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Rancher RKE 1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2, SAP Data Intelligence 3.1

SAP Data Intelligence 3.1 on Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1

Installation Guide

SUSE Best Practices
Containerization SAP
Authors
Dr. Ulrich Schairer, SAP Solutions Architect (SUSE)
Kevin Klinger, SAP Solutions Architect (SUSE)
Image
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2
Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1
SAP Data Intelligence 3.1
Date: 2021-03-11

SAP Data Intelligence 3 is the tool set to govern big amount of data. Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) 1 is the Kubernetes base that makes deploying SAP Data Intelligence 3 easy.

This document describes the installation and configuration of RKE 1 from SUSE and SAP Data Intelligence 3.1.

Disclaimer: Documents published as part of the SUSE Best Practices series have been contributed voluntarily by SUSE employees and third parties. They are meant to serve as examples of how particular actions can be performed. They have been compiled with utmost attention to detail. However, this does not guarantee complete accuracy. SUSE cannot verify that actions described in these documents do what is claimed or whether actions described have unintended consequences. SUSE LLC, its affiliates, the authors, and the translators may not be held liable for possible errors or the consequences thereof.

1 Introduction

This guide describes an on-premises installation of SAP Data Intelligence (SAP DI) 3.1 on top of Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) 1.

In a nutshell, the installation of SAP DI 3.1 consists of the following steps:

  1. Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2

  2. Installing RKE 1 Kubernetes cluster on the dedicated nodes

  3. Deploying SAP DI 3.1 on RKE 1 Kubernetes cluster

  4. Post-Installation steps for SAP DI 3.1

  5. Testing the installation of SAP DI 3.1

2 Prerequisites

2.1 Hardware requirements

This chapter describes the hardware requirements for installing SAP DI 3.1 on RKE 1 on top of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2. Only x86_64 architecture is applicable for our use case.

Correct hardware sizing is very important for setting up SAP Data Intelligence 3.1 on Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1.

  • Minimal hardware requirements for a generic SAP DI 3 deployment:

    • At least seven nodes are needed for the Kubernetes cluster

    • Minimum sizing of the nodes needs to be as shown below:

      Server RoleCountRAMCPUDisk space

      Management Workstation

      1

      16 GiB

      4

      >100 GiB

      Master Node

      3

      16 GiB

      4

      >120 GiB

      Worker Node

      4

      32 GiB

      8

      >120 GiB

  • Minimal hardware requirements for an SAP DI 3 deployment for production use:

    • At least seven nodes are needed for the Kubernetes cluster

    • Minimum sizing of the nodes needs to be as shown below:

      Server RoleCountRAMCPUDisk space

      Management Workstation

      1

      16 GiB

      4

      >100 GiB

      Master Node

      3

      16 GiB

      4

      >120 GiB

      Worker Node

      4

      64 GiB

      16

      >120 GiB

  • For more information about the requirements for RKE, read the documentation at:

  • For more detailed sizing information about SAP DI 3, read the "Sizing Guide for SAP Data Intelligence" at:

2.2 Software Requirements

The following list contains the software components needed to install SAP DI 3.1 on RKE 1:

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2

  • Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1

  • SAP Software Lifecycle Bridge

  • SAP Data Intelligence 3.1

  • Secure private registry for container images, for example SUSE Private Registry Powered by Harbor 2.1)

  • Access to a storage solution providing dynamically physical volumes

  • If it is planned to use Vora’s streaming tables checkpoint store, an S3 bucket-like object store is needed

  • If it is planned to enable backup of SAP DI 3.1 during installation, access to an S3-compatible object store is needed

3 Preparations

4 Installing Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1 cluster

The installation of Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1 cluster is straight forward. After the installation and basic configuration of the operating system, the Kubernetes cluster configuration is created on the management host. Subsequently, the Kubernetes cluster is deployed.

The following sections describe the installation steps in more detail.

4.1 Preparing management host and Kubernetes cluster nodes

All servers in our scenario use SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 (SLES 15 SP2) on the x86_64 architecture. The documentation for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server can be found at:

4.1.1 Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2

On each server in your environment for SAP Data Intelligence 3.1, install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 as the operating system. This chapter describes all recommended steps for the installation.

