Parallels Virtual Automation - 6.1 Administrator’s Guide

Parallels Virtual Automation
6.1
Administrator's Guide
April 08, 2014
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 12
About Parallels Virtual Automation ................................................................................. 12
About This Guide .......................................................................................................... 14
Organization of This Guide .................................................................................................... 14
Documentation Conventions ................................................................................................. 15
Getting Help .................................................................................................................. 16
Feedback ...................................................................................................................... 16
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation ................................................. 17
Logging In ..................................................................................................................... 17
Parallels Virtual Automation Interface Overview ............................................................... 18
Extending Standard Browser Functionality ..................................................................... 19
Using Drag-And-Drop ............................................................................................................ 19
Using Context Menu .............................................................................................................. 20
Customizing User Profile ............................................................................................... 21
Defining Interface Settings ..................................................................................................... 21
Defining Personal Settings ..................................................................................................... 22
Organizing Logical Structure .......................................................................................... 23
Adding New Folder ................................................................................................................ 24
Editing Folder Properties ....................................................................................................... 25
Moving Folder ........................................................................................................................ 25
Moving Physical Servers to Another Folder ............................................................................ 25
Adding Physical Servers to Folders ....................................................................................... 26
Adding Virtual Environments to Folder ................................................................................... 26
Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure .......................................... 27
Viewing Summary Information ....................................................................................... 27
Viewing Physical Servers Information ............................................................................. 29
Viewing Virtual Environments Information ....................................................................... 31
Viewing Resource Consumption .................................................................................... 32
Viewing Infrastructure Logs ........................................................................................... 33
Viewing Infrastructure Task Logs ........................................................................................... 33
Contents
Viewing Infrastructure Alert Logs ........................................................................................... 34
Viewing Infrastructure Event Logs .......................................................................................... 35
Managing Physical Servers ..................................................................................... 37
Backing Up and Restoring the Master Server ................................................................. 37
Registering Physical Server in Parallels Virtual Automation .............................................. 38
Managing Disk Images .................................................................................................. 39
Configuring Disk Image Parameters ....................................................................................... 40
Rebooting Physical Server ............................................................................................. 41
Physical Server Dashboard Overview ............................................................................. 41
Managing Physical Server General Settings ................................................................... 44
Monitoring Physical Server Resources Consumption ...................................................... 45
Viewing Resource Consumers ....................................................................................... 45
Logging into Physical Server .......................................................................................... 46
Accessing Physical Servers via SSH ...................................................................................... 46
Accessing Physical Servers via RDP ...................................................................................... 47
Viewing Physical Server Logs ........................................................................................ 48
Viewing Physical Server Task Logs ........................................................................................ 48
Viewing Physical Server Alert Logs ........................................................................................ 48
Viewing Physical Server Event Logs ...................................................................................... 49
Managing Physical Servers Running Parallels Server Technology .................................... 49
Configuring Parallels Server Settings ..................................................................................... 49
Managing Templates on a Physical Server ............................................................................ 50
Managing Offline Services Configuration ........................................................................ 50
Creating Offline Service ......................................................................................................... 52
Editing Offline Service ............................................................................................................ 52
Managing Physical Servers Running Parallels Containers Technology ............................. 52
Configuring Virtuozzo Physical Server Settings ...................................................................... 52
Managing Virtual Environments .............................................................................. 54
Starting to Create Virtual Environments .......................................................................... 55
Starting, Stopping, Pausing and Restarting Virtual Environments .................................... 56
Suspending and Resuming Virtual Environments ............................................................ 57
Changing Virtual Environment Root/Administrator Password .......................................... 58
Setting Power Panel Access for Customers ................................................................... 58
Managing Containers .................................................................................................... 59
Contents
Container Dashboard Overview ............................................................................................. 59
Creating Containers ............................................................................................................... 63
Logging In to Containers ....................................................................................................... 69
Managing Virtual Environment Files and Folders .................................................................... 70
Managing and Monitoring Container Resources .................................................................... 73
Viewing Container Logs ......................................................................................................... 83
Adjusting Container Template Resource Parameters for Multiple Containers ......................... 83
Managing Container Services and Processes ........................................................................ 84
Managing Container Applications .......................................................................................... 90
Cloning Containers ................................................................................................................ 94
Migrating and Converting Containers..................................................................................... 96
Reinstalling Containers ........................................................................................................ 103
Repairing Containers ........................................................................................................... 104
Mounting External Volumes Inside Containers ..................................................................... 105
Adjusting Container Configuration and Advanced Settings .................................................. 107
Installing Plesk ..................................................................................................................... 110
Working with Plesk Control Panel ........................................................................................ 110
Logging In to Confixx Control Panel .................................................................................... 111
Managing Container Templates ........................................................................................... 111
Managing Virtual Machines .......................................................................................... 119
Virtual Machine Dashboard Overview .................................................................................. 119
Creating Virtual Machines .................................................................................................... 120
Registering Virtual Machines ................................................................................................ 122
Changing Virtual Machine Root/Administrator Password ..................................................... 123
Unregistering Virtual Machines ............................................................................................. 123
Installing Parallels Tools in Virtual Machines ......................................................................... 123
Connecting to Virtual Machines via VNC .............................................................................. 129
Monitoring Virtual Machine Resources Consumption ........................................................... 130
Monitoring Virtual Machine Traffic Usage ............................................................................. 130
Changing Virtual Machine Configuration .............................................................................. 131
Reinstalling Virtual Machines ................................................................................................ 142
Cloning Virtual Machines ..................................................................................................... 143
Migrating Virtual Machines ................................................................................................... 144
Migrating Physical Servers to Virtual Machines .................................................................... 145
Managing Virtual Machine Templates .................................................................................. 145
Contents
Viewing Virtual Machine Logs .............................................................................................. 148
Deleting Virtual Environments ...................................................................................... 148
Managing Virtual Environment Backups .............................................................. 150
Defining Global Backup Settings .................................................................................. 151
Managing Backups on Infrastructure Level ................................................................... 152
Managing Backups on Physical Server Level ................................................................ 153
Defining per-Physical Server Backup Settings ..................................................................... 153
Creating Virtual Environment Backups ................................................................................. 154
Managing Backups on Virtual Environment Level ......................................................... 156
Creating Virtual Environment Backup .................................................................................. 158
Backup Details .................................................................................................................... 158
Browsing Backup Contents ................................................................................................. 159
Renewing Container Backup ............................................................................................... 159
Managing Resource Library Tools ........................................................................ 160
Viewing the Resource Library Dashboard ..................................................................... 160
Managing File Shares .................................................................................................. 161
Registering File Share .......................................................................................................... 162
Viewing File Share Details .................................................................................................... 162
Configuring File Share Parameters ....................................................................................... 163
Managing Templates Storage ...................................................................................... 163
Setting Up an External Templates Storage .......................................................................... 164
Creating Template: Initial Configuration ............................................................................... 165
Managing Product Licenses ................................................................................. 166
Entering License Key ................................................................................................... 167
Uploading License File on Physical Server .................................................................... 167
Installing License Key .................................................................................................. 168
Reviewing Installed Licenses........................................................................................ 169
Transferring Licenses .................................................................................................. 171
License Statuses ......................................................................................................... 171
Managing Parallels Virtual Automation Security .................................................. 172
Understanding Role-Based Access Administration in Parallels Virtual Automation ......... 172
Typical Scenario of Parallels Virtual Automation Security Usage .................................... 173
Managing Parallels Virtual Automation Users ................................................................ 175
Viewing Users ...................................................................................................................... 176
Contents
Creating New User .............................................................................................................. 177
Viewing User's Details ......................................................................................................... 177
Configuring User's Parameters ............................................................................................ 178
Managing Parallels Virtual Automation Groups ............................................................. 178
Viewing Groups ................................................................................................................... 179
Creating New Group ........................................................................................................... 179
Viewing Group Details ......................................................................................................... 180
