Sentral 6.9.3 Quick Start Guide Revision F 2.2.08.06.
Technical Support See the support Web site for technical updates, additional warranty information and documentation, and software revisions: Web http://www.clearcube.com/support/ Email: support@clearcube.com Phone: (512) 652-3400 (866) 652-3400 ClearCube Technology, Inc. The ClearCube Building 3700 W Parmer Lane Austin, Texas 78727 E-mail info@clearcube.
Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 2 New in ClearCube Sentral 6.9.3 ....................................................................................................... 1 3 Requesting a Sentral License Key .................................................................................................... 1 4 Minimum Requirements and Support ..................................
11 Apply a Sentral License Key ........................................................................................................... 22 12 Server Log and Settings ................................................................................................................. 22 12.1 Log Location .......................................................................................................................... 23 12.2 Specifying Log Destination: ServerConfiguration.xml ..................
22 Creating Custom Views in Sentral ................................................................................................. 47 23 Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................................ 49 23.1 Console Response Issues........................................................................................................ 49 23.2 Server Performance Is Slow or Server Is Not Responding .........................
Revisions Version Date 1.0.06.20.2012 06/21/2012 Description First release. Details installation steps and configurations necessary for initial setup and preliminary configuration. 1.1.08.29.2012 08/29/2012 Updated contact information. Included content for IIS support. Additional detail about permissions required during installation. Added details about Database Server installation. Added installation troubleshooting information. 1.2.01.23.2013 01/23/2013 Updated for release 6.8.
This Page Is Intentionally Blank vii
1 Introduction ClearCube® Sentral™ Version 6.9.3 provides a single interface to manage your desktop infrastructure including virtual machines, physical host (such as blades and computers), thin clients, and zero clients. ClearCube Sentral builds on six generations of ClearCube management software in a single management platform with many innovative new features. Sentral offers IT administrators one console to monitor and control their entire deployment of local and remote computing assets.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 4 Minimum Requirements and Support The table below shows minimum requirements for Sentral components and supported operating systems and VM host applications. Table 1. Minimum requirements for Sentral components and supported software Component Sentral Console Sentral Server Sentral Database Hosts running Sentral Host Agent Operating systems (Optional) VM host application 2 Minimum Requirements and Supported Items Recommended or Comments 2.
Before You Begin: Installation Prerequisites and Recommendations 5 Before You Begin: Installation Prerequisites and Recommendations Before installing Sentral ensure that: if you are using Microsoft® Internet Information Services (IIS) as your Sentral Web server, install IIS before installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server. See 5.1 “Installing Microsoft IIS” below for details. you have installed a database. 5.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 5.2.1 Important Settings for MySQL Server MySQL Server is not included with Sentral. It is assumed that the database installer has at least an intermediate knowledge about MySQL Server and your environment to perform the installation. Configure MySQL as appropriate for your environment.
Before You Begin: Installation Prerequisites and Recommendations 5.2.2 Important Settings for MS SQL Server MS SQL is not included with Sentral. It is assumed that the database installer has adequate knowledge about MS SQL and your environment to perform the installation. Configure MS SQL as appropriate for your environment.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 6 Installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server Before installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server, ensure that you have installed all prerequisites. See 5 “Before You Begin: Installation Prerequisites and Recommendations” above for details. The steps below show how to install Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server. NOTE: If you are using Microsoft IIS as your Sentral Web server, you must install IIS before installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server.
Installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server Figure 3. The Sentral Installer showing the components selected for installation 4. Read the license agreement and click Yes. 5. Specify the path to install Sentral components and then click Next. ClearCube recommends using the default path. Sentral then installs the JRE environment. 6. Sentral installs an FTP server. This FTP server is used for firmware and software updates. Click Next to continue the FTP server installation 7.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 9. Select the Web server you are using in your Sentral deployment from the options provided. The list below shows the steps to perform for the Web server that you select. Select one of the following: Apache Tomcat a. The installer requests Windows operating system and Active Directory credentials for authenticating Tomcat Server. Provide credentials in these fields. See the text on this screen for more information. b. Click Next to display the database credentials screen.
Installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server Figure 4. Specifying the name of the AS instance d. From the Setup Type screen, select Microsoft IIS, and then click Next. e. From the Choose Destination Location screen, accept the default location, C:\InetPub\Scripts, and then click Next (assuming that the installation drive is C:\). f. Accept the default ServletExec port, 8888, and then click Next. g. Click Next to install the specified components. h.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 5. The Sentral Database information screen The table below explains the Database Configuration fields. Table 2. The Database Configuration screen fields Field Description Database Select MySQL or MS SQL as appropriate for your installation. Database Server Enter the network location of the Sentral Database (the IP address or host name). ClearCube recommends using a static IP address.
Installing Sentral FTP Server and Sentral Server 11. From the Primary and Secondary Server screen, specify the IP address or host name of Sentral Server (ClearCube recommends using an IP address). NOTE: If you are using a primary server only, specify the primary server’s address in the Secondary Sever field. 12. Click Next and the installer displays progress messages. 13. Enter the requested information to create an SSL certificate (shown in the figure below).
Sentral Quick Start Guide 7 Installing Sentral Console Sentral Console installation automatically begins after Sentral Server installation is complete. NOTE: Do not install Sentral host agent on the computer on which Sentral Console is installed. 1. In the Sentral Server Information screen, Sentral automatically populates the Primary and Secondary Server fields with the hostname of the computer on which you are performing the installation. ClearCube recommends entering the computer’s IP address here.
Important Configuration Settings for Sentral Server 9 Logging in to Sentral for the First Time The default Sentral account enables you log in for the first time and set and configure all settings. After performing initial configurations and setting security options, you can disable the default account and use the local administrator account or a configured Domain account. The table below shows the default Sentral account credentials. Table 3.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 8. The Configuration Wizard displayed at login 14 Rev F 2.2.08.06.
Important Configuration Settings for Sentral Server Figure 9. The Configuration screen (Setup > Configuration) The sections below provide short lists of the Sentral Configuration screen fields. 10.1 SNMP Configuration Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol that enables you to manage nodes on an IP network.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Table 4. Console SNMP Configuration Fields Field Name Description Port This field specifies the UDP port to which traps are sent. The default is 162, and should not be changed unless you open this port across the network to your trap receiver system, and configure the receiver to accept SNMP traps on this port. Generic Trap This field indicates that the trap is enterprise-specific.
Important Configuration Settings for Sentral Server 10.2 Email Notifications The list below shows settings for email notifications sent from Sentral Server. Alert Email Sender Alert Email Sender Password SMTP Server SMTP Port SSL Password Authentication Email Group 10.3 Alert Frequency The list below shows settings controlling how often deployed alerts are evaluated and how often notifications are sent when they are triggered.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Host Update Timeout (min) Host Card Update Timeout (min) Thin Client Health Update Interval (min) Host Card Health Update Interval (min) Host Card Health Update Interval (min) The list below shows best practices: Timeout values are always larger than update intervals. ClearCube recommends setting polling and timeout values so devices can send two polls within the timeout period. 10.6 FTP Server The list below shows FTP server settings.
Important Configuration Settings for Sentral Server Figure 10. Time scale in graph specified in Dashboard Scale setting Dashboard Refresh Time (min) 10.9 User Discovery Sentral can discover users to map (or allocate) users to devices. The Discovery User Preference setting determines if the users discovered allocations are part of the local machine (or imported directly into database) or are part of a Domain.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 10.13 Label Display in Chassis View The Staggered Labels option specifies how C/Port, Host, and I/Port labels are displayed in chassis graphical views (for example, in the C/Ports – Switching screen. Figure 11 below shows staggered C/Port labels. Figure 11. Staggered view of C/Port labels in R-Series chassis view 10.
