Disk encryption

It is not possible to retroactively enable disk encryption on a Management appliance. If you want to implement encryption on a disk containing data, you must reformat the hard drive. By reformatting your hard drive, networking is affected and analytics data can be lost. The system clean all command resets the network configuration. As a result, you may need access to a VMware console before you can re-configure the network. To view the encryption status, execute the system show platform command. The following status is an example of what is displayed when the disks are not encrypted:

    slm-01/APIConnect> system show platform 
    Serial Number: VMWAA729A73KML9O
    Management MAC: 00:0c:29:c8:40:22
    Encrypted disk partitions: 2 (apim, swap)
    Unencrypted disk partitions: 2 (sysrw, wip)          

The following status is an example of what is displayed when the disks are encrypted:

    slm-02/APIConnect> system show platform 
    Serial Number: VMWUY9SN4BAQDX6E
    Management MAC: 00:0c:29:ea:62:c4
    Encrypted disk partitions: 4 (apim, sysrw, wip, swap)
    Unencrypted disk partitions: 0   

Following are three scenarios for implementing disk encryption on a Management appliance.

• Single management server – This approach preserves configuration data (APIs, Plans, etc.) but not analytics data. This approach also involves downtime as the Management server is effectively being re-installed. To implement disk encryption for a single Management server:
  1. Back up the configuration using the config save apiconfig command, then execute the debug postmortem export command to export the postmortem archive to an FTP or SFTP server.
  2. Execute the system clean all command to reset the appliance to the factory defaults.
     Note: Use this command with care. The system clean all command is equivalent to installing a new appliance and creates new, encrypted disks.
  3. Restore from backup. With the exception of analytics, this preserves configuration data (APIs, Plans, etc.).
• Multiple Management servers using current servers – This approach preserves all configuration and analytics data and does not require configuring new servers, which enables you to continue using existing IP addresses, firewall settings and load balancing configurations. However, the Management tier will have reduced capacity during the conversion, as one server will be temporarily offline. To implement disk encryption for multiple Management servers using current servers:
  1. Back up the configuration using the config save apiconfig command, then execute the debug postmortem export command to export the postmortem archive to an FTP or SFTP server.
  2. Remove one Management server from the cloud. After it has been removed, fully reset the server with system clean all.
     Note: Use this command with care. The system clean all is equivalent to installing a new appliance and creates new, encrypted disks.
  3. Add the server back into the cloud. Allow the servers time to fully replicate and balance analytics data.
  4. Repeat for other Management servers.
• Multiple Management servers by adding new servers – This approach preserves all configuration and analytics data and preserves runtime capability. However it requires allocating new IP addresses which may impact firewalls, load balancing and other functions. To implement disk encryption for multiple Management servers by adding new servers:
  1. Back up the configuration using the config save apiconfig command, then execute the debug postmortem export command to export the postmortem archive to an FTP or SFTP server.
  2. Allocate a new Management server and add it to the cloud. Allow the servers time to fully replicate/balance analytics data.
  3. Remove an old Management server from the cloud and discard it.
  4. Repeat as necessary to replace all Management servers.