Description: Canaries aren't just hardware devices. You can run virtualised Canaries on your Nutanix AHV infrastructure with the same features that a physical Canary brings. 

Requirements: All that's needed for a fully functioning bird:

• Disk space larger than 10GB
• 2GB memory
• Single CPU core

Follow the steps below to create your Nutanix Canary in Nutanix AHV:

Step 1:

Log in to your Console.

Step 2:

1 - Click the + Add icon.

2 - Click Add New Canary.

Step 3:

Click Add Nutanix Canary.

Step 4:

Click Download ZIP.

Once the download has been completed, unzip the file to a storage location on your local machine. There is 1 file with a .qcow2 extension in the Zip archive.

Deploy your Canary to Nutanix AHV

Step 5:

Sign into your Nutanix AHV deployment.

1. Expand the navigation dropdown and click Settings.
2. From the Settings page, select Image Configuration on the left.

Step 6:

Click on Upload Image.

Step 7:

Upload your Canary image

1. Enter a name for the image, it can be anything you like.
2. Add a description for the image (optional).
3. Set Image Type to DISK. 
4. Choose where the image will be stored (or leave as the default).
5. Select Upload a file and click Choose file. Browse to the Nutanix Canary Image QCOW2 file you extracted from the Zip in Step 4 (the file will end in .qcow2), and select it.
6. Click Save

 

You can view the progress of the image import and creation by clicking on the tasks icon in the top navigation bar. The "Image create" task will show the current progress percentage. When this reaches 100%, the image is ready for use in the next step.

Step 8:

Launch an instance from your uploaded Canary image.

1. Select VM from the navigation dropdown menu.
2. Click + Create VM.

Step 9:

Configure the new VM

1. Set a name for the new VM.
2. Add an optional description (or leave blank).
3. Set the timezone if needed.

Leave Use this VM as an agent VM unchecked (the default)

Step 10:

1. Set vCPU(s) to 1
2. Set Number of Cores Per vCPU to 1
3. Set Memory to 2 GiB
4. Ensure Legacy BIOS is selected under Boot Configuration (the default)

Step 11

Scroll down to Disks, and click + Add new Disk.

Configure the disk.

1. Select Clone from Image Service under Operation.
2. Select the image you created in Step 7.
3. Click Add.

Your new disk will appear under the Disks section.

Configure networking by clicking + Add New NIC.

1. Select the required subnet under Subnet Name (or use the default)
2. Set Assignment Type to Assign with DHCP.

The NIC will show up under Network Adapters (NIC).

Click Save.

Step 12

1. Click on Table to list all VMs.
2. Right click on the row containing your VM, and select Power on. 

Step 13:

A few moment after powering on, on your Console, you should see a pop up to confirm your new Canary.

1. If you have multiple flocks choose one for your new Canary.

2. Click Add Canary.

Step 14:

Your Virtual Canary will boot and connect back to your Console. This may take a minute or two.

You can set up your Virtual Canary from within your Console using the remote management by following the guide found here.

You're done! ;-)