Setting Up NCM Self-Service (CALM) in Nutanix – Support Guides

Learn how to set up NCM Self-Service (Calm) on your Prism Central.

NCM Self-Service (CALM) is a heterogeneous orchestration solution that allows the automation and management of deployments. It runs on Prism Central and allows the administration of various environments (Nutanix Cluster, bare metal server, etc...).

NOTE: This tutorial will show you how to use one or more OVHcloud solutions with external tools, and will describe the actions to be carried out in a specific context. You may need to adapt the instructions according to your situation.

Requirements

a Nutanix cluster in your OVHcloud account
access to the OVHcloud Control Panel
you must be connected to the cluster via Prism Central
have Self-Service (CALM) licenses (available through the Nutanix on OVHcloud packaged service with limitations for the Starter Pack)
An additional VLAN in your cluster that distributes IPAM IP addresses and has internet access

Instructions

We will enable CALM, create two applications for our Nutanix cluster, and publish them on the application portals which are:

An Nginx Web server with Linux Ubuntu.
An IIS Web server on a Windows server.

Activating CALM

Before deploying CALM, you must configure an IP address for the ISCSI Data Services IP.

From the Prism Central dashboard, click on your Cluster in the Cluster Quick Access section.

In the Prism Element, click on the cluster settings in the top left-hand corner.

Verify the IP Address in the ISCSI Data Services IP field and click Save.

Go back to Prism Central, go to the main menu on the left, and click on Calm in the Services section.

Click Enable App. Orchestration(Calm).

Select the Enable App Management check box and click Save.

CALM is being activated.

NOTE: An error message appears during CALM deployment. Ignore it, exit the window. and wait until the installation is complete.

Creating a project

You need to create a project to deploy applications.

From the Prism Central menu, click on Calm in the Services section.

Click the Projects icon in the vertical menu bar.

Click the + Create Project button.

Type the project name in Project Name field and click Create.

Click + Add infrastructure.

Click Add infrastructure.

Select NTNX_LOCAL_AZ from accounts.

Click Configure Resources.

Select your Cluster from Select clusters to be added to this project and click + Select VLANs.

Check the production VLAN box and click Confirm and Select Default.

Click Confirm.

Click Save.

In the tab bar go to Environments and click Create Environment.

Type a Name in the Name field and click Next.

Click Select Infrastructure.

Click NTNX_LOCAL_AZ.

Click Required for launching blueprints from marketplace to the right of VM Configuration.

Enter this information:

Cluster: choose your cluster
vCPUs: 4
Core per vCPU: 1
Memory (GiB): 4
Image: WS2022EN-SYSPREPED

NOTE: The image is generated from a VM WINDOWS Server 2022 on which a sysprep was applied to reset the default configuration. When used with CALM, it is possible to automate the installation of a Windows OS from this type of image and apply settings stored in an XML file to it.

Then scroll down the window.

Click the + button to the right of NETWORK ADAPTERS (NICs).

Choose the network adapter in the production VLAN, check the Check log-in upon create box and scroll up in the window.

Go to the Linux tab, and enter this information:

Cluster: choose your cluster
vCPUs: 4
Core per vCPU: 1
Memory (GiB): 4
Image: jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img

NOTE: The image is pre-configured for UBUNTU Cloud-init use and can be downloaded from the Internet at Ubuntu Cloud Images. CALM allows the automation and customization of a Linux installation through these types of images and YAML configuration files.

Then scroll down the window.

Click the + button to the right of NETWORK ADAPTERS (NICs).

Choose the network adapter in the production VLAN, check the Check log-in upon create box and click Next.

Click + Add Credential.

Enter this information:

Name: WindowsAccount
Username: administrator
Password: administrator account password

Then, click + Add Credential.

Enter this information:

Name: LinuxAccount
Username: administrator
Password: administrator account password

Then click Save Environment.

Click Marketplace Usage.

Click Update.

Click Next.

Click Not ready for marketplace usage to the right of VM Configuration.

Scroll down the window.

Choose WindowsAccount from Credential and scroll up the window.

Click the Linux tab in Credential and scroll down the window.

Choose LinuxAccount from Credential and click Next.

Click Save Environment.

Your environment is ready for application creation and distribution.

Creating applications

We will create two applications, test how they work, and publish them to the cluster marketplace.

Creating IIS Web Application on Windows

Look at the vertical bar on the left edge of the screen.

Choose Blueprints.
Open the Create Blueprint menu.
Click on Multi VM/Pod Blueprint.

calm46*.png

Choose the name of your blueprint from Name and click on Proceed.