Important Configuration Settings for Sentral Server 10.15 IPMI-Enabled Server Discovery This option discovers all IPMI-enabled servers on the network and populates them in the Sentral hierarchical tree. Right-click menu options (such as Serial over LAN and power operations) are available by right-clicking nodes in the hierarchical tree. Figure 13. Discovering IMPI devices 10.16 Search Options Sentral 6.
Sentral Quick Start Guide The default value is true, which hides the zero client login screen. Setting the value to false displays the zero client login screen. 11 Apply a Sentral License Key Section 3 “Requesting a Sentral License,” above, shows how to request a Sentral license key from ClearCube Support. After you receive the license key and install all Sentral components, apply the key as shown in the steps below (these steps assume Sentral is installed on Windows 7). 1.
Backups displayed in an Apache Tomcat Console (The console is available only when starting Tomcat as an application instead of as a service.) 12.1 Log Location The log file, SentralServer.log, is located in the C:\Program Files\ClearCube Sentral\CMSServer\WEB-INF\configuration\log directory. 12.2 Specifying Log Destination: ServerConfiguration.xml The console.system.out.appender entry in ServerConfiguration.xml specifies if log output is written to SentralServer.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 13.1 Backing up Sentral Server and Sentral Console ClearCube recommends backing up Sentral Server and console after making all configurations. From the C:\Program Files\ClearCube Sentral\ directory, back up the directories shown below: ClearCube Sentral Console Tomcat 13.2 Backing up Sentral Database Schema ClearCube recommends creating an automated daily or weekly backup of the database schema.
Basic Operations 14.1 Installing Sentral Host Agent The sections below show how to install Sentral Host Agent on compute devices in a Sentral environment. The Sentral host agent must be installed on each host (physical computer, blade, virtual machine, or other computing device) that Sentral manages. NOTE: Remember that hosts require a host agent; thin clients require a thin client agent. Zero clients do not require the installation of agent software. See 14.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 15. The Host Agent installer welcome screen 4. Click Next to display the license agreement. 5. Accept the agreement and then click Next to display the Customer Information screen. 6. Complete the user name and organization fields, and then select the users for whom to install the application. Click Next to display the Setup Type screen. 7. From the Setup Type screen, select the features to install. You can enable and disable features by choosing the Custom Setup option.
Basic Operations Figure 16. Selecting host agent components to install 8. Click Install to begin Host Agent installation. If you included the BMC feature and you are installing the host agent on a VM or any computer other than an A-Series blade, a message is displayed indicating that hardware for the BMC driver is not found. Click OK to proceed. BMC hardware is only found on A-Series blade PCs. Figure 17. BMC driver message displayed when BMC is selected for installation on a non-A-Series blade 9.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 18. TightVNC Setup Wizard 10. Click I Agree to continue. 11. Accept all default values and click Next until you reach the Select Additional Tasks screen. 12. Be sure to select all options in the Select Additional Task screen, shown below, and then click Next. Figure 19. TightVNC Select Additional Tasks screen 13. The installer starts the TightVNC service and displays the Service Configuration screen.
Basic Operations 15. The Sentral Host Agent setup completion screen is displayed. Click Finish to complete host agent installation. 16. Restart the computer to complete installation. Click Yes to restart immediately or No to restart later. Now that the host agent is installed on the device, you can perform a device discovery to begin managing the host from the Sentral Console. Remember to install thin client agents on any thin clients in your Sentral environment. See 14.
Sentral Quick Start Guide You can now follow the steps below to install the Sentral Host Agent. See PCoIP System User’s Guide for more information about zero client and host card interfaces and options. Installing Sentral Host Agent 1. From the Sentral download, copy the host agent installer from the Sentral host agent folder to the host or VM. Be sure the installer is for the appropriate operating system. 2. Change directory to the location of the installation rpm.