Tip
Tip

If you have already set up all machines and the operating system, skip this chapter and follow the instructions in Section 4.2, “Configuring the Kubernetes nodes”.

  • It is recommended to use a static network configuration. During the installation setup, the first opportunity to adjust network settings is when the registration page is displayed. In the upper right corner, click the button "Network Configuration …​":

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Registration
    Figure 1: SLES Setup Registration Page
  • The Network Settings page is displayed. By default, the network adapter is configured to use DHCP. To change this, click the button "Edit":

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Network Settings
    Figure 2: SLES Setup Network Settings
  • On the Network Card Setup page, select "Statically Assigned IP Address" and fill in the fields "IP Address", "Subnet Mask" and "Hostname":

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Network Card Setup
    Figure 3: SLES Setup Network Card
  • During the installation, you also need to adjust the extensions that need to be installed. The Container Module is needed to operate RKE and Docker.

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Extensions
    Figure 4: SLES Setup Extensions
  • As no graphical interface is needed, it is recommended to install a text-based server:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup SystemRole
    Figure 5: SLES Setup System Role
  • To run Kubernetes, the swap partition needs to be disabled. To do so, the partition proposal during installation can be adjusted:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Partitioning Expanded
    Figure 6: SLES Setup Partitioning
  • When opening the Expert Partitioner, the swap partition needs to be selected to delete it:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Expert Partitioner
    Figure 7: SLES Setup Expert Partitioner Swap
  • After deleting the swap partition, there will be some space left that can be used to enlarge the main partition. To do so, the resize page can be called:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Expert Partitioner3
    Figure 8: SLES Setup Expert Partitioner Resize
  • The easiest way to use all the unused space is to select the "Maximum Size" option here:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Resize Disk
    Figure 9: SLES Setup Resize Disk
  • Next, enable the NTP time synchronization. This can be done when the Clock and Time Zone page shows up during installation. To enable NTP, click the "Other Settings …​" button:

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Clock and Time
    Figure 10: SLES Setup Timezone
  • Select the "Synchronize with NTP Server" option. A custom NTP server address can be added if desired. Ensure to mark the check boxes for "Run NTP as daemon" and "Save NTP Configuration"; this is really important.

    SLES15 SP2 Setup NTP
    Figure 11: SLES Setup NTP
  • When the Installation Settings page shows up, make sure that the:

    • Firewall will be disabled

    • SSH service will be enabled

    • Kdump status is disabled

    SLES15 SP2 Setup Summary
    Figure 12: SLES Setup Summary
  • To disable Kdump, click its label. This opens the Kdump Start-Up page. On that page, make sure "Disable Kdump" is selected.

    SLES15 SP2 Setup KDump
    Figure 13: SLES Setup Kdump
  • Finish the installation and proceed to the next chapter.

4.2 Configuring the Kubernetes nodes

For the purpose of this guide, the workstation will be used to orchestrate all other machines via Salt.

4.2.1 Installing and configuring Salt minions

  • First, register all systems to the SUSE Customer Center or an SMT/RMT server to obtain updates during the installation and afterward.

    • When using an SMT/RMT server, the address must be specified:

      $ sudo SUSEConnect --url "https://<SMT/RMT-address>"
    • When registering via SUSE Customer Center, use your subscription and e-mail address:

      $ sudo SUSEConnect -r <SubscriptionCode> -e <EmailAddress>
  • The base system is required by all other modules. To start the installation, run:

    $ sudo SUSEConnect -p sle-module-basesystem/15.2/x86_64
  • Before you can use the workstation for orchestration, install and configure Salt on all Kubernetes nodes:

    $ sudo zypper in -y salt-minion
    $ sudo echo "master: <WorkstationIP>" > /etc/salt/minion
    $ sudo systemctl enable salt-minion --now

4.3 Configuring the management workstation

The management workstation is used to deploy and maintain the Kubernetes cluster and workloads running on it.

4.3.1 Installing and configuring Salt master

It is recommended to use Salt to orchestrate all Kubernetes nodes. You can skip this activity, but this means that every node would need to be configured manually afterward.