Type the name in Application Profile Name and click on Credentials at the top.

We will create the Windows account. It will be used inside sysprep as variable, in the configuration of the blueprint installation tasks and for the remote connection test.

Click on the + button next to Credentials.

Enter this information:

Name: WindowsAccount
Username: administrator
Password: Administrator account password

And click on Done.

Click Back.

Click the + button in the left window next to Service.

Enter this information:

Name: VM IIS
Operation System: Windows

And click on Clone from environment.

Scroll down the window on the right and check the Guest Customization box. Next, click Sysprep.

Copy the contents of the sysprep file below to Script:

NOTE: This file is generated from the Windows ADK tools downloadable via this link and has been adapted by adding variables from Nutanix CALM such as '@@{WindowsAccount.secret}@@' that represents the password of the WindowsAccount.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
                <WillShowUI>Never</WillShowUI>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>0409:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserData>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
                <FullName>Nutanix Doc</FullName>
                <Organization>Nutanix Doc</Organization>
            </UserData>
            <EnableFirewall>true</EnableFirewall>
            <EnableNetwork>true</EnableNetwork>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <TimeZone>Central Standard Time</TimeZone>
            <AutoLogon>
                <Password>
                    <Value>@@{WindowsAccount.secret}@@</Value>
                    <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                </Password>
                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                <Username>administrator</Username>
                <LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
            </AutoLogon>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserAccounts>
                <AdministratorPassword>
                    <Value>@@{WindowsAccount.secret}@@</Value>
                    <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                </AdministratorPassword>
            </UserAccounts>
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
            </OOBE>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>powershell Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                </SynchronousCommand>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>powershell Set-WSManQuickConfig -Force</CommandLine>
                    <Order>2</Order>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="wow64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <InputLocale>0409:00000409</InputLocale>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:c:/w2022/sources/install.wim#Windows Server 2022 SERVERSTANDARD" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

Continue to scroll through the window. Check the Check log-in upon create box and choose WindowsAccount from Credential.

We will now create tasks in Powershell that will run after Windows installation and customization. Each of these tasks runs in sequence.

In the left-hand window, go to Install below the Package category and click on + Task.

Enter this information:

Task Name: IIS Installation
Type: Execute
Script Type: Powershell
Credential: WindowsAccount

Copy this content to Script:

Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

if ($?) {
exit 0
}

Click + Task.

Fill in this information:

Task Name: Customize IIS Type: Execute Script Type: Powershell Credential: WindowsAccount

Copy this content to Script:

echo "<!DOCTYPE html>" | out-file "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<html>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<head>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<title>IIS on Windows AHV VM</title>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "</head>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<body>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value ""
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<h1>IIS on Windows AHV VM</h1>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "<p>Deployed with CALM</p>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value ""
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "</body>"
Add-Content -Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\default.htm -Value "</html>"

Then click + Task.

Enter this information:

Task Name: reboot VM Type: Execute Script Type: Powershell Credential: WindowsAccount

Copy this content to Script:

restart-computer -force

Click Save at the top of the window.

The application is created; click Launch to test your application.

Type a Name in Application Name and click Deploy.

A new window will appear, click on Audit to see the steps for deploying your application. When the deployment is complete you can see at the top of the window the RUNNING indication that the application is deployed and active.

In our case, the IIS server is active and displays a message on the IP address of the virtual machine in HTTP.

Creating the Nginx web application on Linux Ubuntu

We will create another application under Linux Ubuntu with Nginx installed as a WEB server.

Go to the Blueprints icon in the CALM vertical menu bar, and click on Multi VM/Pod Blueprint from the Create Blueprint menu.

calm46*.png

Type the Name in Name and click Proceed.

Click Credentials.

Click Credentials +.

Enter this information for the Linux administration account:

Name: LinuxAccount
Username: administrator
Password: Administrator account password

Then click Done.

Click on Credentials +.

Enter this information about the Prism Central administration account:

Name: PC_ADMIN
Username: admin
Password: Prism Central Password

NOTE: This password is used if you use EScript (Python Scripts) in your deployment tasks, it will be used when using the Prism Central API. In this example, you will find an EScript that will resize the Ubuntu NGINX virtual machine storage.

Then click Done.

Click Back.

Type Linux Application in Application Profile Name and click + in the upper-right corner of the Service window.

Enter this information:

Service Name: Ubuntu
VM Name: Ubuntu NGINX

Then click on Clone from environment and scroll down the window on the right.

