---
title: "Deploying vNIOS on Red Hat OpenShift"
canonical: "https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosopenshift/35980455/Deploying%20vNIOS%20on%20Red%20Hat%20OpenShift"
format: markdown
---
<span style="color: #000000">Before setting up a NIOS virtual appliance as a Grid member, you must deploy the virtual appliance in your Red Hat OpenShift environment. For information about Red Hat OpenShift, see the </span><span style="color: #000000">*[OpenShift Container Platform](https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/4.6/welcome/index.html)*</span><span style="color: #000000"> documentation.</span>

<span style="color: #000000">Information about deploying a vNIOS on Red Hat OpenShift instance and steps to deploy it are described in the following sections:</span>

> Macro (toc)

# <span style="color: #000000">Prerequisites</span>

<span style="color: #000000">Complete the following prerequisites before deploying vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift:</span>

- <span style="color: #000000">Set up additional interfaces on the bare metal worker node to enable bridged networking for virtual machines. </span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Set up </span><span style="color: #0000ff">*[bridges](https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/4.5/virt/node_network/virt-updating-node-network-config.html)*</span><span style="color: #000000"> and </span><span style="color: #0000ff">*[network attachment definitions](https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/4.5/networking/multiple_networks/configuring-macvlan.html)*</span><span style="color: #000000"> for MGMT and LAN1 interfaces on the Red Hat OpenShift server for a standalone deployment.</span> If you are configuring an HA configuration, set up another bridge and network attachment definition for the HA interface.
- <span style="color: #000000">Use the following versions of software:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">OpenShift Container Platform</span> 4.18.6 or 4.12.13
  - <span style="color: #000000">OpenShift Virtualization</span> 4.18.1 or 4.12.3

# <span style="color: #000000">Downloading the NIOS Virtual Image from the Infoblox Support Site</span>

<span style="color: #000000">You must download the qcow2 image file from the Infoblox Support site for the vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift virtual appliance model, and then proceed to deploy the image in the Red Hat OpenShift environment.</span>

To download the .qcow2 file for the **vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift** offering, complete the following steps:  
> Macro (excerpt-include)



> ⚠️ **Note**  
> ⚠️ <span style="color: #000000">When deploying the NIOS virtual image on Red Hat OpenShift, you must specify the URL of the location in which the qcow2 image is stored. Therefore, make sure that the image file is accessible through a URL.</span>

# Deploying the NIOS Virtual Image on Red Hat OpenShift

You can deploy a virtual machine instance by using a preconfigured YAML file or from the template option that is available in the Red Hat OpenShift web console UI.

> ⚠️ **Note**
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ To deploy instances in HA configuration, you must use only the YAML deployment method. An HA setup requires the LAN1 and HA interfaces to be in the same subnetwork, which is not supported in the OpenShift web console UI deployment.

## Deploy Using a YAML File

You can type or paste a preconfigured YAML file to deploy a virtual machine instance in the Red Hat OpenShift environment.

To deploy an instance for reporting that is supported from NIOS 9.0.6, you must add an additional storage disk of 250 GB.

To deploy a virtual machine, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the RedHat OpenShift Container Platform web console.
2. In the left navigation panel, click **Virtualization** -> **VirtualMachines**.
3. On the *VirtualMachines* page, click **Create** and choose **With YAML**.
4. Either type or paste the virtual machine configuration in the YAML editor. For information about the supported vNIOS appliances and their specifications, see *[vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift X6 series](https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosspec/1488683110/vNIOS+for+Red+Hat+OpenShift+X6+series)* and *[vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift X5 Series](https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosspec/1488715914/vNIOS+for+Red+Hat+OpenShift+X5+Series)*..   
You may copy the content from the *[sample YAML file](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/vniosopenshift/pages/277513154)**,* and then customize the settings described in the *Key parameters to configure a virtual machine* table.
5. Click **Create**.  
Wait for the status to show as Running before accessing the virtual machine.
6. From the **Console** tab, you can access the virtual machine using virtual network computing (VNC) or the serial console.

*Key parameters to configure a virtual machine*

| **Parameter** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| `name` | Specify a name for the virtual machine. |
| `storage` | Allocate the disk space as follows:<br>- 500 GiB for a Trinzic X6 or X5 series appliance
- 250 GiB for a Trinzic X5 series appliance running on a version of NIOS that is prior to 9.0.1
- An additional storage of 250 GiB for a reporting appliance. |
| `storageClassName` | Specify a custom name for the storage class. |
| `url` | Specify the URL of the location that has the vNIOS qcow2 image that you downloaded. |
| `cores` | Specify the CPU cores depending on the vNIOS appliance that you will use. |
| `disks` | Add a root disk. If you plan to use cloudinit, add a second disk for cloudinit. |
| `interfaces` | Add two network interfaces for a standalone deployment.  
Add three network interfaces for an HA configuration. |
| `memory` | Specify the memory (in GB) that must be allocated to the virtual machine depending on the vNIOS appliance that you will use. |
| `networks` | Define two network attachment definitions for a standalone deployment.  
Define three network attachment definitions For an HA configuration. |
| `userData` | Add cloudinit data. |

## Deploy from the Template (OpenShift Web Console UI)

To deploy a virtual machine instance using the **From template** option, you must clone and modify one of the preconfigured Red Hat virtual machine templates available in the OpenShift web console to suit your requirement.