Configuring Group Parameters ............................................................................................ 181
Managing Roles .......................................................................................................... 181
Viewing Roles ...................................................................................................................... 181
Creating New Roles ............................................................................................................. 183
Configuring Role Parameters ............................................................................................... 188
Managing Authentication Databases ............................................................................ 189
Viewing Authentication Databases ....................................................................................... 190
Registering New Database .................................................................................................. 191
Viewing Database Details .................................................................................................... 192
Configuring Database Details .............................................................................................. 192
Managing User/Group Permissions.............................................................................. 193
Managing Physical Server Permissions ................................................................................ 193
Managing Container Permissions ........................................................................................ 194
Managing Virtual Machine Permissions ................................................................................ 195
Managing Server Group Permissions................................................................................... 195
Managing Logical Unit Permissions ..................................................................................... 196
Managing Power Panel Policies ................................................................................... 196
Creating New Policy ............................................................................................................ 197
Configuring Policy Parameters ............................................................................................. 198
Performing Main Operation on Policies ................................................................................ 198
Managing Policies ............................................................................................................... 199
Managing Policy Assignments ............................................................................................. 200
Maintaining Parallels Virtual Automation Management Tools ............................. 202
Provisioning Virtual Environments ................................................................................ 203
Setting Up Virtual Environment Requesting ......................................................................... 204
Checking Virtual Environment Requests .............................................................................. 205
Processing Virtual Environment Request ............................................................................. 205
Requesting New Virtual Environment ................................................................................... 206
Contents
Monitoring Operations and Viewing Logs ..................................................................... 207
Viewing Tasks Log .............................................................................................................. 207
Viewing Alerts Log ............................................................................................................... 207
Viewing Event logs .............................................................................................................. 207
Viewing Active Tasks ........................................................................................................... 208
Viewing Task Details ............................................................................................................ 208
Viewing Error Details ............................................................................................................ 209
Scheduling Tasks ........................................................................................................ 209
Choosing Tasks ................................................................................................................... 210
Managing Maintenance Tasks ..................................................................................... 212
Changing Maintenance Tasks ............................................................................................. 213
Viewing Parallels Virtual Automation User Sessions ...................................................... 214
Viewing Management Server Live User Sessions ................................................................. 214
Viewing Power Panel Live User Sessions............................................................................. 215
Viewing Audit Logs .............................................................................................................. 215
Viewing User Session Properties ......................................................................................... 216
Managing Parallels Network ................................................................................. 218
Managing Network Adapters on Physical Server .......................................................... 218
Listing Adapters .................................................................................................................. 218
Viewing Physical Adapter Properties .................................................................................... 219
Connecting Physical Adapter to Virtual Network .................................................................. 219
Creating VLAN Adapter on Physical Server ......................................................................... 220
Viewing VLAN Adapter Properties ....................................................................................... 220
Connecting VLAN Adapter to Virtual Network ...................................................................... 221
Managing Virtual Networks .......................................................................................... 221
Listing Virtual Networks on Physical Server ......................................................................... 224
Creating Virtual Network on Physical Server ........................................................................ 225
Viewing Virtual Network Details............................................................................................ 226
Configuring Virtual Network Parameters on Physical Server ................................................ 226
Listing Virtual Networks in Server Group .............................................................................. 227
Creating New Virtual Network .............................................................................................. 228
Configuring Virtual Network Parameters .............................................................................. 228
Managing Container Network Parameters .................................................................... 228
Viewing Container Network Parameters .............................................................................. 229
Configuring Container Network Parameters ......................................................................... 229
Contents
Managing Container Firewall ........................................................................................ 231
Configuring Firewall in Normal Mode ................................................................................... 232
Adding Access Rule in Normal Mode .................................................................................. 233
Selecting Mode ................................................................................................................... 233
Building Input Chain ............................................................................................................ 234
Building Output Chain ......................................................................................................... 235
Building Forward Chain ....................................................................................................... 236
Adding Rule in Advanced Mode .......................................................................................... 237
Editing Rule in Advanced Mode ........................................................................................... 237
Managing IP Pools ...................................................................................................... 238
Reviewing IP Pools .............................................................................................................. 238
Creating New IP Pool .......................................................................................................... 239
Viewing Leased IP Addresses .............................................................................................. 239
Viewing IP Pool Summary Information ................................................................................. 241
Changing IP Pool Configuration ........................................................................................... 242
Managing Network Accounting and Shaping ....................................................................... 242
Managing Email Gateway and Proxy Server ................................................................. 249
Specifying Proxy Server and Email Gateway ........................................................................ 249
Managing Email Notifications Settings .......................................................................... 249
Configuring Email Notifications ............................................................................................ 250
Managing Parallels Containers OS and Application Templates .......................... 251
Managing OS Templates in Group Context .................................................................. 252
Viewing OS Template Properties ......................................................................................... 253
Managing Application Templates in Group Context ...................................................... 254
Viewing Application Template Properties ............................................................................. 255
Managing OS Templates in Physical Server Context..................................................... 256
Viewing OS Template Properties ......................................................................................... 257
Managing Application Templates in Physical Server Context ......................................... 258
Viewing Application Template Properties ............................................................................. 259
Uploading and Installing Templates on Physical Servers ............................................... 260
Installing Application Templates on Physical Servers .................................................... 261
Installing OS Templates on Physical Servers ................................................................ 261
Caching OS Templates on Physical Servers ................................................................. 261
Uninstalling Templates From Physical Servers .............................................................. 262
Contents
Adding Application Templates to Containers ................................................................ 262
Updating Templates on Physical Server ....................................................................... 262
Updating Parallels Software ................................................................................. 264
Updating System software .......................................................................................... 265
Customizing Update Process .............................................................................................. 266
Installing New OS Templates ....................................................................................... 267
Displaying OS Template Information .................................................................................... 267
Choosing Application Templates for Updates ...................................................................... 267
Reviewing OS and Application Templates ........................................................................... 268
Installing New Application Templates ........................................................................... 268
Updating OS Templates .............................................................................................. 269
Updating Application Templates .................................................................................. 269
Configuring Access to Update Repository .................................................................... 270
Checking Update Repository Settings .......................................................................... 271
Advanced Tasks .................................................................................................... 273
Parallels Virtual Automation Command-Line Utilities ..................................................... 273
vzagroup ............................................................................................................................. 273
vzabackup ........................................................................................................................... 276
vzarestore............................................................................................................................ 281
Monitoring Parallels Objects via SNMP......................................................................... 284
Enabling SNMP Access on Hardware Node ........................................................................ 284
Accessing Parallels Objects via SNMP ................................................................................ 286
Description of Parallels Objects ........................................................................................... 287
Deploying RHCS Failover Cluster Support .................................................................... 288
Creating PVA Cluster Services ............................................................................................. 289
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................... 292
Services Inaccessibility ................................................................................................ 292
Network Problems ...................................................................................................... 293
Backup Problems........................................................................................................ 294
Invalid Credentials ....................................................................................................... 294
File Problems .............................................................................................................. 294
Listing Users ............................................................................................................... 295
Group Operations ....................................................................................................... 295
Contents
Elusive Problems ......................................................................................................... 296
Getting Support .......................................................................................................... 296
Reporting Problems to Technical Support ........................................................................... 296
Submitting Error Codes ....................................................................................................... 297
Downloading Documents and Software .............................................................................. 299
Setting Up Support Channel ................................................................................................ 299
Searching for Screens ......................................................................................................... 300
Glossary ................................................................................................................. 301
Index ...................................................................................................................... 304
Feedback ............................................................................................................... 16
C
HAPTER
1