Check Guest Customization and copy the content below into the Script box.

#cloud-config
users:
- name: @@{LinuxAccount.username}@@
  groups: sudo
  sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
  shell: /bin/bash
  lock-passwd: false
chpasswd:
 list: |
   @@{LinuxAccount.username}@@:@@{LinuxAccount.secret}@@
 expire: False
ssh_pwauth: true

NOTE: This file is the Linux initialization file with cloud-init images, it uses the information from the LinuxAccount account that comes from CALM through macro-instructions that have this form: @@{LinuxAccount.username}@@ for the user account and @@{LinuxAccount.secret}@@ for the password.

Scroll down the window on the right.

Choose LinuxAccount from Check log-in upon create.

In the left window, go to Install below Package and click on + Task.

Enter the information for your virtual machine's disk resize task.

Task Name: Disk resize
Type: Execute
Script Type: EScript

Then copy the content below into the Script box.

NOTE: This script uses the passwords that come from CALM through variables that have this form: @@{PC_ADMIN.username}@@ for the user account and @@{PC_ADMIN.secret}@@ for the password.

>vmUuid = '@@{id}@@'
diskSize = 50 # GB
pcAddress = '127.0.0.1'
pcUsername = '@@{PC_ADMIN.username}@@'
pcPassword = '@@{PC_ADMIN.secret}@@'

# ============== DO NO CHANGE AFTER THIS ===============

usrPass = '{}:{}'.format(pcUsername,pcPassword)
b64Pass = base64.b64encode(usrPass)

# Get VM
api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/vms/{}'.format(pcAddress,vmUuid)
headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Accept': 'application/json', 'Authorization': 'Basic {}'.format(b64Pass)}

r = urlreq(api_url, verb='GET', headers=headers, verify=False)
if r.ok:
    resp = json.loads(r.content)

else:
    print("Post request failed", r.content)
    exit(1)

# Power off VM and extend disk
del resp['status']

disk_size_mib = diskSize * 1024
disk_size_bytes = disk_size_mib * 1024**2

resp['spec']['resources']['disk_list'][0]['disk_size_mib'] = disk_size_mib
resp['spec']['resources']['disk_list'][0]['disk_size_bytes'] = disk_size_bytes
resp['spec']['resources']['power_state'] = 'OFF'

payload = resp

r = urlreq(api_url, verb='PUT', params=json.dumps(payload), headers=headers, verify=False)
if r.ok:
    resp = json.loads(r.content)
    taskUuid = resp['status']['execution_context']['task_uuid']

else:
    print("Post request failed", r.content)
    exit(1)


# Monitor task
state = ""
while state != "SUCCEEDED":
    api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/tasks/{}'.format(pcAddress,taskUuid)

    sleep(2)
    r = urlreq(api_url, verb='GET', headers=headers, verify=False)
    if r.ok:
        resp = json.loads(r.content)
        state = resp['status']
        if state == "FAILED":
            print("Task failed", resp['progress_message'])
            exit(1)

    else:
        print("Post request failed", r.content)
        exit(1)

# Wait for VM to power off
api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/vms/{}'.format(pcAddress,vmUuid)
r = urlreq(api_url, verb='GET', headers=headers, verify=False)
if r.ok:
    resp = json.loads(r.content)
    power_state = resp['status']['resources']['power_state']

else:
    print("Post request failed", r.content)
    exit(1)

state = ""
while state != "OFF":
    api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/vms/{}'.format(pcAddress,vmUuid)

    sleep(2)
    r = urlreq(api_url, verb='GET', headers=headers, verify=False)
    if r.ok:
        resp = json.loads(r.content)
        state = resp['status']['resources']['power_state']
        if state == "FAILED":
            print("Task failed", resp['progress_message'])
            exit(1)

    else:
        print("Post request failed", r.content)
        exit(1)

# Power on VM
del resp['status']

resp['spec']['resources']['power_state'] = 'ON'

api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/vms/{}'.format(pcAddress,vmUuid)
payload = resp

r = urlreq(api_url, verb='PUT', params=json.dumps(payload), headers=headers, verify=False)
if r.ok:
    resp = json.loads(r.content)
    taskUuid = resp['status']['execution_context']['task_uuid']

else:
    print("Post request failed", r.content)
    exit(1)

# Monitor task
state = ""
while state != "SUCCEEDED":
    api_url = 'https://{}:9440/api/nutanix/v3/tasks/{}'.format(pcAddress,taskUuid)

    sleep(2)
    r = urlreq(api_url, verb='GET', headers=headers, verify=False)
    if r.ok:
        resp = json.loads(r.content)
        state = resp['status']
        if state == "FAILED":
            print("Task failed", resp['progress_message'])
            exit(1)

    else:
        print("Post request failed", r.content)
        exit(1)

print("OS disk extended to {} GB".format(diskSize))

# Wait until VM boots
sleep(60)

Click + Task.

