Run: cluster run all network interfaces

    Example output:

    $ network interfaces
       interfaces:
        eth0:
           gateway: 10.0.0.1
           ip: 10.0.0.4
           netmask: 255.255.255.0
    

    2.3. Add the IP addresses obtained in the previous step to the cluster:

    cluster add <IP1>, cluster add <IP2>, …

    2.4. Add database weights to your database nodes ():

    For a single Unified node deployment, this step can be skipped.

    For a Modular deployment:

    Run: cluster run <Database Node IP> database weight add <IP1> <priority> …

    For a Unified deployment:

    database weight add <IP1> <priority>, database weight add <IP2> <priority>, …

    Weights of 30, 20, 10 are recommended for Modular database nodes
    Weights of 40, 30 are recommended for two Unified nodes
    Weights of 40, 30, 20, and 10 are recommended for four Unified nodes
    Weights of 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 are recommended for six Unified nodes
    

    The higher the value, the higher priority.

  3. For the remaining installations over ssh, it is recommended to use a screen session.

    screen - start a new session
    screen -ls - show sessions already available
    screen -r [screen PID] - reconnect to a disconnected session
    

    Determine which node is the primary application node.

    • Run the following command on an Application/Unified node to determine the PRIMARY NODE:

      • Command : cluster run application cluster primary role application

      • Search for node with is_primary: true

    On the primary application node

    4.1. Run cluster provision

    4.2. Run voss cleardown

    4.3. Install the templates.

    app template media/<template file name>.template