Introduction

This chapter outlines the key features and capabilities of Parallels Virtual Automation and briefly describes other chapters of this guide.
In This Chapter
About Parallels Virtual Automation........................................................................... 12
About This Guide ................................................................................................... 14
Getting Help ........................................................................................................... 16

About Parallels Virtual Automation

Parallels Virtual Automation is a flexible and easy-to-use administration tool for managing groups of physical servers running Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Parallels Containers for Windows, Parallels Server Bare Metal, and Parallels Cloud Server. With Parallels Virtual Automation, you can manage both physical servers and virtual environments hosted on those using a supported Web browser.
Supported Web browsers:
Internet Explorer 9.x, 10.x or 11.x,
Firefox 26 or newer,
Safari 5.x or newer,
Chrome 31.x or newer.
Note: Other browsers should work as well, but only those listed above have been tested for compatibility with Parallels Virtual Automation 6.1.
After Parallels Virtual Automation has been installed, you can register available physical servers with it. As physical servers are registered with Parallels Virtual Automation, they form a group of physical servers or a group of Nodes (further in this Guide other terms may also be used: Node Group, Nodes registered in Parallels Virtual Automation, etc.). For the definitions, see Glossary (p. 301). As an administrator, you can manage both single physical servers and physical server groups. With a group of physical servers, you can perform a number of collective administration tasks, such as:
creating a logical structure of physical servers and the virtual environments residing on them;
migrating virtual environments between physical servers;
Introduction
copying OS and application templates from one physical server to another;
making virtual environment template stored on a VM Templates Storage (p. 163) available to
other registered physical servers;
consolidating physical server IP addresses into a network address range.
Parallels Virtual Automation user accounts are managed by the administrator. An administrator can add and remove users, and set user access privileges. The access privileges determine what operations a user can or cannot perform on registered virtual environments.
To use the Parallels Virtual Automation for administering a physical server and the virtual environments residing on it, you need to install Parallels Containers for Windows on the required physical server. To learn on what operating systems Parallels Virtual Automation can be installed, refer to the Parallels Virtual Automation installation guide. The Virtuozzo Containers software can be installed on Windows 2003 Server and Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, Fedora Core 7, etc.) operating systems. Most of the Parallels Virtual Automation working principles are the same, or similar, for both operating systems.
With Parallels Virtual Automation, you can perform the following actions:
Customize the interface of Parallels Virtual Automation and define personal settings (p. 22)
View and install licenses (p. 166)
View physical server resource consumption (p. 45)
Migrate a physical server to a Container (p. 98)
Create new Containers and virtual machines (p. 120)
Edit Container configuration (p. 107) and virtual machine configuration (p. 131), network
parameters, (p. 229) and other settings
Manage Virtual Environment backups
Clone a Container (p. 94) or a virtual machine (p. 143)
Manage Container templates (p. 111) and virtual machine templates (p. 145)
Manage and monitor virtual environment resources (p. 45)
View logs and monitor virtual environment operations
Manage Container group and perform virtual machine group actions
Change a virtual environment's status (p. 56)
Reinstall and/or repair a Container
etc.
13
Introduction

About This Guide

This guide is aimed at a wide range of users who are new to Parallels Virtual Automation or just want to make sure they are doing everything right. The next two subsections describe the structure of the guide as well as the documentation conventions adopted for the guide.

