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SUREedge® DR Installation Guide

for Nutanix Acropolis

Contents

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2

1.1 SUREedge DR Deployment Scenarios ........................................................................................... 2

1.2 Installation Overview .................................................................................................................... 3

2. Obtaining SUREedge Software and Documentation ............................................................... 4

2.1 Obtaining SUREedge Installers ...................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Obtaining Documentation .......................................................................................................... 14

3. Pre-requisites ......................................................................................................................... 15

4. Installing SUREedge DR .......................................................................................................... 18

5. Obtaining Licenses ................................................................................................................. 31

6. Next Steps .............................................................................................................................. 32

7. Contacting Support ................................................................................................................ 32

Appendix A: Installing .NET 3.5 ..................................................................................................... 32

Appendix B: Resolving Static IP Configuration Issues ................................................................... 34

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1. Introduction

Welcome to SUREedge® DR! SUREedge®DR is a proven enterprise-class Disaster Recovery solution that

simplifies DR Testing and DR, taking advantage of the Cloud as a ready-to-use DR infrastructure.

SUREedge DR enables enterprises to implement a Disaster Recovery solution locally, at a remote site, in

the Cloud, or even all three. Customers can start with local DR and seamlessly expand to a remote site

or the Cloud — simply by deploying a SUREedge instance at the target site. With SUREedge-DR’s Any-to-

Any Recovery capability, you can recover physical and virtual systems (any hypervisor) to an alternate

hypervisor or your preferred Cloud. This flexibility allows you to avoid hardware, hypervisor and Cloud

lock-ins.

1.1 SUREedge DR Deployment Scenarios

SUREedge® DR can be deployed in various configurations to meet the needs of the situation:

A single SUREedge DR instance can be installed in the local environment and used to quickly and

efficiently recover physical and virtual systems onto a VM infrastructure should critical IT

infrastructure or one of the primary servers or its storage fail. This is referred to as Local

Disaster Recovery or Local DR. Granular recovery also allows individual files or filesystems to be

recovered in the case of smaller scale corruptions or data loss.

A second instance of SUREedge DR can be deployed in a virtualization environment at a remote

site and configured to receive system images from the source site. In this Remote Disaster

Recovery scenario SUREedge DR’s global deduplication significantly reduces the amount of data

transferred between the sites, and any data that is transferred is sent encrypted and

compressed. In case of a complete failure or loss of the primary site SUREedge DR can quickly

deploy instances of the source systems in the target site environment. SUREedge DR

automatically takes care of conversion from any source system to the virtual system format at

the target site. The SUREedge DR Planner tool captures all configurations and steps required to

recover servers and applications at the target site, and DR plans can be easily tested and verified

without disturbing the protected systems at the source.

An instance of SUREedge DR can also be deployed in a cloud environment to enable Cloud

Disaster Recovery. The Cloud instance acts as a receiver and Cloud recovery manager. SUREedge

DR The SUREedge DR can be used for DR to the Cloud. To enable Cloud DR, a virtual instance of

SUREedge is required in the target Cloud. automatically takes care of conversion from any

source system to the VM format in the Cloud of your choice. The SUREedge DR Planner tool

captures all configurations and steps required to recover servers and applications at the Cloud

site. As with the Remove Disaster Recovery scenario all data is globally deduplicated to reduce

unnecessary inter-site transfers, and all transmitted data is encrypted and compressed.

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The main difference between these scenarios is the number of SUREedge DR instances that are needed.

Only one instance is required for Local DR, whereas the Remote and Cloud DR scenarios require an

additional instance at the target site or in the target cloud.

1.2 Installation Overview

To set up an environment for Backup and Disaster Recovery you should first determine the location(s)

where SUREedge DR should be installed according to the scenarios describe above. You can then:

Obtain the required documentation and software for the environment(s) you have identified.

You should have an Install Guide (this document) for each environment and, if required, the

software packages for installing SUREedge DR in those environment(s).

Perform the installation of SUREedge DR software as instructed using the Installation Guide.

License and configure SUREedge DR as appropriate for each environment, as described in the

Installation Guide and the User Guide.

This Installation Guide covers the steps necessary for installing an instance of SUREedge DR in a

Windows Hyper-V virtualization environment. The following sections will take you through the steps to

obtain installation materials and to install, license and configure SUREedge DR to run in a Windows

Hyper-V environment. You can then use the User Guide to configure and start using SUREedge DR for

Backup and Restore.

