Installing Commvault Server software on Linux...

Joseph Dizon

Sep 24, 2024 — 5 min read

Task Duration Estimate - 60 minutes

Did you know that you can run Commvault Server software on Linux? Running the Commvault Server software on Linux opens up a number of possibilities for secure backup setups and using automation tools like Ansible, Terraform and Packer.

In this blog post, I will list out the steps of installing Commvault software on a Linux server.

The installation will be running on a Linux virtual machine in a VMware vSphere 8 environment. Please refer to this post on how to build templates using Packer.
https://connectedtech.com.au/building-a-rhel-9-vm-template-in-vsphere-8/
The build script from the above post can also provision a RHEL 8.9 template.

The pre-requisites,
* A virtual machine with minimum 4 vCPUs, 24GB RAM, 160GB
Refer to the link below for other server hardware sizing options,
https://documentation.commvault.com/2023e/expert/hardware_specifications_for_commserve_server.html
* A Red Hat Subscription
https://access.redhat.com/articles/subscription-faq
* Or a Red Hat Developer Subscription
https://developers.redhat.com/articles/getting-red-hat-developer-subscription-what-rhel-users-need-know
* Download the Commvault software from the Commvault Store,
https://cloud.commvault.com/webconsole/softwarestore/store.do#!/home
Please note, a valid Commvault account is required.

Step 1 - Provision a virtual machine from template

Step 2 - Select a template

Step 3 - Select a name and folder

Step 4 - Select a compute resource

Step 5 - Select the storage

Step 6 - Select clone options. Choose Customize this virtual machine's hardware. The template has bare minimum resources so they will need to be changed as required.

Step 7 - Customize the hardware

Step 8 - Confirm the selected settings then click Finish.

Step 9 - Power On the virtual machine.

Step 10 - Logon to the Linux virtual machine using the ssh key created during the template build process.

Step 11 - Change the server hostname and the time zone

Step 12 - Check the disk space allocation using the lsblk command

NOTE: The /opt filesystem is only 2GB in size

Step 13 - Run the parted command on /dev/sda

Step 14 - Run the resizepart command to allocate all the storage free space. Quit the partition tool.

Step 15 - Run the pvresize, lvextend and xfs_growfs command to allocate the free space to the logical volume

Step 16 - Create the directory /opt/softw and upload the Commvault installation file.

Step 17 - Use the tar command to uncompress the archive file.

Step 18 - Register the server using the subscription-manager command

Step 19 - Reboot the server

Step 20 - Logon to the server. Change to root level. Then run the installation command, cvpkgadd.

Step 21 - Press the space bar to select Next.

Step 22 - Select Install packages on this machine. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 23 - Select Advanced selection. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 24 - Select Commserve. This will also automatically select the required software. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 25 - Select the installation directory. /opt is the default. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 26 - Select the default options. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 27 - Use the arrow keys and enter the password for the admin user. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 28 - Confirm the selected settings. Press tab to move to Next, then press the space bar.

Step 29 - The installation will begin.

Step 30 - Check the progress by viewing the install.log in /var/log/commvault/Log_Files directory.

Step 31 - Installation is now complete. Press the space bar to exit the installer.

Step 32 - Use a browser to access the Command Center using the admin login. Then proceed with the initial configuration.
Please ensure port 443 is allowed from the Commvault virtual server.