Organization of This Guide

This guide includes the following chapters:
Introduction (p. 12) provides the basic information about the product and the guide itself.
Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure describes how you can use Parallels
Virtual Automation to manage relationships between different Parallels objects (physical servers, virtual environments, etc.).
Managing Physical Servers (p. 37) explains how to do the following with physical servers:
register with Parallels Virtual Automation,
configure,
monitor resources,
manage installed OS and application templates,
reboot, etc.
Managing Virtual Environments (p. 54) centers on how to do the following with virtual
environments:
create, clone, configure, start/stop, reinstall, etc.,
manage services and running processes,
manage and monitor resources,
manage virtual environment templates,
migrate virtual environments to physical servers and vice versa.
Managing Virtual Environment Backups (p. 150) provides information on the backup
hierarchy.
Managing Resource Library Tools (p. 160) explains how to work with file shares, virtual
environment templates, IP pools, and virtual networks.
Managing Product Licenses (p. 166) describes how to manage product licenses.
Managing Parallels Virtual Automation Security (p. 172) provides instructions on setting up
Parallels Virtual Automation security policies.
Maintaining Parallels Virtual Automation Management Tools (p. 202) explains how to
create timetables to automate backup and restarting of virtual environments,
14
Introduction
monitor virtual environment statuses,
Preformatted
Saves parameters for Container 101
Preformatted Bold
# rpm -V virtuozzo-release
view alert and task logs,
identify top resource consumers among virtual environments,
get technical support from Parallels.
Managing Parallels Network (p. 218) describes Parallels Containers network-related
concepts, such as configuring network accounting and shaping for physical servers and virtual environments, etc.
Managing Parallels Containers OS and Application Templates (p. 251) provides information
on how to manage Parallels Containers templates.
Updating Parallels Software describes how to check for updates, update system software,
etc.
Advanced Tasks (p. 273) explains how to
use Parallels Virtual Automation command-line utilities,
monitor Parallels objects via SNMP,
set up the failover clustering service in Linux.
Troubleshooting (p. 292) offers solutions to problems you might encounter while using
Parallels Virtual Automation.

Documentation Conventions

Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation conventions used in it.
Formatting conventions used in this guide:
Font Meaning Example
Special Bold
Italics
Monospace
Selectable entities such as menu options, buttons, or list items.
Titles of chapters, sections and subsections.
Important points, terms, guide titles, command variables.
Names of commands, files, and directories.
On-screen console output in command line sessions, source code.
What you type as contrasted with on­screen console output.
Go to the Resources tab.
Read the Basic Administration chapter.
These are the so-called EZ templates. To destroy a Container, type vzctl destroy
CT_ID. Use vzctl start to start a Container.
Key+Key Key combinations. Ctrl+P, Alt+F4
15
Introduction
Besides the formatting conventions, you should also know about the common document structure shared by all guides for Parallels products: chapters consist of sections, which, in turn, consist of subsections. For example, About This Guide is a section, and Documentation Conventions is a subsection.

Getting Help

Parallels Virtual Automation offers several options for accessing necessary information:
Parallels Virtual Automation Documentation
Parallels Virtual Automation Administrator's Guide. Contains extensive information about
Parallels Virtual Automation, its usage, and troubleshooting. To access the PDF version of the document, go to the Support link in the left pane and then click the Downloads pane. You can download any document of the Parallels Virtual Automation documentation bundle from the Parallels website.
Parallels Virtual Automation Installation Guides for Linux/Bare Metal and Windows. Contain
extensive information on system requirements for physical computers as well as instructions on how to install Parallels Virtual Automation on such computers.
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation. Contains the basic information how to
install, launch, and manage Parallels Virtual Automation.
Parallels Power Panel User's Guide. Contains extensive information about Parallels Power
Panel.
Parallels Virtual Automation Agent XML API Reference. A complete reference on all Parallels
Virtual Automation configuration files and physical server command-line utilities.
The documentation is available for download at
http://www.parallels.com/products/pva/documents/.
Parallels Knowledgebase
Visit http://kb.parallels.com/ for helpful articles on Parallels Virtual Automation, Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Parallels Server Bare Metal, and Parallels Cloud Server.

Feedback

If you want to report typos, share comments, suggestions or ideas on improving this guide, please use the Parallels documentation feedback page at http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/.
16
Organizing Logical Structure ................................................................................... 23
C
HAPTER
2

Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation

In This Chapter
Logging In .............................................................................................................. 17
Parallels Virtual Automation Interface Overview ........................................................ 18
Extending Standard Browser Functionality .............................................................. 19
Customizing User Profile ......................................................................................... 21

Logging In

The Parallels Virtual Automation administrator logs into Parallels Virtual Automation from a browser by using the IP address (or hostname) of the corresponding physical server and the TCP port (4648 by default). If the physical server you wish to manage is a Slave Server (p. 301), you should log in to the Master Server (p. 301) of this Group. Logging in by the IP address/hostname to a Slave physical server is not allowed. When connecting to the physical server, you should enter the OS
administrative credentials ( Login button.
The Parallels Virtual Automation administrator can endow other users with a certain scope of rights and privileges in Parallels Virtual Automation (see Managing Parallels Virtual Automation Security). These users can be created as Parallels Server or Parallels Containers internal users or taken from an external LDAP-compliant database. They log into Parallels Virtual Automation by the same IP address/hostname and port as the physical server administrator by using their respective user names and passwords. The set of actions these users will be able to perform in Parallels Virtual Automation will be defined by their privileges.
Whatever way you use, once you have connected to the virtual environment, you are recommended to provide a valid email address on the Editing User's Personal Settings page (p. 22) in order to be able to log into Parallels Virtual Automation in case you forgot your password. The Forgot your password? link on the login page allows you to enter your user name and the email address provided on the Parallels Virtual Automation configuration page in order to receive an URL at this address informing you how to change your password.
root/ Administrator and the corresponding password) and click the
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation

Parallels Virtual Automation Interface Overview

The Parallels Virtual Automation interface has been designed to let the Parallels Virtuozzo Containers or Parallels Server administrator quickly perform all possible tasks through an intuitive navigation system.
The main components the Parallels Virtual Automation interface consists of are:
The left menu frame lists all your physical servers and virtual environments. You can access
main operations to be performed on them by right-clicking the server or virtual environment;
The toolbar on top of the right frame allows performing most frequent actions on your physical
servers and virtual environments. When necessary, the toolbar includes a few more buttons for performing additional actions;
The content part on the right frame displays the content of the chosen object: a physical server,
a virtual environment or any management unit.
The My Tasks pane at the bottom of the right frame allows viewing all operations of the current
user that run at the moment or have been finished. The pane is minimized by default.
The actual left menu appearance can be changed by clicking any of the following buttons located at the bottom:
Infrastructure - displays physical servers and virtual environments only. Other sections are
folded.
Logical View - looks the same way as the Infrastructure menu, the only difference that the
virtual environments can be distributed between all folders or physical servers no matter what physical servers they physically belong to. Other sections are folded.
18
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
Resource Library - displays the resource library sub-sections only: Software, Templates, IP
Pools, and Virtual Networks. Other sections are folded.
Management - shows the Management sub-sections only: Workflow, Updates, Scheduler,
Alerts & Events, Tasks, and Support. Other sections are folded.
Setup - displays the Setup sub-sections only: Network, Backups, Licensing, Security, and
Virtual Environment templates. Other sections are folded.
Full view - makes the left menu display all the above as a tree.
Here and after, we use the full view of the left menu for description.
The upper most element on the menu is the Infrastructure link. If expanded, it displays your hierarchical structure of physical servers and virtual environments hosted on them as lower levels. Each of the physical servers and virtual environments that make up your Parallels Virtual Automation infrastructure displays its name on the Infrastructure-oriented left menu, which, if clicked, leads to its dashboard.
The content of the right frame always depends on what option you have clicked on the left menu frame. If you have clicked a physical server, the right frame will show the physical server relating information and operations, for a virtual environment the right frame will display the virtual environment relating sections and operations, and so on. See the Using Context-menu section (p.
20).

Extending Standard Browser Functionality

Parallels Virtual Automation extends the basic functionality of standard web browsers by providing you with the following facilities:
support for the drag-and-drop operation within certain Parallels Virtual Automation
components;
support for the use of the Parallels Virtual Automation context menu with certain Parallels Virtual
Automation objects.

Using Drag-And-Drop

Parallels Virtual Automation allows you to drag-and-drop elements in the left menu frame by selecting them with a mouse and moving them to another place in this frame. The list of main operations for which Parallels Virtual Automation provides the drag-and-drop support is given below:
Moving any physical servers under the Infrastructure view to any folders available under this
view or within the Logical View item;
Moving any virtual environments listed under the corresponding physical servers in the
Infrastructure view to any folders available under this view or under the Logical View item;
19
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
Moving physical servers and virtual environments between folders under the Infrastructure
view;
Moving a folder under the Infrastructure view to another folder within this view;
Moving physical servers and virtual environments between folders under the Logical View
mode;
Moving a folder under the Logical View mode to another folder within this view;
To perform a drag-and-drop operation, do the following:
1 Place the cursor over the object (e.g. a virtual environment) you wish to drag-and-drop and
press the mouse button.
2 Hold down the mouse button and drag the object (e.g. to some folder under the Logical View
item).
3 Release the mouse button to drop the object.
Upon the successful operation, the object will be shown in the place where it was dropped.

Using Context Menu

Parallels Virtual Automation supports quick access to the main features through the context­menus. You can use context-menus to manage physical servers and virtual environments. Below are some common uses for the context menus in Parallels Virtual Automation:
Right-click the Infrastructure view to create a new virtual environment on any of your physical
servers, create a new folder under the Infrastructure view, or configure the security policy for all the physical servers currently registered in Parallels Virtual Automation.
Right-click a physical server to perform the most common operations on your physical servers:
create a new virtual environment, install a new OS or application template, reboot the physical server, configure the security policy for the physical server, etc. The same menu is also available if you right-click a physical server on the Hardware Nodes tab of the Infrastructure window.
Right-click virtual environment to perform such operations as starting, stopping, or restarting
the virtual environment, creating virtual environment clones, migrating the virtual environment to another physical server, etc. The same menu is also available if you right-click a virtual environment on the Virtual Environments tab of the Infrastructure window.
Right-click the Logical View to create a new folder, physical server, or virtual environment
under this item and to configure the security policy for all the physical servers currently registered in Parallels Virtual Automation.
If you work with Parallels Virtual Automation via the Mozilla Firefox browser, you may encounter the following problem: after right-clicking any of the aforementioned items, you will see the Parallels Virtual Automation and the browser context menus displayed. To display only the Parallels Virtual Automation context menu, perform the following operations:
1 In the Mozilla Firefox browser, open a new tab, type about:config in the address field, and
press the Enter key.
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Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
2 Double-click the dom.event.contextmenu.enabled parameter to change its value from
, and
Allow Dynamic Status
Selecting this check box enables the statuses of virtual environments to be updated
false to true.
Now, if you right-click any of the aforementioned items, you will see only the Parallels Virtual Automation context menu.

Customizing User Profile

Defining Interface Settings

On the Interface Settings tab of the User Profile screen, you can set a number of parameters related to the Parallels Virtual Automation interface.
You can access the User Profile section by clicking the login name in the upper part of the screen.
The options provided on the Interface Settings tab are grouped into three sections: Navigation
Settings, Regional Settings and Visual Settings.
Option Description
Home Page One of the ways to tweak Parallels Virtual Automation is to choose the first screen to be
loaded when you log in to Parallels Virtual Automation from the Home Page drop-down menu.
Interface Language As Parallels Virtual Automation is localized into a number of languages, this drop-down menu
lets you choose the default interface language for Parallels Virtual Automation. This setting affects the language of both your current Parallels Virtual Automation session and all future sessions if User Default is chosen as the interface language on the Parallels Virtual Automation login screen.
Local Time Zone This setting affects the date and time information found on such Parallels Virtual Automation
pages as Tasks Log, Alerts and Events. Choose the time zone you wish to be used when viewing different kinds of logs.
GUI Elements Style You may set the Parallels Virtual Automation toolbar buttons to represent the operations
which can be performed by clicking them with only icons, or only text, or with both visual and verbal elements.
Interface Skin Here you may choose a suitable interface colour for your Parallels Virtual Automation
affecting such elements as the Parallels Virtual Automation general layout (framed or non­framed), icons and images, and the colour palette.
Menu Details Level You can choose what items will be displayed under the Infrastructure and the Logical View
on the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu: folders, the physical servers distributed over them, virtual environments - those that run on the physical servers, in the Infrastructure sent to appropriate folders, in the Logical View.
Enable Tooltips Selecting or clearing this check box defines whether you will see short descriptions of the
elements of the Parallels Virtual Automation interface when pointing them with the cursor.
Show Top Right Buttons Pane
Selecting this check box makes a button pane always appear at the top right corner of Parallels Virtual Automation. You can also call up this pane by clicking an arrow in this corner.
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Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
Updates
automatically on the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, the virtual environment
dashboard screen and the Tasks pane without refreshing the current page manually. If you have problems with the connection to the Master Server (e.g. the bandwidth is low or the connection is unstable), enabling this function might make your work in Parallels Virtual Automation inconvenient and slow. In this case it is better to clear the check box.
After you decide on the suitable configuration and click the Submit button, the settings will be remembered for the current browser and user only. If you change the browser or the current user within the same browser, the default settings will be used until you perform a new customization.

Defining Personal Settings

On the Personal Settings tab of the User Profile screen, you can configure some personal data.
You can access the User Profile section by clicking the login name in the upper part of the screen.
As a Parallels Virtual Automation user, on this page you can revise, change or add the following personal data:
The Login field is for information purposes only, you cannot change it.
To change your password, enter the current password to the Old Password field, and a new
password into the Password and Retype the password fields. Please make sure it is difficult enough to pick up, so using birthdays and relatives' names for a password is not probably the best approach to ensuring your security.
Follow the PVA requirements to set up a reliable and secure password:
Passwords must be at least six characters long.
Passwords must contain elements from three of the four following types of characters:
• English uppercase letters (A, B, C, ... Z);
• English lowercase letters (a, b, c, ... z);
• Westernized Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, ... 9);
• Non-alphanumeric characters (special characters) ($,!,%,^).
If your user information is taken from an external authentication database registered in Parallels Virtual Automation, you cannot change your password as it is taken from this database.
The Full Name and Description fields are editable only if your user information is stored in the
regular Parallels database. If you are a user of the host OS (including root/Administrator) or of an external authentication database having access to Parallels Virtual Automation, you cannot change your full name as it is taken from the corresponding database.
The Email field should be filled in with a correct email address to enable the functionality of
restoring your password, if you forgot it. If your user information is taken from an external authentication database registered in Parallels Virtual Automation, you cannot edit your email address as it is taken from this database.
To submit the changes, click Submit, otherwise click Cancel.
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Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation

Organizing Logical Structure

Parallels Virtual Automation allows you to organize all your registered physical servers and with virtual environments on them in the following ways:
All of them present a logical and easily manageable structure (with as many levels as you like).
The other Parallels objects, like OS, and application templates, and Container backups, are
automatically filtered to conform to the current level of the object hierarchy.
The Parallels Virtual Automation security policies can be set up not on the physical server or
virtual environment level, but on the level of an arbitrary group of objects, provided these objects are united into a folder.
There are two independent ways to design the structure organization. They are called Infrastructure and Logical View and presented as top-level elements in the Parallels Virtual Automation left menu. You can use either one of them or, better, both at once, as their functions are different:
The Infrastructure view allows you to display the physical organization of the PVA infrastructure. For example, all the physical servers will take place one level lower than the datacenter, and all the virtual environments running on a certain physical server will be shown under it. You can create your own folders in the Infrastructure group, but you cannot violate the order of nesting objects. As a way to help with the visual representation of physical objects, the folders you create here can also be called Datacenters and Racks.
Logical View allows you to group your physical servers and virtual environments in your own way independently of the physical infrastructure. For example, by grouping all the financial department activities under a common ‘FinDep’ folder, your organization will be able to manage them as a single entity by collectively managing permissions, scheduling backups, applying system updates, and more. Additionally, physical server or virtual environment may simultaneously appear in any number of folders.
The main operations related to organizing the PVA infrastructure are available with the top toolbar buttons visible if you are currently located in the Infrastructure/Logical View context (i.e. not in the physical server or virtual environment context). Below are the ways to set about:
Adding a folder. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder in which you want
to create a new folder. Then, if you are in the Infrastructure context, click the Add New Subfolder button on the top toolbar. In the Logical View context, click the Add to Folder button on the top toolbar, then click New Subfolder.
Renaming a folder. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder you wish to
rename. On the top toolbar, click the Manage Folder button, then click Configure.
Moving a folder. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder you wish to
move. On the top toolbar, click the Manage Folder button, then click Move.
Deleting a folder. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder you wish to
delete. On the top toolbar, click the Manage Folder button, then click Delete.
23
Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
Including a physical server in a folder. Click on Infrastructure on the left Parallels Virtual
Automation menu and go to the Hardware Nodes tab. Select the physical server(s) you wish to include in a certain folder and click Move on top of the Hardware Nodes table. If you are working with Logical View, the course of actions is a bit different, because any physical server can belong to any number of folders. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder where you wish to include the physical server. Then click the Add to Folder button on the top toolbar, and select Hardware Node.
Including a virtual environment in a folder. In the Infrastructure view, the virtual environments
always go with the physical server on which they are hosted, so you cannot include them separately in folders. In Logical View, any virtual environment can belong to any number of folders. On the left Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder where you wish to include the virtual environment. Then click the Add to Folder button on the top toolbar, and select Container.
Moving a physical server or a virtual environment to another folder. These actions do not
essentially differ from including these objects in folders, so you should be guided by the explanations given above.
Removing a physical server or a virtual environment from the Infrastructure view. Unregister
the corresponding physical server (the Unregister button on The Hardware Nodes tab) or delete the virtual environment (the Delete button on the Containers tab).
Removing a physical server or a virtual environment from a Logical View folder. On the left
Parallels Virtual Automation menu, click the folder from which you wish to delete a physical server/virtual environment, then go to the Hardware Nodes/Containers tab. Select the object(s) you want to remove and click Remove on top of the table.
Using the built-in Parallels Virtual Automation functionality, you can create a logical structure of your own:
create new folders (p. 24) and edit them (p. 25);
change the structure hierarchy by mowing folders (p. 25) and physical servers (p. 25);
change the hierarchy by adding physical server (p. 26) and virtual environment (p. 26) to folders,
i.e. you can group the physical and virtual environments according to your needs.

Adding New Folder

The new folder you are creating will be placed directly under the currently selected folder in the
Infrastructure or Logical View hierarchies (p. 27).
Folders created are assigned a Folder Type. The default folder type is Folder. Folders created in the Infrastructure hierarchy can be of type Folder, Datacenter, or Rack. Folders created in the Logical View hierarchy can be of type Folder or Datacenter.
The Folder Title field is mandatory, as it sets the name of the folder. Duplicate folder names are not allowed.
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Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
For detailed information on working with Infrastructure of Parallels Virtual Automation and Logical View trees, refer to Organizing Management Infrastructure.

Editing Folder Properties

On the Configure screen, it is possible to change the name of a folder and the icon representing the folder type.
To change the name of the folder, enter a new folder name in the text box in the Title section. To change the folder icon, select the radio button next to the desired icon in the Folder Type section. Click the Submit button to apply any changes, otherwise click Cancel.
Any changes made to the folder name or folder type will not affect any physical server or virtual environment settings.
For detailed information on working with Infrastructure of Parallels Virtual Automation and Logical View trees, refer to Organizing Management Infrastructure.

Moving Folder

Folders under the Infrastructure and Logical View level can be moved to other locations within their corresponding hierarchies. You cannot change the location of the following folders:
the parent folder - a folder is already a child of its parent;
the current folder - a folder cannot be a child of itself;
any child folder - this would break the hierarchical structure by disconnecting any links to the
hierarchy (one or more folders directly under the folder being moved would have to become the root physical server(s) in a new detached folder hierarchy).
In the drop-down within the Destination Folder section, select the folder you want to move the currently selected folder to. Invalid destinations cannot be selected and are grayed out. Click the Move button to commit the folder move operation, or Cancel to discard it.
For detailed information on working with Infrastructure of Parallels Virtual Automation and Logical View trees, refer to Organizing Management Infrastructure.

Moving Physical Servers to Another Folder

Physical servers can be moved from folder to folder in the Infrastructure view only, because the Logical View mode allows one and the same object to be simultaneously included in different
folders, so this mode deals with objects inclusion, and not their moving.
For the selected physical server(s) to be included in the folder of your choice, select this folder from the Destination Folder drop-down menu and click Submit. The physical server(s) will be displayed on the Parallels Virtual Automation left menu as sub-levels of the selected folder.
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Getting Started With Parallels Virtual Automation
For detailed information on working with Infrastructure of Parallels Virtual Automation and Logical View trees, refer to Organizing Management Infrastructure.

Adding Physical Servers to Folders

On the Add Hardware Node(s) screen you can include any registered physical server in the current folder of the Logical View hierarchy. To do that, press the Add button below the Hardware Nodes section, select the physical servers to belong in the folder, click Use Selected, and finally click Save.
For detailed information on working with Infrastructure of Parallels Virtual Automation and Logical View trees, refer to Organizing Management Infrastructure.

Adding Virtual Environments to Folder

On the Add Virtual Environment(s) screen you can include any of the existing virtual environments in the current folder of the Logical View hierarchy. To do that, press the Add Virtual Environments button below the Virtual Environments section, select the virtual environments to belong to the folder, click Use Selected, and finally click Save.
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Viewing Infrastructure Logs ..................................................................................... 33
C
HAPTER
3

Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure

This chapter describes the Infrastructure tabs and management commands available on them.
In This Chapter
Viewing Summary Information ................................................................................. 27
Viewing Physical Servers Information ...................................................................... 29
Viewing Virtual Environments Information ................................................................ 31
Viewing Resource Consumption ............................................................................. 32

