DavidRing.ie

PART1 PART2

Note: this is an example for reference only please use the VxRail installation procedures & services provided by Dell.

This is the third in a series of posts covering VCF On VxRail 4.4. The following detailed post provides an example walkthrough covering the process of deploying a VI Workload Domain using the Workflow Optimization script method introduced in 4.3.

The Workflow Optimization script allows the user to add a VxRail cluster using a script, this method combines some tasks traditionally completed by jumping between the VxRail Manager UI and the SDDC Manager UI. The Workflow Optimzation script uses the VCF on VxRail API to perform all of the steps to add a VxRail cluster in one place.

You can view a list of prerequisites and an overview of the procedure on the VMware site here. Note: this is an example for reference only please use the VxRail Solve installation procedures provided by Dell.

SDDC Manager – Pre-Reqs

Ensure to complete the following from within SDDC Manager UI:

• Licensing details entered correctly
• Repository logins authenticated successfully
• Download NSX-T Manager bundle

Deploy VI WLD Using WFO

The following input values are required as per the process of creating a VI WLD from the SDDC Manager UI:

• VI WLD Name
• DC Name
• vCenter Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)
• ESXi hosts, VxRail Manager, and NSX Manager instances (IP & FQDN resolvable)
• vCenter IP address, netmask and gateway
• Root Password
• NSX Host Overlay Network (DHCP server if using)

Change the VxRail Manger IP address & confirm discovery of hosts:

Update VxRail Manager Certificate with the correct Hostname by logging into VxRail Manager via ssh with mystic followed by su. cd /mystic dir and run the following script:

./generate_ssl.sh hostname.domain.local

Login to SDDC Manager UI and download the WFO Script:

Next:

• Copy the .zip downloaded to SDDC Mgr /home/vcf/
• SSH to SDDC Manager VM and login as vcf user
• unzip WorkflowOptimization-VCF-4400-master.zip
• cd WorkflowOptimization-VCF-4400-master
• ls -l
• ping VxRail Manager

Now follow the prompts to enter all the required details for an NSX-T VI WLD deployment, which includes validation and execution with success and monitoring via SDDC UI and cli:

• Run the script from SDDC Manager ssh, su root
• Enter SSO username & password
• Chose option 1 to Create Domain
• Enter VI WLD Name

In this example I chose the JSON option versus step by step for First Run configuration script inputs. You can use the VxRail Configuration Portal to create the JSON at https://vxrailconfiguration.dellemc.com/ as required. Ensure to enter the PSNT of the hosts as this is required by the script. Again SCP the JSON file to /home/vcf:

Enter VC g/w, p/w and ‘yes’ to trust ssl thumprint:

Discovered VxRail hosts displayed. Enter associated host p/w and complete the remaining entries associated with networking, licensing and NSX:

At this point the WFO script has initiated the deployment of VI WLD and progress can be monitored via SDDC UI & domainmanager.log:

The NSX-T VI WLD is now deployed and active as can be viewed from SDDC UI and vSphere UI:

Finally logging into NSX-T Manager we can review the details of the deployment:

In Part4 I will walkthrough the deployment of an NSX-T Edge Cluster to this VI WLD!

Note: this is an example for reference only please use the VxRail installation procedures provided by Dell EMC.

Thanks for reading!