How to install openfiler in CentOS 6.2 Linux

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Before starting installation steps I would like to give a brief intro on


What is Openfiler?


Openfiler is an operating system that provides file-based network-attached storage and block-based storage area network.

Hardware Requirements

Minimal
Openfiler needs at least a 500 MHz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, 10 GB hard disk space (8 GB for OS installation and 2 GB for swap space), an optical drive (for local installation) and an Ethernet like network interface.

Optimal
A 64 bit processor with 1.6 GHz or more, 2 GB of RAM, 10 GB of hard disk space (8 GB for OS installation plus 2 GB for swap space) and a hardware RAID disk array controller is recommended for optimal performance.

You can get more update on feature of openfile on the wiki page

Let me show you step by step instructions to set up a new machine with openfiler. Now this machine can be a physical machine as well as a virtual machine. Generally in my case I use openfiler for test purposes on my virtual machines.


 You can download the iso file for openfiler free of cost from their official website
https://www.openfiler.com/community/download

 Follow the below screenshots (Click on the image in case you find it hard to read the texts on the image)

Insert the iso file and boot your machine from the iso and follow the instructions

Click Next to start the installation
Select your preferred Language which for me is US English
Select Yes to format the selected Hard Disk

Select "Create custom layout" from the drop down menu as shown below and click on Next

Create a custom layout of your partition system.

NOTE: Make sure that you leave free space which will be used for storage purpose(iSCSI, Fiber, etc..) using openfiler

 Select the default primary partition. I most cases it will automatically detect the root partition

Configure your network and provide a proper hostname in the below section.

Select your continent and region for the date and time settings as in my case it is Asia/Kolkatta

Provide a root password for your machine

Click on Next to start the installation process

Once the installation is completed click on Reboot
So once the machine is rebooted you can see the ip address of the machine and the format which you have to use to access openfiler using client machine browser.
Go to the browser and type you machine ip address which for mine is
https://10.10.20.46:446
Now since you are trying to access a https page, you will be prompted for security certificate authentication by the browser as shown below
Click on Proceed anyway

After that you will get the logon page for openfiler

Your default login credentials will be
Username : openfiler
password   : password

Related Articles
Configuring iSCSI storage using openfiler
Configure Red Hat Cluster using VMware, Quorum Disk, GFS2, Openfiler

Fore more helpful tutorials please follow the below links

2 thoughts on “How to install openfiler in CentOS 6.2 Linux”

  1. Does OpenFiler OSE 2.99 still include the older iscsi target without the scsi reservations? Last I heard, the plan was to leave old older daemon in the OSE and charge for the newer daemon in the CE. Since this had huge performance issues for cluster configs, it turned-out easier for us to just install Centos, configure tgtd and migrate off our OF box.
    Easier setting it up from scratch? No, but easier support when the cluster stays up! 🙂

    Reply

  2. Hi,
    Even I have very limited knowledge on this but I just went through the OF website and yes, iSCSI Target is NOT available in OSE 2.99 and has been moved to OCE.
    For using tgtd one has to be prepared completely to use CLI as most prefer GUI over CLI for these configurations.
    But again as they say "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" … opting for Linux should bring Love for CLI automatically 🙂
    Regards
    Deepak

    Reply

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