  • To install Salt, run:

    $ sudo zypper in -y salt-master
    $ sudo systemctl enable salt-master --now
  • Make sure all Kubernetes nodes show up when running:

    $ salt-key -L
  • Accept and verify all minion keys:

    $ salt-key -A -y
    $ salt-key -L
  • Since the RKE deployment needs SSH, an ssh key is needed. To generate a new one, run:

    $ ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
  • Distribute the generated key to all other nodes with the command:

    $ ssh-copy-id -i <path to your sshkey> root@<nodeIP>

4.3.2 Configuring the Kubernetes nodes

  • Check the status of the firewall and disable it if this is not yet done:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl status firewalld'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl disable firewalld --now'
  • Check the status of Kdump and disable it if this is not yet done:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl status kdump'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl disable kdump --now'
  • Make sure swap is disabled:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'cat /proc/swaps'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'swapoff -a'
  • Check the NTP time synchronization and enable it if this is not yet done:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl status chronyd'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl enable chronyd --now'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'chronyc sources'
  • Make sure the SSH server is running:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl status sshd'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl enable sshd --now'
  • Activate the needed SUSE modules:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'SUSEConnect -p sle-module-containers/15.2/x86_64'
  • Install the packages required to run SAP Data Intelligence and enable the docker service:

    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'zypper in -y nfs-client nfs-kernel-server xfsprogs ceph-common docker'
    $ sudo salt '*' cmd.run 'systemctl enable docker --now'

4.4 Installing Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1

To install RKE 1 on the cluster nodes, download the RKE 1 binary to your management workstation, create the configuration for the Kubernetes cluster and deploy the cluster. The single steps are described in the following sections.

For more detailed information, read the documentation RKE Kubernetes Installation

4.4.1 Downloading Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1

To download the RKE binary, go to the RKE product page and choose "download RKE":

Follow the link to the latest stable release, and get the amd64-binary as shown in the example below:

$ mkdir rke
$ cd rke
$ curl -LO https://github.com/rancher/rke/releases/download/v1.0.16/rke_linux-amd64
$ mv rke_linux-amd64 rke
$ chmod a+x rke

4.4.2 Creating the configuration for the Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1 cluster

Running the RKE configure option creates the configuration file for the Kubernetes cluster as a .yaml file in an interactive process. Make sure to have the IP addresses of the dedicated cluster nodes at hand:

$ cd rke
$ ./rke config --name <name of your config file>

4.4.3 Deploying Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1

Now deploy the Kubernetes cluster and run the command:

$ cd rke
$ ./rke up --config <name of your config file>

This will create kubeconfig for accessing the Kubernetes cluster in the current directory. Create a backup of the files contained in this directory (in our example: rke/).

4.4.4 Checking the installation

Download a matching kubectl version to the management workstation:

  • Example for kubectl version 1.17.17:

    $ curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/v1.17.17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
    $ chmod a+x kubectl
    $ sudo cp -av kubectl /usr/bin/kubectl
  • Verify it by running:

    $ export KUBECONFIG=<PATH to your kubeconfig>
    $ kubectl version
    $ kubectl get nodes

5 Installing SAP Data Intelligence 3.1

This section describes the installation of SAP DI 3.1 on an RKE 1 powered Kubernetes cluster.

5.1 Preparations

The following steps need to be executed before the deployment of SAP DI 3.1 can start:

  • Create a namespace for SAP DI 3.1.

  • Create an access to secure private registry.

  • Create a default storage class.

  • Download and install SAP SLC Bridge.

  • Download the stack.xml file for provisioning the DI 3.1 installation.

  • Check if the nfsd and nfsv4 kernel modules are loaded and/or loadable on the Kubernetes nodes.

5.1.1 Creating namespace for SAP DI 3.1 in the Kubernetes cluster

Log in to your management workstation and create the namespace in the Kubernetes cluster where SAP DI 3.1 will be deployed.

$ kubectl create ns <NAMESPACE for DI 31>
$ kubectl get ns

5.1.2 Creating cert file to access the secure private registry

Create a file named cert that contains the SSL certificate chain for the secure private registry. This imports the certificates into SAP DI 3.1.

