Veritas Flex Appliance Initial Configuration Guide

 Setting up the Veritas Flex Appliance for the first time is a crucial step to ensuring smooth and secure operations. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the initial configuration process, including connecting to the network, setting up system credentials, configuring network interfaces, and accessing the Flex Console.

Whether you're a systems engineer deploying this solution in an enterprise environment or a data protection administrator preparing infrastructure for scalable workloads, this article is tailored to help you get started right.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Physically Connect the Appliance to Your Network

Begin by connecting the necessary ports on your Veritas Flex Appliance for initial configuration:

• The remote management (IPMI) port: Used to connect to the Veritas Remote Management Interface.
• Host0 port: Used to connect to the Flex Appliance Console.
• Application ports: Used for the application instances.

For detailed cabling diagrams and port layouts, refer to the article Veritas Flex Appliance Interfaces and Cabling Guide.

Step 2: Prepare Required Network Details

Before beginning the software configuration, collect the following networking parameters:

• IP address for the Flex Appliance Console
• Hostname for the Flex Appliance Console
• Default gateway
• DNS Server IP address (optional but recommended)
• DNS Domain

Warning: Avoid using the following reserved IP ranges as they are internally allocated by the appliance:
192.168.227.0/24
192.168.228.0/24
192.168.229.0/24
192.168.230.0/24{alertWarning}

DNS Tip: Make sure that forward and reverse DNS lookups are configured properly in your environment. If a forward or a reverse DNS lookup returns multiple records, the initial configuration may fail.{alertInfo}

Step 3: Launch the Veritas Remote Management Interface

1. Open a web browser and navigate to the IP assigned to the IPMI port (default: 192.168.0.10).
2. Log in using the default credentials:
   
   • Username: sysadmin
   • Password: P@ssw0rd
3. Update the password immediately for security:
   
   • Go to Configuration > Users
   • Select the sysadmin user
   • Click Modify User, check Change Password, and apply a new strong password
4. Navigate to Remote Control > iKVM over HTML5 and click Launch Console over HTML5.

Step 4: Log into the Flex Appliance Shell

Once inside the remote console, use the following default credentials:

• Username: hostadmin
• Password: P@ssw0rd

Step 5: Change the password for the hostadmin user

Change the default password to a secure one by running the following command:

set user password{codeBox}

This is a necessary security step before proceeding with any system configurations.

Step 6: Configure the Host Network

1. Enter the following command to configure the host network:
   

   setup configure-network{codeBox}

2. Follow the prompts to enter the host network information as the following example:
   

   WARNING: this command may cause a brief interruption in connectivity if you run it from a remote console.
   If you are disconnected, you may need to reconnect and run this command again.
   >> Do you want to continue? (yes/no): yes
   >> Node IP address in CIDR notation: 10.10.10.200/24
   >> Node Hostname: flex01
   >> Default gateway: 10.10.10.254
   >> DNS server IP address (optional): 10.10.10.10
   >> DNS domain: domain.local
   >> Search domain (optional):{codeBox}

3. Wait until the operation completes successfully.

Step 7: Set the Flex Appliance date and time

1. Check the appliance current date using the following command:
   

   date{codeBox}

2. If the current date is not correct, set the correct date using the following command:
   

   set date{codeBox}

Accurate system time is critical for logs, synchronization, and future console operations.

Step 8: Set Up the Flex Appliance Console

1. Enter the following command to configure the Flex Appliance Console:
   

   setup configure-console{codeBox}

2. Follow the prompts as the following example:
   

   Warning: if you have run the 'set date' command on this node, make sure that the date and time are set correctly. If they are set incorrectly, errors can occur with configuration and other operations. You can check the current setting with the 'show date' command.
   If many fiber channel devices are connected to this appliance, Veritas recommends that you login from the Veritas Remote Management interface to run the 'setup configure-console' command.
   >> Do you want to continue? (yes/no): yes
   When Call Home is enabled and a hardware event occurs, the appliance reports the error, and Veritas AutoSupport creates a support case.
   >> Do you want to disable Call Home? (yes/no) [no]: yes{codeBox}

3. Wait until the operation completes successfully.

For single-node appliance as in our case, the initial configuration process is now complete.

Step 9: Test Flex Appliance Console Access

From your local machine, open a web browser and enter the IP address or FQDN you assigned to the Console. Ensure that the Flex Console UI is accessible and responsive.

What's Next?

Now that your Veritas Flex Appliance is set up, you’re ready to start managing application instances and system resources. For advanced console usage and administration, refer to our upcoming post:

👉 [Veritas Flex Appliance Console Administration Guide]