DZone
Cloud Zone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
  • Refcardz
  • Trend Reports
  • Webinars
  • Zones
  • |
    • Agile
    • AI
    • Big Data
    • Cloud
    • Database
    • DevOps
    • Integration
    • IoT
    • Java
    • Microservices
    • Open Source
    • Performance
    • Security
    • Web Dev
DZone > Cloud Zone > Deploying the Azure Stack Technical Preview 2 (Part 1)

Deploying the Azure Stack Technical Preview 2 (Part 1)

The Azure Stack's latest technical preview is here. Let's take a look at configuring and deploying the stack and dip our toes into tenancy and a bit of troubleshooting.

Rob Sanders user avatar by
Rob Sanders
·
Feb. 01, 17 · Cloud Zone · Tutorial
Like (2)
Save
Tweet
3.84K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

We’re finally here, and luckily for me, Microsoft has published an updated version of the Azure Stack – Technical Preview 2. I was unhappy with the performance of my original configuration (relying far too heavily on iSCSI), so I blew away my first (successful) deployment and reconfigured my server configuration.

Briefly, a quick overview of what I’ve done differently this time:

  • Dedicated iSCSI storage & host controller (iSCSI Target Server) – 2 dedicated hard disks
  • Installed two 2.5” 256GB SATA SSDs into the M910 Blade

I’m using an Evaluation Edition of Windows Server 2016 as the initial host operating system, but it doesn’t make a difference, as you’ll be booting into a host OS image as part of the deployment later.

image

Prepping the Stack

1. Prepare the host machine. The requirements are the same as they were for Technical Preview 1 (as in, they remain unchanged). For my configuration, I need to add support for iSCSI disks (one of the downsides of using a server blade). 

2. Run the deployment requirements check tool.

image

You can run this both before and after booting into the CloudBuilder OS. In my case, I ran it against a pre-prepped clean OS.

For my scenario, iSCSI is a factor, so I made a small change to the script to support iSCSI:

image

Obviously, this means I’ll need to tinker later to support the disk configuration I need.

3. Create an Azure AD account that is the directory administrator (specifically, service administrator) for at least one Azure Active Directory.

image image

image




I found that you need to use Global Admin, the installer didn’t like Service Admin for some reason.

To ensure the password is reset, navigate to https://portal.azure.com and authenticate to ensure the password is changed on first use.

Keep the credentials handy for the deployment.

Deploying the Stack

1. Obtain the Azure Stack File (ZIP Archive)

Once you’ve obtained the archive, extract the files and then run MicrosoftAzureStackPOC.exe.

image image

Choose a location for the files to be extracted to and continue. This might take some time. 
When it finishes, you need to move the CloudBuilder.vhdx into the C:\.

2. Prepping the Deployment

There are some files you’ll benefit from, and you can just grab them directly from your host OS by running the following script in an elevated PowerShell console:

# Variables
$Uri = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/AzureStack-Tools/master/Deployment/'
$LocalPath = 'c:\Microsoft Azure Stack POC’

# Create folder
New-Item $LocalPath -type directory

# Download files
Invoke-WebRequest ($uri + 'BootMenuNoKVM.ps1') -OutFile ($LocalPath + '\BootMenuNoKVM.ps1')
Invoke-WebRequest ($uri + 'PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1') -OutFile ($LocalPath + '\PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1')
Invoke-WebRequest ($uri + 'Unattend.xml') -OutFile ($LocalPath + '\Unattend.xml')
Invoke-WebRequest ($uri + 'unattend_NoKVM.xml') -OutFile ($LocalPath + '\unattend_NoKVM.xml')


Then, I executed by running the following command in an elevated PowerShell console:

.\PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1 -CloudBuilderDiskPath C:\CloudBuilder.vhdx -ApplyUnattend


You are asked to supply a local Administrator password. After a brief time, the system reboots. Thankfully, you can still select the native OS you started with (in case things go awry):

image

Then, we’re ready to go.

image

3. Time to Tinker (Skip if This Doesn’t Apply to You)

I’ve booted into the CloudBuilder OS, but to get it into a supported state (adding ISCSI disks), I’ll need to play around a little. I added iSCSI support and disabled all but one NIC. Rerunning the modified prerequisites script, and it’s green:

Image title

Here are my disk and NIC configurations:

Image title


Image title


To add iSCSI support, I had to make two small changes in the following PowerShell file: C:\CloudDeployment\Roles\PhysicalMachines\Tests\BareMetal.Tests.ps1:

image

Kicking it Off

As the instructions say, open an elevated PowerShell console and plug in the relevant details. In my case, I added my credentials and kicked off the script. It seems you need to use an Azure identity which is a Global Admin, not a Service Admin.

cd C:\CloudDeployment\Configuration
$adminpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<LOCAL ADMIN PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadcred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT>", $aadpass)
.\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass -AADAdminCredential $aadcred

Image title

Check back soon to see how it went…

Troubleshooting

Get-AzureAdTenantDetails: The account you entered is not an administrator of any Azure Active Directory tenant.

The Azure credentials you are using may not (yet) be recognized as a Global Admin. Try alternative credentials, or retry in a little while. For more information on creating an account against an Azure AD Tenancy, read this.

Further Reading

  • https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/azure-stack-deploy/

  • https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/azure-stack/try/

  • https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Deployment-Checker-for-50e0f51b

  • https://github.com/Azure/AzureStack-Tools/tree/master/Deployment

azure

Published at DZone with permission of Rob Sanders, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Why You Should Stop Relying on Jenkins Plug-ins
  • Progressive Web Apps vs Native Apps: Differences and Similarities
  • How Do You Integrate Emissary Ingress With OPA?
  • Build a Business-Led API Strategy and Get the Most Out of Your APIs

Comments

Cloud Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • MVB Program
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends:

DZone.com is powered by 

AnswerHub logo