Deploy an ExtraHop recordstore with Hyper-V

The following procedures explain how to deploy the ExtraHop virtual recordstore on the Microsoft Hyper-V platform. You must have experience administering your hypervisor product to complete these procedures.

Virtual machine requirements

You must have an existing installation of Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012 or later capable of hosting the virtual recordstore. In addition, you need Hyper-V Manager to manage the virtual machine.

Important:ExtraHop tests virtual clusters on local storage for optimal performance. ExtraHop strongly recommends deploying virtual clusters on continuously available, low latency storage, such as a local disk, direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), or storage area network (SAN).

The following table provides the server hardware requirements for the recordstore.

vCPUs Memory Datastore disk
4 8 GB RAM 150 GB to 250 GB
8 16 GB RAM 150 GB to 500 GB
16 32 GB RAM 150 GB to 1 TB
32 64 GB RAM 150 GB to 2 TB

The hypervisor CPU should provide Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3) support.

Note:When you deploy a recordstore, you must create a second virtual disk, which is required to store record data. The minimum datastore disk size for all configurations is 150 GB. Consult with your ExtraHop sales representative or ExtraHop Support to determine the datastore disk size that is best for your needs.

Import the ExtraHop virtual machine

Before you begin

If you have not already done so, download the ExtraHop firmware file for Hyper-V from the ExtraHop Customer Portal and extract the contents from the .zip file to your Windows Server.
  1. On your Windows Server machine, open Server Manager.
  2. From the Tools menu, click Hyper-V Manager.
  3. In the Actions pane, click Connect to Server… .
  4. Select your virtualization server and then click OK.
  5. In the Actions pane, click Import Virtual Machine… .
    If the Before You Begin screen appears, click Next. Otherwise, continue to the next step.
  6. Click Browse... and navigate to the exa-5100v folder you extracted previously. Then click Select Folder.
  7. Click Next.
  8. On the Select Virtual Machine screen click exa-5100v and then click Next.
  9. On the Choose Import Type screen, select Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID).
  10. On the Choose Folders for Virtual Machine Files screen, specify a new folder to store the virtual machine files, and then click Next.
  11. On the Choose Storage Folders to Store Virtual Hard Disks screen, select the folder you specified in step 10, and then click Next.
  12. On the Connect Storage screen, select Remove storage, and then click Next.
    You will create the datastore virtual hard disk in a later procedure.
  13. On the Connect Network screen, select HyperV Virtual LAN from the Connection drop-down list, and then click Next.
  14. On the Summary screen, review your choices, and then click Finish. Wait for the files to finish copying.
  15. Rename the virtual machine. In the Virtual Machines list, right-click the exa-5100v appliance and click Rename….
  16. Type a unique name to easily identify multiple instances of recordstore that you are importing.
  17. Repeat steps 5-14 for each additional recordstore.

Create a datastore disk

Create a virtual hard disk (VHDX) for each recordstore that you plan to deploy.

  1. In the Virtual Machines list, right-click the recordstore and click Settings.
  2. In the Hardware section, click IDE Controller 0.
  3. Click Hard Drive and then click Add.
  4. Select Virtual hard disk and then click New.
    If the Before You Begin screen appears, click Next. Otherwise, continue to the next step.
  5. On the Choose Disk Format screen, select VHDX, and then click Next.
  6. On the Choose Disk Type screen, select Fixed size or Dynamic, and then click Next.
    If you select Dynamic, make sure you do not over-allocate your disk space as you could potentially run out of storage space on your server.
  7. In the Name field, type extrahop-data.vhdx.
    The datastore disk for all recordstores must be named extrahop-data.vhdx
  8. In the Location field, specify the file location where you imported the virtual machine files in the first procedure.
    Important:Save the extrahop-data.vhdx file in a unique location for each instance of the recordstore you are deploying.
  9. On the Configure Disk screen, select Create a new blank virtual hard disk, and then type a value based on your requirements in the Size field. 150 GB is the minimum size.
  10. Click Next.
  11. Click Finish.
  12. Click Apply and then click OK.
  13. Repeat steps 1-12 for each additional recordstore you are deploying.

Configure memory and processor settings

Configure the amount of memory and virtual processors allocated to the recordstore based on the virtual machine requirements table above.

  1. In the Virtual Machines list, right-click the recordstore, and then click Settings.
  2. In the Hardware section, click Memory.
  3. In the Startup RAM field, type the amount of memory you want to assign to the recordstore.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. In the Hardware section, click Processor.
  6. In the Number of virtual processors field, specify the number of vCPUs you want to assign to the recordstore.
  7. Click Apply.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Repeat steps 1-8 for each additional recordstore you are deploying.

Start the virtual machines

  1. In the Virtual Machines list, right-click the virtual machine, and then select Start.
  2. Right-click the virtual machine again and select Connect.
  3. At the login prompt, type shell, and then press ENTER.
  4. At the password prompt, type default, and then press ENTER.
  5. Type show ipaddr and then press ENTER to display the IP address and netmask of the recordstore. If you need to configure a static IP address, see Configure a static IP address through the CLI.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each additional recordstore you are deploying.

Configure a static IP address through the CLI

The ExtraHop system is configured by default with DHCP enabled. If your network does not support DHCP, no IP address is acquired, and you must configure a static address manually.

Important:For deployments that include a sensor that is connected to an ECA VM console, we strongly recommend configuring a unique hostname. If the IP address on the sensor is changed, the console can re-establish connection easily to the sensor by hostname.
  1. Access the CLI through an SSH connection, by connecting a USB keyboard and SVGA monitor to the physical ExtraHop appliance, or through an RS-232 serial (null modem) cable and a terminal emulator program. Set the terminal emulator to 115200 baud with 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1), and hardware flow control disabled.
  2. At the login prompt, type shell and then press ENTER.
  3. At the password prompt, type default, and then press ENTER.
  4. To configure the static IP address, run the following commands:
    1. Enable privileged commands:
      enable
    2. At the password prompt, type default, and then press ENTER.
    3. Enter configuration mode:
      configure
    4. Enter the interface configuration mode:
      interface
    5. Run the ip command and specify the IP address and DNS settings in the following format: ip ipaddr <ip_address> <netmask> <gateway> <dns_server>
      For example:
      ip ipaddr 10.10.2.14 255.255.0.0 10.10.1.253 10.10.1.254
    6. Leave the interface configuration section:
      exit
    7. Save the running config file:
      running_config save
    8. Type y and then press ENTER.

Configure the recordstore

After you configure an IP address for the recordstore, log in to the Administration settings on the ExtraHop system through https://<extrahop-hostname-or-IP-address>/admin and complete the following recommended procedures.

Note:The default administrator account, with unlimited privileges, has the username setup and the password is default.
Last modified 2023-11-07