Basic Operations Uninstall 1. Enter the following command: rpm -e BladeAgent 2. Restart the computer. 14.1.3 CentOS® Linux® This section shows how to install Sentral Host Agent on devices using CentOS Linux. Dependencies for PCoIP support on 64-bit operating system To support PCoIP technology on a thin client, you must install PCoIP Host Software on a thin client before installing a Sentral Host Agent.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Install 1. Enter the command: rpm -ivh -- BladeAgent-6.9.3-1.x86_64.rpm 2. Restart the computer. Uninstall 1. Enter the command rpm -e BladeAgent 2. Restart the computer. 14.1.4 Ubuntu This section shows how to install Sentral Host Agent on devices using Ubuntu® Linux. Pre-Installation Dependencies From a terminal, enter the commands below as super user. 1. sudo apt-get update 2. sudo apt-get install xrdp Install From a terminal, enter the commands below as super user. 1.
Basic Operations If the thin clients in your enterprise have pre-installed Sentral thin client agents, you do not need to install or re-install the thin client agent. NOTE: Zero clients using PCoIP technology do not require a thin client agent. NOTE: If you are using clients that run a Linux operating system, consult the documentation included in the installation media for Linux thin client agent installation instructions. 14.2.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 20. Thin Client Agent welcome screen 6. Click Next to display the license agreement. 7. Accept the agreement and then click Next to display the Customer Information screen. 8. Complete the User Name and Organization fields, and then select the users for whom to install the application. Click Next to display the Setup Type screen. 9. From the Setup Type screen, select the features to install. You can include and remove features by choosing the Custom option.
Basic Operations Figure 21. Selecting Thin Client Agent components to install After choosing features to install, click Next. 10. Enter the IP address or hostname of the Sentral Primary Server and Secondary Server. The default value is the hostname of the computer on which you are installing the host agent. NOTE: If you have a Primary Sentral Server only, enter the same values in the Primary and Secondary fields.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 22. TightVNC Select Additional Tasks screen g. The installer starts the TightVNC service and displays the Service Configuration screen. Specify a password for service authentication and for the control interface or clear the options to remove password requirements. These passwords apply only to VNC. Click Install. h. The TightVNC installer shows that installation is complete. Click Next. The Completing TightVNC Setup Wizard screen is displayed.
Basic Operations To install: 1. From the thin client folder in the Sentral download, copy iport_6.9.3.deb to the thin client. Choose the file appropriate for your operating system. 2. Open a terminal window and change directory to the location of the iport_6.9.3.deb file. 3. Enter the command: sudo dpkg -i iport_6.9.3.deb 4. From the pop-up dialog box, enter the IP address or hostname of the Sentral Primary Server and Secondary Server.
Sentral Quick Start Guide When the discovery process is complete, all discovered devices are displayed in the hierarchical tree. 14.4 Creating Groups and Subgroups (Required for All Management Tasks) Devices and users must be in a Sentral group to perform management tasks on them. To create a group: 1. Right-click CCT node in the hierarchical tree on the left portion of the screen. 2. Select Add Group. 3. Complete the group name fields and then click Add Group. 4.
Basic Operations NOTE: If you do not already have a group specified for users, create one from the hierarchical tree by right-clicking the CCT group, selecting New Group, and specifying a name. 6. Right-click the group to which you are adding users and select Manage User Group. 7. On the Connection Brokering – User Groups (New) screen, select the group again, right-click, and select Add User. 8. From the Group Name list, select Users. All users in the group are displayed. 9.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 1. From the Sentral Database, open the discovereduser table. 2. Add a new record for each user in the format: Username, SecurityGroups, DomainName, TypeID. For Sentral Database, use the values shown below, where User Name is the name of each user: User Name, Users, Local, 5 3. Perform steps 5 to 10 as shown in the previous procedure. 40 Rev F 2.2.08.06.