$ cat CA.pem > cert
$ kubectl -n <NAMESPACE for DI 31> create secret generic cmcertificates --from-file=cert

5.2 Creating default storage class

To install SAP DI 3.1, a default storage class is needed to provision the installation with physical volumes (PV). Below find an example for a ceph/rbd based storage class that uses the CSI.

  • Create the yaml files for the storage class; get in contact with your storage administrator to receive the required information.

  • Create config-map:

    $ cat << EOF > csi-config-map.yaml
    ---
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: ConfigMap
    data:
      config.json: |-
        [
          {
            "clusterID": "<ID of your ceph cluster>",
            "monitors": [
              "<IP of Monitor 1>:6789",
              "<IP of Monitor 2>:6789",
              "<IP of Monitor 3>:6789"
            ]
          }
        ]
    metadata:
      name: ceph-csi-config
    EOF
  • Create a secret to access the storage:

    $ cat << EOF > csi-rbd-secret.yaml
    ---
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: csi-rbd-secret
      namespace: default
    stringData:
      userID: admin
      userKey: AQCR7htglvJzBxAAtPN0YUeSiDzyTeQe0lveDQ==
    EOF
  • Download the file:

    $ curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceph/ceph-csi/master/deploy/rbd/kubernetes/csi-rbdplugin-provisioner.yaml
  • Download the file:

    $ curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceph/ceph-csi/master/deploy/rbd/kubernetes/csi-rbdplugin.yaml
  • Important: The provisioner and node plugin YAMLs will, by default, pull the development release of the ceph-csi container (quay.io/cephcsi/cephcsi:canary). The YAMLs should be updated to use a release version container for production workloads.

    Example how to set release version to v3.2.1:

    $ sed -i -e 's/canary/v3.2.1/g' csi-rbd-plugin*.yaml

A list of releases can be found here: https://quay.io/repository/cephcsi/cephcsi?tag=canary&tab=tags

  • Create a pool on the Ceph storage where the PVs will be created, and insert the poolname and the Ceph cluster ID:

    $ cat << EOF > csi-rbd-sc.yaml
    ---
    apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
    kind: StorageClass
    metadata:
       name: csi-rbd-sc
    provisioner: rbd.csi.ceph.com
    parameters:
       clusterID: <your ceph cluster id>
       pool: <your pool>
       csi.storage.k8s.io/provisioner-secret-name: csi-rbd-secret
       csi.storage.k8s.io/provisioner-secret-namespace: default
       csi.storage.k8s.io/node-stage-secret-name: csi-rbd-secret
       csi.storage.k8s.io/node-stage-secret-namespace: default
    reclaimPolicy: Delete
    mountOptions:
       - discard
    EOF
  • Create config for encryption. This is needed, else the deployment of the CSI driver for ceph/rbd will fail.

    $ cat << EOF > kms-config.yaml
    ---
    apiVersion: v1
    kind: ConfigMap
    data:
      config.json: |-
        {
          },
          "vault-tokens-test": {
              "encryptionKMSType": "vaulttokens",
              "vaultAddress": "http://vault.default.svc.cluster.local:8200",
              "vaultBackendPath": "secret/",
              "vaultTLSServerName": "vault.default.svc.cluster.local",
              "vaultCAVerify": "false",
              "tenantConfigName": "ceph-csi-kms-config",
              "tenantTokenName": "ceph-csi-kms-token",
              "tenants": {
                  "my-app": {
                      "vaultAddress": "https://vault.example.com",
                      "vaultCAVerify": "true"
                  },
                  "an-other-app": {
                      "tenantTokenName": "storage-encryption-token"
                  }
              }
           }
        }
    metadata:
      name: ceph-csi-encryption-kms-config
    EOF
  • Deploy the ceph/rbd CSI and storage class:

    $ kubectl apply -f csi-config-map.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f csi-rbd-secret.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f \
      https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceph/ceph-csi/master/deploy/rbd/kubernetes/csi-provisioner-rbac.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f \
      https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ceph/ceph-csi/master/deploy/rbd/kubernetes/csi-nodeplugin-rbac.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f csi-rbdplugin-provisioner.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f csi-rbdplugin.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f csi-rbd-sc.yaml
    $ kubectl apply -f kms-config.yaml
    $ kubectl patch storageclass csi-rbd-sc \
      -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"}}}'
  • Check your storage class:

    $ kubectl get sc
    NAME                   PROVISIONER        RECLAIMPOLICY   VOLUMEBINDINGMODE   ALLOWVOLUMEEXPANSION   AGE
    csi-rbd-sc (default)   rbd.csi.ceph.com   Delete          Immediate           false                  103m

5.3 Using Longhorn for physical volumes

A valid alternative is to deploy Longhorn storage for serving the PVs of SAP DI 3. For more information, visit https://longhorn.io.

Longhorn uses the CSI for accessing the storage.

5.3.1 Prerequisites

Each node in the Kubernetes cluster where Longhorn is installed must fulfill the following requirements:

  • A matching Kubernetes version (this is because we are installing SAP DI 3)

  • open-iscsi, make sure the iscsid daemon is started

  • Support for XFS file system

  • nfsv4 client must be installed

  • curl, lsblk, blkid, findmnt, grep, awk must be installed

  • Mount propagations must be enabled on Kubernetes cluster

A check script provided by the Longhorn project can be installed on the management workstation.

$ curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/longhorn/longhorn/v1.1.0/scripts/environment_check.sh | bash

On the Kubernetes worker nodes that should act as storage nodes, add sufficient disk drives. Create mount points for these disks, then create the XFS file system on top, and mount them. Longhorn will be configured to use these disks for storing data. For detailed information about disk sizes, see the SAP Sizing Guide for SAP DI 3.

5.3.2 Installing Longhorn

The installation of Longhorn is straight forward. This guide follows the documentation of Longhorn which can be found at https://longhorn.io/docs/1.1.0/.

  • Start the deployment with the command:

    $ kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/longhorn/longhorn/v1.1.0/deploy/longhorn.yaml
  • Monitor the deployment progress with the following command:

    $ kubectl get pods \
      --namespace longhorn-system \
      --watch

5.3.3 Configuring Longhorn

The Longhorn storage administration is done via a built-in UI dashboard. To access this UI, an Ingress needs to be configured.

5.3.3.1 Creating an Ingress with basic authentication
  • Create a basic auth file:

    $ USER=<USERNAME_HERE>; \
      PASSWORD=<PASSWORD_HERE>; \
      echo "${USER}:$(openssl passwd -stdin -apr1 <<< ${PASSWORD})" >> auth
  • Create a secret from the file auth:

    $ kubectl -n longhorn-system create secret generic basic-auth --from-file=auth
  • Create the Ingress with basic authentication:

    $ cat <<EOF > longhorn-ingress.yaml
    apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: Ingress
    metadata:
      name: longhorn-i-ingress
      namespace: longhorn-system
      annotations:
        # type of authentication
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-type: basic
        # prevent the controller from redirecting (308) to HTTPS
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: 'false'
        # name of the secret that contains the user/password definitions
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-secret: basic-auth
        # message to display with an appropriate context why the authentication is required
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-realm: 'Authentication Required '
    spec:
      rules:
      - http:
          paths:
          - path: /
            backend:
              serviceName: longhorn-frontend
              servicePort: 80
    EOF
    
    $ kubectl -n longhorn-system apply -f longhorn-ingress.yaml
5.3.3.2 Adding disk space for Longhorn

This section describes how to add disk space to Longhorn implementation.

  • Prepare the disks:

    • Create a mount point for the disks

    • Create a partition and file system on the disk

    • Mount the file system of the disk to the created mount point

    • Add an entry for this file system to fstab

    • Test this setup (for example: umount file system, run mount -a, check if file system is mounted properly with lsblk)

  • Configure additional disks using the Longhorn User Interface

    • Access the UI of Longhorn through the URL configured in the Ingress (for example "http://node:").