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2. Obtaining SUREedge Software and

Documentation

SUREedge DR installers, tools and documentation are all available online for download. The next

sections will detail how to obtain the documentation and software binaries you will need to get started

with SUREedge DR.

2.1 Obtaining SUREedge Installers

This section contains the instructions for downloading SUREedge DR installer and some accompanying

tools that may be of use. SUREedge DR software can be obtained via secure FTP (SFTP). Please use an

SFTP client (such as WinSCP - https://winscp.net/eng/download.php) to download the SUREedge DR

software installer and tools from the SFTP site. The examples in this section show the download process

using WinSCP.

1. Please use the following information to connect to the SFTP host:

IP Address: 63.108.119.52

Port: 995

Username: sure01

Password: Please write to support@surelinesystems.com for the password

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2. Click "Yes" to accept the server fingerprint and continue to log in.

3. Open the folder named "Download."

4. The Download folder contains the following subfolders:

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Tools contains SUREedge Pre-Requisite tools, some useful Third Part Apps and Cloud

deployment scripts.

SUREedge Installation Package contains SUREedge Installer binaries.

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SUREedge Installation Package: The folder “SUREedge Installation Package” is divided into subfolders

for all available versions of SUREedge DR. You can navigate to the latest version (“Current Release”) to

obtain the package for installing in the Nutanix Acropolis environment.

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The Current Release folder contains installer packages for various platforms.

For Nutanix Acropolis please download the zip file

“SUREedge_Software_Appliance_Installer_For_Acropolis.zip”:

Tools:

The “Tools” folder contains tools useful for the installation and operation of SUREedge DR. It

contains sub-folders, “Client_ Pre_requisite tool”, “Third Party Apps” and “Cloud Scripts”:

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The “Client_ Pre_requisite tool” directory contains binaries that could be useful in preparing

Clients to be Protected. (Please see the SUREedge DR User Guide for information on using the

pre-requisite tools).

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The “Third Party Apps” directory contains programs that can help during the operation of

SUREedge DR:

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Please download applications such as –

1. Firefox: SUREedge DR is best viewed using the Firefox Browser; an executable for installing

Firefox is provided in this folder.

2. Notepad++ is a text viewer/editor that can be helpful for viewing log files or other text files.

3. MobaXterm is a terminal program that can be used to make an SSH connection to the

SUREedge Store virtual machine if necessary

4. Adobe Reader can be used to read the SUREedge DR documentation, which is provided as

PDF files.

The “Cloud Scripts” directory contains scripts required during SUREedge deployment at cloud.

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2.2 Obtaining Documentation

SUREedge DR documentation is available for download as PDF files from the Sureline Systems website.

To get access to SUREedge DR documentation, navigate to this URL in your browser:

http://www.surelinesystems.com/downloads/

You will need an account in order to log in and access the SUREedge DR documentation. If you are a new

user, please register by filling in the form and clicking “Register”. If you are already a registered user,

please click the “Sign in!” button and provide your credentials to access the download area.

After successfully signing in you will have access to the download area:

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3. Pre-requisites

A SUREedge DR instance running in the Nutanix environment consists of two two components: A

Management Console (MC) component that runs on a Windows system (Windows 8/8.1 or Windows

2012 R2 Server, Datacenter or Enterprise), and a Storage Engine (“Store”) which captures and stores the

system and application data being Backedup. These systems run as virtual machines (VMs) within the

Nutanix infrastructure. The MC component should be installed on an existing Windows server within the

Nutanix infrastructure; the Store will be created and installed as part of the MC installation process.

Prior to installing SUREedge DR you will need the following:

A Windows system to host the SUREedge DR MC component. This should be a Windows 8/8.1 or

Windows 2012 R2 Server, Datacenter or Enterprise system configured with at least 2 virtual

CPUs and 4GB of memory. It also needs to have the .NET 3.5 framework installed. (See

Appendix.)

In addition, there are resources that should be identified on the Nutanix Acropolis

infrastructure:

o The Cluster Virtual IP address of the Nutanix Acropolis’ cluster to which systems are

being restored. You can get the Cluster Virtual IP address by logging into the Prism

console and clicking on the system name in the upper left hand corner to bring up the

“Cluster Details” popup:

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o A container on the Nutanix Acropolis infrastructure should be identified as the location

where the SUREedge DR instance will be installed and where Restored systems and

applications will be instantiated. This container should be sized appropriately to hold

the (compressed and deduplicated ) Backedup system images as well as the storage for

the systems being Restored.

o To identify a container for use by SUREedge DR, log in to the Prism console and navigate

to the Storage page (search for “Storage” on the pulldown menu in the top left-hand

corner), then select the “Table” view:

You will see the list of containers available within the Nutanix cluster. Note the name of the

container you wish to use, or create a new container for this purpose.