Creating User-Based Allocations 15 Creating Device-Based Allocations The steps below show how to allocate clients to blades (a zero client to a blade in this example). NOTE: To allocate devices they must be in a group as shown in 14.4 “Creating Groups and Subgroups” above. 1. From the Sentral menu, click Connection Brokering > Allocation. 2. Click the Thin Client tab. 3. From the pane on the left, select the zero client you want to allocate (listed in the Hostname column).
Sentral Quick Start Guide 18 Orchestrating User Moves The steps below show how to move users from one desk to another using device-based allocation. Before you begin: Obtain the MAC addresses of the zero client the user is currently using and of the zero client they will be moving to. MAC addresses are shown on a label on the zero client. 1. From the Connection Brokering > Allocation screen, right-click the zero client (listed in the Thinclient column) and select Disconnect device.
Updating Sentral Host Agent Software 4. Right-click the group that you want to update (in this example, the update group) and select New Update. Figure 25. Selecting the New Update option 5. Select the SoftwareUpdate.zip package and the ans.run file from the applicable directory. Figure 26. Selecting the Software Update and answer files 6. Click the Schedule Time icon ( ) to display the Time Date Management screen. 7.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 20 Firmware Update Process The sections below show how to update PCoIP firmware for PCoIP host cards and PCoIP zero clients. 20.1 Uploading Files The steps below show how to upload firmware update files to the Sentral FTP Server.
Right-Click Menu Options from Hierarchical Tree 21 Right-Click Menu Options from Hierarchical Tree You can right-click hosts and zero clients in the hierarchical tree shown on the left side of Sentral Console (as shown in Figure 27 and Figure 28). Right-click menus display common management options. The sections below explain frequently-used right-click menu options. 21.1 Blade with PCoIP Host Card The table below describes commonly-used right-click menu options for blades with PCoIP host cards.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 21.2 Zero Clients The table below describes the zero client right-click menu options that are commonly used. Table 7. Zero client right-click menu options Menu Option Description Change Mode to Managed Sets the zero client to poll to Sentral Server and enable connection brokering. Change Mode to Unmanaged Zero client does not poll Sentral Server (for deployments using unmanaged connections). Rename Device Allows you to create an alias for the zero client.
Creating Custom Views in Sentral 22 Creating Custom Views in Sentral Administrators can create custom views to filter data shown in the console. Figure 29. The View menu with custom views The default view in Sentral shows all devices. By creating customized views you can reduce the amount of information that Sentral Console displays. Custom views can simplify data management on screen enable administrators to assess targeted information quickly, and improve console performance.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Figure 30. Right-click and select Add new View 3. Give the view a name in the View Name field. 4. Select the group(s) that you want to include in the view (you can SHIFT-click and CTRL-click to select multiple groups). Figure 31. Selecting groups to include in a custom view 5. Click the right arrow to move the groups you are including in the view the right panel. 6. Click the Save button. Sentral displays the New view has been added message. 7. Click OK.
Troubleshooting 23 Troubleshooting The sections below provide troubleshooting steps and suggestions. 23.1 Console Response Issues If Sentral Console does not respond to mouse clicks, you might need to restart Sentral Console. From the Windows operating system Task Manager’s Processes tab, find the javaw.exe process and click End Process. NOTE: 23.2 ClearCube recommends exiting the console when you have finished using the console rather than leaving it running.
Sentral Quick Start Guide 3. Right-click tomcat7.exe and select Run as administrator. 4. From the User Account Control dialog box, click Yes to open the console. 50 Rev F 2.2.08.06.
Inportant Account Information 24 Important Account Information Use the table below to record important Sentral-related account information.
Sentral Quick Start Guide Sentral Database (continued) P/N G0200153 Rev 1.0.06.20.
This Page is Intentionally Blank
Rev F 2.2.08.06.2014 P/N G0200153 www.clearcube.