    • Authenticate with the user and password set in the previous chapter.

      longhorn dashboard
      Figure 14: Longhorn UI Overview
    • On this Overview page, click the nodes tab.

      longhorn dash nodes
      Figure 15: Longhorn UI Nodes
    • Hover over the settings icon on the right side.

      longhorn dash nodes edit
      Figure 16: Longhorn UI Edit node
    • Click "Edit Node and Disks".

      longhorn dash add disk1
      Figure 17: Longhorn UI Add disk
    • Click the "Add Disks" button.

      longhorn dash disk2
      Figure 18: Longhorn UI disk save
    • Fill in the mount point and mark it as schedulable.

    • Click "Save".

  • Repeat this for other disks on the other nodes.

  • Check the status in the UI of Longhorn:

    • Point the browser to the URL defined in the Ingress.

    • Authenticate with the user and password created above.

  • The UI displays an overview of the Longhorn storage. For more details, see the Longhorn documentation

5.3.4 Creating a Storage Class on top of Longhorn

The following command creates a storage class named longhorn for the use of SAP DI 3.1.

$ kubectl create -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/longhorn/longhorn/v1.1.0/examples/storageclass.yaml

Annotate this storage class as default:

$ kubectl patch storageclass longhorn \
  -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"}}}'

5.3.5 Longhorn Documentation

For more details, see the Longhorn documentation

5.4 Downloading the SLC Bridge

The SLC Bridge can be obtained:

Download the SLC Bridge software to the management workstation.

5.5 Installing the SLC Bridge

Rename the SLC Bridge binary to slcb and make it executable. Deploy the SLC Bridge to the Kubernetes cluster:

$ mv SLCB01_XX-70003322.EXE slcb
$ chmod 0700 slcb
$ export KUBECONFIG=<KUBE_CONFIG>
$ ./slcb init

During the interactive installation, the following information is needed:

  • URL of secure private registry

  • Choose expert mode

  • Choose NodePort for the service

Take a note of the service port of the SLC Bridge. It is needed for the installation of SAP DI 3.1 or for the reconfiguration of DI 3.1, for example to enable backup. If you forgot to note it down, the following command will list the service port:

$ kubectl -n sap-slcbridge get svc

5.6 Creating and downloading Stack XML for the SAP DI 3 installation

Follow the steps described in the chapter Install SAP Data Intelligence with SLC Bridge in a Cluster with Internet Access of the SAP DI 3.1 Installation Guide.

5.6.1 Creating Stack XML

You can create the Stack XML via the SAP Maintenance Planner. Access the tool at https://support.sap.com/en/alm/solution-manager/processes-72/maintenance-planner.html. Go to the Maintenance Planner at https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/mp published on SAP Web site and generate a Stack XML file with the container image definitions of the SAP Data Intelligence release that you want to install. Download the Stack XML file to a local directory. Copy stack.xml to the management workstation.

5.7 Running the installation of SAP DI

The installation of SAP DI 3.1 is invoked by:

$ export KUBECONFIG=<path to kubeconfig>
$ ./slcb execute --useStackXML MP_Stack_XXXXXXXXXX_XXXXXXXX_.xml --url https://<node>:<service port>/docs/index.html

This starts an interactive process for configuring and deploying SAP DI 3.1.

The table below lists some parameters available for an SAP DI 3.1 installation:

ParameterConditionRecommendation

Kubernetes Namespace

Always

set to namespace created beforehand

Installation Type

installation or update

either

Container Registry

Always

add the uri for the secure private registry

Checkpoint Store Configuration

installation

whether to enable Checkpoint Store

Checkpoint Store Type

if Checkpoint Store is enabled

use S3 object store from SES

Checkpoint Store Validation

if Checkpoint is enabled

Object store access will be verified

Container Registry Settings for Pipeline Modeler

optional

used if a second container registry is used

StorageClass Configuration

optional, needed if a different StorageClass is used for some components

leave the default

Default StorageClass

detected by SAP DI installer

The Kubernetes cluster shall have a storage class annotated as default SC

Enable Kaniko Usage

optional if running on Docker

enable

Container Image Repository Settings for SAP Data Intelligence Modeler

mandatory

 

Container Registry for Pipeline Modeler

optional

Needed if a different container registry is used for the pipeline modeler images

Loading NFS Modules

optional

Make sure that nfsd and nfsv4 kernel modules are loaded on all worker nodes

Additional Installer Parameters

optional

 

For more details about input parameters for an SAP DI 3.1 installation, visit the section Required Input Parameters of the SAP Data Intelligence Installation Guide.

