Important This version of the product has reached end of support. The documentation is available for your convenience. However, you must be logged in to access it. You will not be able to leave comments.

Defining a DNS server in TrueSight Network Automation

Defining a Domain Name System (DNS) server enables a cloud administrator to specify the DNS server information for address pools defined in pods and containers. TrueSight Network Automation supports out-of-the-box DNS registration for static IP addressing for Linux, Windows, and Infoblox DNS servers. This topic includes the following sections:

DNS and NIC properties in TrueSight Network Automation

DNS server information and NIC properties can be associated with the following Pod and Container Management (PCM) components in TrueSight Network Automation:

  • Pod Blueprint: You can specify the DNS and NIC information in the pod blueprint. This information is optional and can be overridden during pod creation.
  • Pod: When creating or editing a pod, you can specify the DNS and NIC server information. Default values are populated in the pod creation wizard from the pod blueprint.
  • Pod Address Pool and Address Range: Each address pool and address range is associated with the DNS and NIC information in the pod, but can be overridden during pod creation in the pod creation wizard. Default values are populated from the pod DNS and NIC Information page. You can also override the DNS information by using the pod editor from the Pod View page.
  • Container Address Pool and Address Space: While provisioning or modifying a container, you can specify the DNS and NIC information as address pool override or address space override. If you do not choose the override address pool option, address pools in the container, either from a pod address range or from a container address space are associated with the DNS and NIC information.

On the TrueSight Network Automation GUI, DNS information includes the following fields:

  • Primary DNS Server: Holds the "master copy" of the data for a zone. TrueSight Orchestration workflows try to register the given host name and IP address with the primary DNS server
  • Reverse DNS Server: Allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS server resolves the domain name associated with the IP address. This attribute is optional. If you specify the value for the reverse DNS server, only PTR records are added; otherwise, the API adds only an A record in the primary DNS server.
  • Secondary DNS Server: Is the secondary DNS server, which is used for setting the DNS server fields in the VM that is to be provisioned from the pod or container address pool.
  • Primary Domain Suffix for NIC: Defines a primary domain suffix for a NIC or a list of NIC’s. The primary domain suffix is used in DNS name registration and DNS name resolution. Ensure that you specify this field if you specify the primary DNS server.
  • DNS Domains for NIC: Defines the search order for a network domain when a DNS server is queried.
  • Reverse DNS Zone: Specifies the reverse DNS zone where the PTR-record type stores reverse DNS entries. The reverse DNS zone value is specific to the network address from which the PTR entries can be added. Ensure that you specify this field if you specify the reverse DNS server.

Back to top

Managing DNS registration among multiple products

BMC Network Automation versions 8.5.01 and later (now called TrueSight Network Automation) integrate with TrueSight Orchestration and BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management to provide out-of-the-box DNS registration for static IP addressing as shown in the following sequence diagram. For details about the components and labels, see the Notes below the figure.

DNS_registration.png

Before you begin

  • Ensure that all of the following conditions are met for DNS registration; otherwise, TrueSight Network Automation does not call the DNS registration workflow in TrueSight Orchestration, and even though an IP address is acquired,  an appropriate warning message is logged in TrueSight Network Automation.

    • Set the performDnsOperation property to true in the global.properties file.

      performDnsOperation, the global property in the global.properties file, is set to false by default. This property has been disabled by design to prevent TrueSight Network Automation from performing DNS operations, which might create conflicts with other DNS registration mechanisms that might be in use before you upgrade to TrueSight Network Automation 8.5.01 and later.

    • The Require DNS Registration flag, registerDNS is true in the acquireVirtualServerNicAddress or acquirePhysicalServerNicAddress API, which is called from BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management when a NIC is added to the VM.
    • DNS information is correctly specified in the addressPool in the container from which the IP address is acquired for the VM being provisioned.

Note

If you need to perform DNS registration for new VMs, which must to be provisioned from existing networks (address pools) that are either defined at pod level or container level, ensure that the DNS properties are specified by using either of the following methods:


Back to top

To register the host name to the specified DNS server

  1. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management calls TrueSight Network Automation to acquire a static IP address to provision a VM.
  2. TrueSight Network Automation in turn calls TrueSight Orchestration for DNS registration, and passes the following parameters to TrueSight Orchestration workflows for DNS registration:
    1. Primary DNS Server
    2. Reverse DNS Server
    3. Primary Domain Suffix for NIC
    4. Reverse DNS Zone
    5. IP Address

    6. Hostname

      DNS Domains for NIC and Secondary DNS Server values are not used when TrueSight Network Automation calls TrueSight Orchestration for DNS registration.

  3. TrueSight Orchestration registers the host name to the specified DNS server.


Back to top

To deregister the host name from the specified DNS server

  1. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management calls TrueSight Network Automation to release a static IP address to decommission a VM.
  2. TrueSight Network Automation in turn calls TrueSight Orchestration for DNS deregistration, and passes the required parameters to TrueSight Orchestration workflows for DNS deregistration.
  3. TrueSight Orchestration deregisters the host name from the specified DNS server.

Note

DNS registration is not supported for the following features:

  • IPv6 addresses
  • Multiple zones
  • NAT addresses

Back to top

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*