Deploy the Cloud Appliances by Using the vSphere Client

In the vSphere Client, you can deploy all VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances from a single .ova file.

Prerequisites

• Download the VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Provider-release.number.xxxxxxx-build_sha_OVF10.ova file, containing the binaries for the VMware Cloud Director Availability cloud appliances.
• If using a version of vSphere earlier than 6.5, install the Client Integration Plug-in to use the Deploy OVF Template option in the vSphere Web Client.

Procedure

1. Log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client.
2. Navigate to a target object where you want to deploy the VMware Cloud Director Availability services.
   As a target object you can use a data center, a folder, a cluster, a resource pool, or a host.
3. Right-click the target object and from the drop-down menu select Deploy OVF Template.
   The Deploy OVF Template wizard opens.
4. On the Select an OVF template page, browse to the .ova file location and click Next.
5. On the Select a name and folder page, enter a name for the appliance, select a deployment location, and click Next.
6. On the Select a compute resource page, select a host, or cluster as a compute resource to run the appliance on, and click Next.
7. On the Review details page, verify the OVF template details and click Next.
8. On the License agreements page, select the I accept all license agreements check box and click Next.
9. On the Configuration page, select the appliance deployment type configuration and click Next.
   For more information about the appliance deployment types, see Deployment Requirements.
10. On the Select storage page, select the virtual disk format and the storage policy for the appliance and click Next.
11. On the Select networks page, optionally configure the network settings of the appliance and click Next.
    For more information about configuring the network settings after the deployment is complete, see Network Settings Configuration in the VMware Cloud Director Availability Administration Guide document.
12. On the Customize template page, customize the deployment properties of the appliance and click Next.
    1. Enter and confirm the initial password for the appliance root user.
       You must change the initial root user password when you log in for the first time.
    2. Select the Enable SSH check box.
       If you do not enable SSH, you can configure the appliance later. For more information, see Allow SSH Access in the VMware Cloud Director Availability Administration Guide document.
    3. In the NTP Server section, enter the NTP server address for the appliance to use.
       Important: In the disaster recovery infrastructure, ensure that in the all instances of vCenter Server, ESXi, VMware Cloud Director, Platform Services Controller, and all cloud VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances use the same NTP server.
13. On the Ready to complete page, review the settings, optionally select Power on after deployment and to begin the .ova installation process, click Finish.

Results

The Recent Tasks pane shows a new task for initializing the .ova deployment. After the task is complete, the new appliance is created on the selected resource.