Enter this information about the Linux service verification task:

Task Name: Service restart
Type: Execute
Script Type: Shell
Credential: LinuxAccount

Then copy the content below to Script:

sudo sed 's/#$nrconf{restart} = '"'"'i'"'"';/$nrconf{restart} = '"'"'a'"'"';/g' /etc/needrestart/needrestart.conf

Click + Task to add a new task in sequence.

Enter this information about the UBUNTU update task:

Task Name: Service restart
Type: Execute
Script Type: Shell
Credential: LinuxAccount

Then copy the content below to Script:

sudo apt update
sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt upgrade -y

And click + Task to add a new task in sequence.

Enter this information about the NGINX and CURL installation task:

Task Name: Service restart
Type: Execute
Script Type: Shell
Credential: LinuxAccount

Then copy the content below to Script:

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt install nginx curl -y

Click + Task to add a new task in sequence.

Enter this information about the last NGINX customization task:

Task Name: Service restart
Type: Execute
Script Type: Shell
Credential: LinuxAccount

Then copy the content below to Script:

sudo ls -l /var/www/html/
sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo touch /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo chown $USER:$USER /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo ls -l /var/www/html/
sudo echo '<!DOCTYPE html>' > /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<html>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<head>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<title>NGINX on Linux AHV VM</title>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '</head>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<body>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<h1>Nginx on Linux AHV VM</h1>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '<p>Deployed with CALM</p>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '</body>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo echo '</html>' >> /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html
sudo cat /var/www/html/index.nginx-debian.html

Click + Save to finish creating your blueprint.

Click Launch to test your blueprint.

Type the name of your test deployment in Application Name and click Deploy.

Deployment begins.

Click Audit to view your deployment progress.

Once the deployment is complete, you can access the IP address of your NGINX VM via HTTP to view the welcome message.

Publishing applications

Go to the Blueprints icon in the CALM vertical bar on the left and click on the WS 2022 IIS map.

Click Publish.

Apply these values:

Name: WS 2022 IIS
Publish with secrets: enabled
Initial Version: 1.0.0

Then click on Change on the left.

Click Upload from computer.

Choose the image on your computer and click Open.

Name your Icon IIS and click on the blue validation button.

Click Select & continue.

Click Submit for approval.

The Windows application is in the marketplace awaiting approval.

Click the UBUNTU 22 NGINX blueprint.

Click Publish.

Apply these values:

Name: UBUNTU 22 NGINX
Publish with secrets: enabled
Initial Version: 1.0.0

Then click Change on the left.

Click Upload from computer.

Choose the image on your computer and click Open.

Name your icon NGINX and click the blue validation button.

Select your icon and click Select & continue.

Click Submit for approval.

The Linux application is in the marketplace awaiting approval.

Adding applications published on the CALM portal

First:

Click on the Marketplace Manager icon.
Go to the Approval Pending tab.
Check the UBUNTU 22 NGINX application.
Click the validation icon on the right.

calm103*.png

Check the WS 2022 IIS application and click the validation icon on the right.

Go to the Approved tab.
Click on the Source column to display the local applications first.
Check WS 2022 IIS.
Select NCM Self Service Project 01 at the bottom right.
Click Apply.

calm105*.png

Click Publish.

The Windows application is published.

Check Ubuntu 22 NGINX, select NCM Self Service Project 01 on the right, and click Apply.

Click Publish.

The Ubuntu application is published.

Click the Marketplace icon at the top of the vertical menu bar on the left and click Get below the UBUNTU 22 NGINX application.

Click Launch.

Type a Name in Application Name and click Deploy to deploy an application.

Deleting a deployed application

Deleting a deployed application is as simple as deploying it.

Click on the Blueprints icons on the left and check a deployed application.

From the Action menu, click Delete.

Click Confirm.

You can view the progress of a deletion as you would for a deployment.

The application is completely deleted.

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Nutanix support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.

Requirements

Instructions

Activating CALM

Creating a project

Creating applications

Creating IIS Web Application on Windows

Creating the Nginx web application on Linux Ubuntu

Publishing applications

Adding applications published on the CALM portal

Deleting a deployed application

Go further

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