5.8 Post-installation tasks

After the installation workflow is successfully finished, you need to carry out some more tasks:

  • Obtain or create an SSL certificate to securely access the SAP DI installation:

    • Create a certificate request using openssl, for example:

      $ openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout <hostname>.key -out <hostname>.csr
    • Decrypt the key:

      $ openssl rsa -in <hostname>.key -out decrypted-<hostname>.key
    • Let a CA sign the <hostname>.csr. You will receive a <hostname>.crt.

    • Create a secret from the certificate and the key in the SAP DI 3 namespace:

      $ export NAMESPACE=<SAP DI 3 namespace>
      $ kubectl -n $NAMESPACE create secret tls vsystem-tls-certs --key  decrypted-<hostname>.key --cert <hostname>.crt
  • Create an Ingress to access the SAP DI installation:

    $ cat <<EOF > ingress.yaml
    apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
    kind: Ingress
    metadata:
      annotations:
        kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/force-ssl-redirect: "true"
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/secure-backends: "true"
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/backend-protocol: HTTPS
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-body-size: "0"
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-buffer-size: 16k
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-connect-timeout: "30"
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-read-timeout: "1800"
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/proxy-send-timeout: "1800"
      name: vsystem
    spec:
      rules:
      - host: "<hostname FQDN must match SSL certificate"
        http:
          paths:
          - backend:
              serviceName: vsystem
              servicePort: 8797
            path: /
      tls:
      - hosts:
        - "<hostname FQDN must match SSL certificate>"
        secretName: vsystem-tls-certs
    EOF
    $ export NAMESPACE=<SAP DI 3 namespace>
    $ kubectl -n $NAMESPACE apply -f ingress.yaml
  • Connecting to https://hostname brings up the SAP DI login dialog.

5.9 Testing the SAP Data Intelligence 3 installation

Finally, the SAP DI 3 installation should be verified with some very basic tests:

  • Log in to SAP DI’s launchpad

  • Create example pipeline

  • Create ML Scenario

  • Test machine learning

  • Download vctl

For details, see the SAP DI 3 Installation Guide

6 Maintenance tasks

This section provides some tips what should and could be done to maintain the Kubernetes cluster, the operating system and the SAP DI 3 deployment.

6.1 Backup

It is good practice to keep backups of all relevant data to be able to restore the environment in case of failure. To perform regular backups, follow the instructions as outlined in the respective documentation below:

6.2 Upgrade or update

This section explains how you can keep your installation of SAP DI, RKE1 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server up-to-date.

6.2.1 Updating the operating system

To be eligible and to obtain updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2, the installation must be registered either to SUSE Customer Center or an SMT/RMT server or SUSE Manager with a valid subscription.

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 can be updated on the command line using zypper:

    $ sudo zypper ref -s
    $ sudo zypper lu
    $ sudo zypper patch
  • Other methods for updating SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 are described in the product documentation.

If an update requires a reboot of the server, make sure that this can be done safely.

  • For example, block access to SAP DI, and drain and cordon the Kubernetes node before rebooting:

    $ kubectl edit ingress <put in some dummy port>
    $ kubectl drain <node>
  • Check the status of the node:

    $kubectl get node <node>

    The node should be marked as not schedulable.

  • Stop the docker service on this node:

    $ sudo systemctl stop docker
  • Update SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2:

    $ ssh node
    $ sudo zypper patch
  • Reboot the node if necessary or start the docker service.

  • Check if the node is back and uncordon it:

    $ kubectl get nodes
    $ kubectl uncordon <node>

6.2.2 Updating RKE

6.2.3 Updating SAP Data Intelligence

Follow SAP’s update guide and notes:

8 GNU Free Documentation License

Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

0. PREAMBLE

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ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents

Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME.
   Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
   under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
   or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
   with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
   A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU
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If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the “ with…​Texts.” line with this:

with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the
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If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.

If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.