Ensure SSH connectivity to the Nutanix Acropolis Infrastructure’s Clustered IP address (obtained

from the “Cluster Details” popup as shown above) from the Windows VM. (You can use a tool

such as “Mobaxterm“or “Putty“ to do this.)

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The Windows VM must also have access the destination Nutanix container as a UNC share from

the Windows VM. You can confirm connectivity opening a Windows Explorer window and

entering a path of this form: \\<cluster-ip-address>\<container-name>. For example:

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4. Installing SUREedge DR

Once the Nutanix environment is ready and has the required pre-requisites available/allocated the

SUREedge DR instance can be installed. Log into the Windows VM as an administrator and copy or

download the SUREedge DR installer package for Nutanix Acropolis and your license key to the Windows

VM where it is to be installed and double-click on the installer:

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The first screen you’ll see is a “Welcome screen." Click Next to continue.

You will then be prompted for a license file. Click on the “Browse” button and select the license file you

received or downloaded earlier and click Next to continue.

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Next, please select the product to be installed.

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On the next screen please review and accept the License Agreement. Click “I agree” to continue.

The next screen allows you to specify the details of your Nutanix Acropolis Infrastructure environment.

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Fill out this form as follows:

Controller VM IP Address: Specify the IP address of the Controller VM IP Address identified

earlier.

Username and Password: Specify the credentials for the Nutanix Controller VM SSH account.

(Note: This is different than the Web Console (Prism) account; see the Nutanix Administration

Guide for information regarding the Controller VM SSH client account.)

Nutanix Acropolis Container Name: Specify the name of the container on the Nutanix Acropolis

Infrastructure where the SUREedge DR instance is to be installed.

Datastore Size: Specify the maximum amount of space within the datastore to be used for

storing migration image data.

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Click “Next” to continue.

The next screen is for SUREedge configuration details (see below).

SUREedge MC Password: Specify the credentials for the account on Windows VM. It should

have administrator privileges. This user is the local user on the Windows system where

installation is in progress.

Data Encryption: SUREedge DR can be configured to encrypt the image data that is stored and

transferred across the network. Choosing “Enable” here will enable data encryption, and

“Disable” will turn it off. Note that if this feature is not enabled all captured data will be stored

and transferred un-encrypted.

Static IP: This should be an unused IP address on the same network as the Windows VM,

and will be used by the SUREedge DR Store VM.

Appliance Name and Appliance Location: These are informational strings that will be displayed

on the login and main screens of the SUREedge DR user interface.

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Click “Next” to continue.

The following screen will appear only if “Enable Data Encryption” was enabled on the previous screen:

This information is used for the encryption and decryption of image data that is stored and transferred

by SUREedge DR:

Password: Specify and confirm a password for protecting the data

Pass-Phrase: Enter a pass-phrase for use in encrypting and decrypting data

Click “Next” to continue. The next screen is the final confirmation that you wish to continue with the installation process. Click

“Install” to proceed with the installation or “Cancel” to exit without installing.

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NOTE: As part of the install process SUREedge DR will make a copy (clone) of the Windows VM where

SUREedge DR is being installed for later use in creating VMs from captured images. If this Windows VM

has been assigned a static IP address, then you may see this message during the install:

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If you see this message, please follow the steps in Appendix B: Resolving Static IP Configuration Issues”.

The time required to complete the installation will vary depending on the performance and load of the

system, the storage size(s) involved, etc. The progress of the installation process will be displayed while

the install is ongoing:

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Once the installation is finished you will see the completion screen:

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Click “Finish” to complete the installation.

Please Note: If the UAC level on the Windows server where SUREedge DR is being installed is set to

“Never Notify” then text about rebooting the server will not be displayed.

If the UAC level was higher then it will be set to “Never Notify” as a part of the SUREedge DR

installation process and you will be prompted to reboot the system, as follows:

Click on “Yes” to finish the installation and reboot the system immediately, or if you wish you may select

“No” and choose to reboot the server manually at a later time.