## Cloning the Template

Only limited settings can be modified in a preconfigured template. To customize a preconfigured template for deploying the vNIOS instances, you must clone it. The cloned template can be customized and reused each time you deploy a virtual machine. Note that cloning a template is a one-time activity.

To clone the template, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the RedHat OpenShift Container Platform web console.
2. In the left navigation panel, click **Virtualization** -> **Templates**.
3. In the **Project** drop-down list, choose **All Projects**.  
List of templates of all projects is displayed.
4. Search for **fedora-desktop-large**.
5. Click the three dots menu on the template and select **Clone**.
6. In the *Clone template* dialog box:
  1. **Template name**: Specify a name for the template.
  2. **Template project**: Specify the project in which you want the template cloned.
  3. **Template display name**: Specify a display name for this template.
  4. **Template provider**: Specify a name for the provider.
  5. Click **Clone**.  
The cloned template is displayed.

## Deploying the Virtual Machine

To deploy a virtual machine from the UI using the **From template** option, complete the following steps:

1. In the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform web console, click **Virtualization** -> **VirtualMachines** in the left navigation panel.
2. In the *VirtualMachines* section, click **Create** and choose **From template** from the drop-down list.
3. On the *Create new VirtualMachine *page > **Template catalog** tab > click **User templates**.
4. In the displayed list of templates, click the template that you cloned to open it and complete the following in the *Storage* section:
  1. **Disk source**: Choose **URL (creates PVC)** from the drop-down list.
  2. **Image URL**: Enter the URL of the location where you downloaded the vNIOS qcow2 image.
  3. **Disk size** (GiB): Specify **500**.  
If the appliance is a Trinzic X5 model running on a version of NIOS that is prior to 9.0.1, specify **250**.
  4. Click the **Customize VirtualMachine** button.
5. On the *Customize and create VirtualMachine *page > **Overview** tab, complete the following:
  1. **Name**: Click the **Edit** (pencil) icon.
    1. In the *Edit name* dialog box, specify a name for the virtual machine.
    2. Click **Save**.
  2. **CPU|Memory**: Click the **Edit** (pencil) icon and complete the following:
    1. In the *Edit CPU|Memory* dialog box, according to the vNIOS appliance, specify the CPU cores and memory that you want to allocate to the virtual machine.  
Example: For an IB-V2326 appliance, specify **20** for **vCPUs** and **192** GiB for **Memory**.  
For more information on supported models, see *[vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift X6 series](https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosspec/1488683110/vNIOS+for+Red+Hat+OpenShift+X6+series)* and *[vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift X5 Series](https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosspec/1488715914/vNIOS+for+Red+Hat+OpenShift+X5+Series)*..
    2. Click **Save**.
  3. **Boot mode**: Click the Edit icon.
    1. In the *Boot mode* dialog box, choose **BIOS** as the **Boot mode**.  
This setting is required for NIOS to boot.
    2. Click **Save**.
6. On the *Customize and create VirtualMachine *page > **Network interfaces** tab, create interfaces for MGMT and LAN1 as follows:  
Note:  
When deploying an instance using the UI method, you must attach the MGMT and LAN1 interfaces to different networks as OpenShift does not allow attaching the interfaces to the same network. If you want to deploy HA that requires LAN1 and HA interfaces to be on the same subnetwork, use the YAML method to deploy the instances.
  1. Remove the default interface added for pod networking. To remove:
    1. Click the three dots menu and choose **Delete**.
    2. When prompted for confirmation, click **Delete**.
  2. Click the **Add network interface** button and complete the following:
    1. **Name**: Specify a name for the network interface.
    2. **Model**: Retain **virtio**.
    3. **Network**: Choose a network attachment definition from the drop-down list.
    4. Click **Save**.
  3. Repeat Step 6b to add another network interface.
7. On the *Customize and create VirtualMachine *page > **Scripts** tab, define the user data settings as follows:
  1. Click the **Edit** text next to Cloud-init.
  2. In the *Cloud-init* dialog box, select **Script**.
  3. Copy the user data script.
  4. Click **Save**, and then **Apply**.  
For information about cloud-init settings supported on vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift, see *[cloud-init Configuration in vNIOS for Red Hat OpenShift](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/vniosopenshift/pages/1929445386)*.
8. Click the **Create VirtualMachine** button.
  - Wait for the status to show as **Running**. The VM is added to the **Virtualization** -> **Virtual Machines** tab.
  - From the **Console** tab, you can access the virtual machine using virtual network computing (VNC) or the serial console.