Viewing Summary Information

The Summary tab of the Infrastructure section provides you with general information of all the physical servers and virtual environments. It allows you to quickly and timely assess the current situation and, if necessary, take the required actions. The tab is available by clicking the Infrastructure submenu in the Navigation tree.
The Overall Status section shows the virtual environments that have signaled resources consumption alerts or those physical servers whose licenses have expired or are going to expire.
Note: You can configure Parallels Virtual Automation to not show alerts for specific mount points on your system even if disk usage on them is close to or exceeds the set limit. For detailed information on how you can do this, see Base Types and Interfaces > System Interface and Special Packets > system > Calls > configuration in the PVA Agent XML API Reference guide.
Virtual Environment
The section displays information on all virtual environments registered in the PVA infrastructure.
Section Description
Status The column displays the number of running and stopped virtual environments. Upon clicking one
of the statuses, you are redirected to the Virtual Environments tab, with the virtual environments grouped according to the chosen status.
OS The column displays types of operating systems running on virtual environments. Upon clicking an
OS name, you are redirected to the Virtual Environments tab, with the virtual environments grouped according to the chosen OS.
Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure
Technology The column displays virtualization technologies running on the virtual environments. Upon clicking
an OS name, you are redirected to the Virtual Environments tab, with the virtual environments grouped according to the chosen technology.
Hardware Nodes
The section displays information on all physical servers registered in the PVA infrastructure.
Section Description
Status The column displays the number of online, offline, and requiring attention physical servers. Upon
clicking one of the statuses, you are redirected to the Hardware Nodes tab, with the servers grouped according to the chosen status.
OS The column displays types of operating systems running on physical servers. Upon clicking an OS
name, you are redirected to the Hardware Nodes tab, with the servers grouped according to the chosen OS.
Node Type The column displays virtualization products running on the physical servers. Upon clicking an OS
name, you are redirected to the Hardware Nodes tab, with the servers grouped according to the chosen type.
The Tasks section includes a number of links:
The New Virtual Environment and Migrate Server to Container links enable you to create
another virtual environment and/or migrate a physical server to a Container.
The New Hardware Node link opens the Parallels Virtual Automation screen where you can
connect to a physical server and register it in Parallels Virtual Automation.
The New Backup link brings about the New Virtual Environment Backups screen allowing
you to define the Container to be backed up and to configure various backup options.
The New Subfolder link allows creating a new folder under the Infrastructure or Logical View
levels.
If you are on the Infrastructure level, the Manage Infrastructure section allows you to perform the following operations:
Manage Power Panel policies on the global level by following the Global Policies link. The
policies set on this level will be applied to all virtual environments that reside on all physical servers registered in Parallels Virtual Automation.
View detailed information on the Management Server by following the Management Node link.
If you are on the Logical View level, the Add Existing Objects to This Folder section allows you to perform the following operations:
Add more virtual environments to the main level of the Logical View hierarchies. To do this:
Follow the Virtual Environments link and click Add Virtual Environments.
In the displayed table, select the check boxes of the virtual environments you want to add to
Logical View, click Use Selected, and then click Save.
The chosen virtual environments will be displayed on the Logical View main level.
Add more physical servers to the main level of the Logical View hierarchies. To do this:
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Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure
Follow the Hardware Nodes link and click Add.
In the displayed table, select the check boxes of the physical servers you want to add to
Logical View, click Use Selected, and then click Save.
The chosen physical servers will be displayed on the Logical View main level.
If the Logical View level contains a folder and you want to add a virtual environment or a physical server to the main level of this folder, go to the folder Summary tab and perform the aforementioned operations.

Viewing Physical Servers Information

Hardware Nodes is a common term for physical servers running Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Parallels Server Bare Metal or Parallels Cloud Server. Physical servers can be of the following types:
a Windows computer with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Windows;
a Linux computer with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Linux;
a bare metal computer with Parallels Server Bare Metal or Parallels Cloud Server;
a Mac computer with Parallels Server for Mac.
The Parallels Virtual Automation functionality enables you to register, group under logical units, and manage a number of such servers.
If you deal with a large number of registered physical servers (and virtual environments), it can be convenient to organize them into multiple logical units divided by architecture, virtual environment type or other principles. For details on how to do this, consult Organizing Logical Structure (p.
23).
You can also set up a convenient and automated structure of IP pools. The IP addresses within these pools can be automatically assigned to the certain groups of virtual environments, thus eliminating possible IP conflicts between virtual environments and physical servers. Doing this will also let you save time on manual IP assignment. For details, see Managing IP Pools (p. 238).
To distribute workload, you can migrate virtual environments between physical servers registered in the Parallels Virtual Automation infrastructure.
Linux-based Containers can be migrated to Parallels Server Bare Metal physical servers or to Linux-based physical servers with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers installed. Windows-based Containers can be migrated between Windows-based physical servers. Virtual machines can be migrated between Parallels Server Bare Metal and Mac OS physical servers.
On the Hardware Nodes screen, you can review the list of physical servers currently registered in Parallels Virtual Automation and see the physical server details shown as the following table:
Column Name Description
Hostname
The hostname of the physical server.
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Organizing Parallels Virtual Automation Infrastructure
Description
The description of the physical server.
Default IP Address
Product
VT
OS
Operating System
Arch
CPU
Disk
Memory
Alert
Alerted
Running
Stopped
Total
Status
The IP address of the physical server used to connect to Master Server (the physical server with the PVA Management Server component of Parallels Virtual Automation installed).
The name of the product the physical server is based on.
The virtualization solution used on the physical server.
The operating system installed on the physical server.
The name and version of the operating system installed on the physical server.
The microprocessor architecture of the physical server.
The percentage of the current CPU load on the physical server. Updated every 10 seconds.
The percentage of the current disk space usage of the physical server. Updated every 10 seconds.
The percentage of the current memory consumption of the physical server. Updated every 10 seconds.
The level of the physical server resources usage signaled by a corresponding alert.
The number of virtual environments which reside on the physical server and whose level of the resources usage is signaled by a corresponding alert.
The current number of running virtual environments residing on the physical server.
The current number of stopped virtual environments residing on the physical server.
The total number of virtual environments residing on the physical server.
The status of the physical server.
Note: If this screen is loaded in the Logical View mode, the physical servers displayed in this table are those which have been added to the Logical View, otherwise the physical servers list is empty. To add a physical server to the Logical View, click Add To Folder on the Parallels Virtual Automation toolbar, select Hardware Nodes from the menu, and click Add, choose the physical server(s) in the displayed window, and click Use Selected, then Save.
To manage any of the physical servers registered in Parallels Virtual Automation, click its hostname in the leftmost column of the table. To display a certain physical server from a long list, click the Show Search link on top of the table, enter the name of the physical server and click Search; to restore the list of the physical servers, click Reset Results.
To stop managing a physical server via Parallels Virtual Automation, tick its check box and click Unregister; to add a new physical server to the list of the servers managed via Parallels Virtual Automation, click New > Hardware Node on the Parallels Virtual Automation toolbar. Selecting one or more physical servers in the table and clicking the Move button opens the screen where you can sort the selected physical server(s) by distributing them across Parallels Virtual Automation folders.
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