SUREedge DR is now installed in your Nutanix Acropolis environment. To connect to the SUREedge DR

user interface, open a “Firefox” web-browser window and type the Name or IP address of the Windows

VM where the SUREedge Management Console (MC) component was just installed:

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You can now log into the SUREedge console using the credentials that you specified during the

installation, which will present you with the SUREedge user interface:

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You are now all set to start Protect your servers and applications using SUREedge DR. Please refer to the

SUREedge DR User Guide for the next step to Protect and Backup your servers.

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5. Obtaining Licenses

As mentioned earlier a license is not required to install SUREedge DR, though it will operate with

reduced functionality until a license is supplied. In order to start the actual migration of systems you will

need to supply a permanent license.

For a permanent license, click on “Request License” in the upper right corner of the screen. A popup will

appear with instructions and all the information required to request a license.

Please send the Appliance Serial Number to support@surelinesystems.com or please call sales ( 408–

331-7940) to request a license. A member from our team will provide a license key via email. For

detailed instructions on how to activate your license key, please see the SUREedge DR User Guide.

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6. Next Steps

Your system is now installed and ready to perform migration or on-boarding operations. Please refer to

the SUREedge DR User Guide for more information about on-boarding and migrating applications and

systems. Directions for obtaining the User Guide and other product documentation can be found in

Section Error! Reference source not found. “Error! Reference source not found..”

7. Contacting Support

The Sureline Systems website (http://www.surelinesystems.com) provides a support page where you

can submit your issues. A ticket will be generated automatically and the support team will contact you.

Email us:

Alternatively, you can write an email to support@surelinesystems.com with a detailed description of the

issue. This will automatically create a support ticket, and a member of our customer support team will

reach out to you soon after.

Telephone Support:

You can also contact us directly on this number 408–331-8750, if you wish to speak with a Sureline

Systems Engineer directly.

Appendix A: Installing .NET 3.5

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The SUREedge DR Management Console (MC) requires that the Windows .NET 3.5 Framework be

installed on the Windows VM prior to installation. To ensure that .NET 3.5 installed on your system:

Launch Server Manager, highlight the "Local Server" entry on the left hand side and

select “Add Roles and Features” from the "Manage" pulldown on the toolbar. This will

bring up the Add Roles and Features Wizard:

Scroll in the “Features” window until you see “.NET Framework 3.5 Features” and

expand it. If the checkbox next to .NET Framework 3.5 is checked then .NET 3.5 is

already enabled on the system. If it is not checked then check it and proceed.

Please note: Enable only .NET framework 3.5 - do not enable HTTP / Non- HTTP

Activation.

If you checked any boxes then click “Install” to install the feature. This will bring up the

install screen where you can follow the progress of the operation:

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When the wizard completes .NET 3.5 will be available on the system. Click “Close” to dismiss the wizard.

Appendix B: Resolving Static IP Configuration Issues

As part of the install process SUREedge will make a copy (clone) of the Windows VM where SUREedge

DR is being installed for later use in creating VMs from captured images. If the source Windows VM has

been assigned a static IP address then you may see this message during the install:

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When this occurs, log into the Prism console and find the “Windows Proxy” VM. As shown below, it will

have taken an automatic private IP address (169.254.x.x):

To fix the problem, Login to Prism Console -> Highlight “Windows Proxy VM” and click on “Launch

console” this will open Windows Proxy VM Interface now login via same as “SureMC” and set the

network configuration to obtain an address via DHCP.

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As shown in the image below go to Control Panel-> Network and Internet-> Network Connections the

system will be configured with the same IP configuration as the original Windows VM where SUREedge

DR is being installed:

To set up the system to obtain a network configuration via DHCP, select the options “Obtain an IP

address automatically” and “Obtain DNS server address automatically” as shown below:

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Click “OK” to save the configuration. The system will then obtain an address via DHCP, which will be

shown in the Prism console:

Step2: On Proxy-Windows VM Lower Down UAC.

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Step 3 : Download “SUREedge Pre_requisite tool” from FTP Server as shown in the session 2.1.Extract

“Client pre-requisites.zip” , Right click “Test and Update.bat” and Run as Administrator.

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This will Install Pre-requisites on “Proxy-Windows” VM.

Once the changes have been successfully made you should power off the Windows Proxy system:

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You can now continue with the installation of SUREedge DR. Return to the DR Installer and acknowledge

the popup by clicking “OK”: