Installing Micetro in Azure

The Micetro offering in the Azure Marketplace provides a simple wizard for deployment of the components needed to get started. The diagram below depicts the steps needed to perform the deployment. Refer to Setting up Micetro in Azure for details about each step in the process.

The following list includes the components that are installed and a description of their main functions. Refer to Architecture for more details.

Micetro Central	The main Micetro component. It also serves as the meta-data storage engine, containing things such as zone history logs, user accounts and permissions, etc. You must have one copy on some server somewhere. It does not need to be installed on a DNS server.
Micetro DNS Agent	The DNS server agent. It usually sits on each DNS server machine and manages the DNS service on your behalf. In the case of cloud DNS services providers there should be a DNS agent installed on the same machine as the central service.
Micetro DHCP Agent	The DHCP server agent. It sits on each DHCP server machine (or in case of the MS DHCP agent, on any machine in the network) and manages the DHCP service on your behalf.
Micetro Web Application	The Micetro Web Application includes most day-to-day actions needed for DDI management.
Micetro Management Console	A thick client. You can install multiple copies, wherever it’s needed. For detailed information about the Micetro Management Console, see the documentation for the Management Console.
Azure SQL Server	The database backend for the Micetro Central. Micetro will preform all the necessary setup for the database to be ready for use.

Important

The Azure Marketplace offering comes with 60-day trial keys for all Micetro components. If you would like to extend your trial or buy permanent license keys, please contact support@bluecatnetworks.com.

Finding Micetro in the Azure Marketplace

1. Open your Azure Portal and enter “Marketplace” in the search bar in at the top of the screen.

2. Select the Marketplace option, which should appear under “Services”.

   

3. Enter the search term “Micetro” and select the offering, which is latest major version of Micetro, e.g., 25.1.0.

   For more information on Micetro versions, refer to Versions.

4. In the rightmost sidebar, select Create.

Setting up Micetro in Azure

After selecting the Create button, you must configure your Micetro settings and details. There are seven required configuration steps before Micetro can be deployed.

Step 1: Basics

In step 1, configure the basic settings for Micetro, including information regarding subscription, resource group, and location.

1. Select the Subscription to which you want the Azure Consumption of the deployment to be billed.

   Note

   You will only be charged for the Azure Consumption used by the deployment. The Azure Marketplace offering comes with trial keys for all components of Micetro.

2. Select an empty Resource group or a create a new one.

3. Select a Location.

   Warning

   Latency varies depending on the location of the deployment and the location of the endpoints that are intended to be managed within Micetro.

   

Step 2: Virtual Machine Settings

In the second step of the wizard, configure the virtual machine settings, such as user credentials, system specifications, and storage accounts.

1. Select your operating system from the dropdown menu.

2. When selecting Virtual machine size, consider the size of the environment you intend to manage.

   Our recommendations regarding virtual machine size are as follows:

   DNS zones	IP addresses	Subnets	Virtual machine size
   < 100	< 5000	< 1000	D2s_v3
   < 1000	< 50000	< 10000	D4s_v3
   Tens of thousands	Millions	Hundreds of thousands	D8s_v3

3. Select either a new or existing Diagnostic storage account.

   Tip

   If you have an existing centralized storage account for VM diagnostics, you can use that.

4. Input a Username, which will be used as the local administrator account for the VM which will be created.

   Note

   Some words are reserved and cannot be used for the account name, such as “admin”, “administrator”, and “user”.

5. Input a Password, which will be used as the password for the above mentioned local administrator account.

   Important

   Passwords must contain at least 12 characters, with at least one symbol and one number.

   

Step 3: Network Settings

In the third step, configure your network settings, such as the virtual network, subnets, ports, and DNS.

1. If you have extended your on-premise Active Directory to the Azure Cloud, you can optionally join the VM to the domain.

   Note

   To join an Active Directory domain, the selected Virtual network must be able to communicate with the respective domain agent.

2. Network Security Group

   • Select whether to Allow or Deny HTTP access to the machine. If allowed, the Micetro Web Application is accessible from the public internet.

   • Select whether to Allow or Deny MMMC access to the machine. If allowed, the Men&Mice Management Console is accessible from the public internet.

3. Public DNS and IP

   • Select a Public IP Address for the VM. If you select a new public IP address and the Virtual Network being deployed uses a Load Balancer, the SKU type selected must match the one used by the Load Balancer. For more information, refer to What is Azure Load Balancer?

   • Enter a DNS Prefix for the public IP address. The DNS prefix must be globally unique. A default value is given with “menandmice-” followed by a randomly generated unique string.

   

Step 4: Database Configuration

In the fourth step, configure your database settings.

1. Enter an username that will be used as the SQL server administrator account for the Azure SQL server.

   Note

   Some words are reserved and cannot be used for the account name, such as “admin”, “administrator”, and “user”.

2. Enter a password that will be used as the password for the SQL server administrator account.

   Important

   Passwords must contain at least 12 characters, and include three of the following: one number, one lowercase letter, one capital letter, and one special character.

3. Select a Database Edition. This determines the speed and capacity of the created database. For more information, refer to the Microsoft documentation.

   

Step 5: Active Directory Credentials

In the fifth step, configure Active Directory credentials.

By joining the virtual machine to an Active Directory Domain, the Micetro DNS/DHCP agents can be run under domain service accounts and the DNS/DHCP servers can be managed agent-free. To automatically detect the DNS/DHCP servers on your network, the Micetro DNS/DHCP agents must run under managed service accounts. For more information, refer to Setting up a Managed Service Account to run M&M DNS/DHCP Server Controllers.

1. Configure the Active Directory administrator account by entering a username and password for the Domain user.

   Note

   The credentials entered here require membership in the Administrators, or equivalent, on the local computer to complete the process of joining the domain.

2. Configure the Service account under which the Micetro DNS/DHCP should run by entering a username and password for the service account.

   

After deployment

The deployment may take up to 15–20 minutes, depending on the traffic of the Azure region to which you are deploying.

It may be helpful to reference the Architecture during the deployment.

Update to the latest minor/patch version

When using Azure Marketplace, you receive the latest major version of Micetro, e.g., 25.1.0. If subsequent minor/patch versions have been released, e.g., 25.1.1, you need to update your Micetro version through the Web Application. Minor/patch versions are not available in Azure Marketplace.

For instructions on updating Micetro through the Web Application, refer to Updating Micetro.