Prepare Compute Resources

Compute resources are used to provide hardware resources for virtual servers, ensuring highly efficient use of available hardware, and complete isolation of virtual server processes. Each virtual server in the cloud is hosted by a specific physical сompute resource server, from which it receives CPU time, RAM, and storage capacity from the data stores attached to that сompute resource.

All compute resources should have one NIC connected to the isolated management network, which is set to PXE boot. Please note the MAC of that NIC for each compute resource as you will need it later in the process.

To prepare CloudBoot Compute Resources, follow the next steps:

  1. Go to Settings > Compute Resources and then click on the CloudBoot IPs tab.

  2. Сlick the New IP Net button to add a new IP Net that will be served by the DHCP service on the OnApp Control Panel. This is the IP range that your compute resources will be provided when booting.


  3. Fill in the fields as per your Management Network (i.e., if your Management network for the OnApp Control Panel is 192.168.0.1, then the network you add will be 192.168.0.0 and the CIDR of your choice (i.e., 24).


  4. Click the Create IP Address button and using the IP Addresses multiple selection field, add all of the IP addresses that will be required for your Compute/Backup resources.


  5. Power on all Compute Nodes in the system.

    • It is recommended that at least one CloudBoot backup server is provisioned when adding CloudBoot resources. If you do not wish to use a backup server, please get in touch as the additional custom configuration will need to be done.
    • When selecting the CloudBoot resource type, it is recommended to choose KVM (CentOS 7) for the best compatibility.


Add Compute Resource


  1. Go to Settings > Compute Resources. Click the Add New CloudBoot Compute Resource button.


  2. Select KVM (CentOS 7) as the CloudBoot resource type.


  3. Select the MAC address of your Compute Resource node and click Next. OnApp will query the hardware at this point, so it may take a few minutes to complete.


  4. Add the label as Node X (where X is enumeration of your compute nodes), or as per your own identification.


  5. It is strongly recommended to check Show Advanced Settings and set MTU to 9000. Please note that your switching infrastructure will need to support jumbo frames. If you do not have jumbo frames support, please leave this at 1500.

  6. OnApp will now configure the Compute Resource and reboot a few times. Once the Compute Resource is online, you can configure the disks inside the node, and the storage network.

  7. OnApp will provide a list of disks inside your Compute Resource. Select Assign to Storage for any disk that you wish to be used for virtual machine storage and managed by OnApp’s software defined storage. If you have any NVMe disks inside your Compute Resource, these should be used as caching disks, so select Assigned to Cache.

  8. Select the MAC address of the correct interface to be used for the storage network and click Assigned to SAN. Click the Next button.

  9. OnApp will perform the final configuration and reboot once more. You will then receive a message ‘‘Compute Resource is successfully configured and ready for operation‘‘. You can now click the Complete button.