In the vSphere Client, you can deploy the On-Premises to Cloud Director Replication Appliance by using a single .ova file.

Prerequisites

  • Download the VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-On-Premises-release.number.xxxxxxx-build_sha_OVF10.ova file, containing the appliance binaries.
  • If using vSphere Client earlier than version 6.5, install the Client Integration Plug-in to use Deploy OVF Template in the vSphere Web Client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client.
  2. Navigate to a target object where you want to deploy the On-Premises to Cloud Director Replication Appliance.
    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. The following steps depend on the vSphere version that you use.
  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 on-premises 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 On-Premises to Cloud Director Replication Appliance deployment configuration for the appliance type and click Next.
    Once selected, the appliance role changes only by redeploying the appliance. For information about the alternative On-Premises to Cloud vCenter Replication Appliance role, see Installing and configuring both appliances for vSphere DR and migration.
  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 and click Next.
    For more information about configuring the network settings after the deployment is complete, see Network Settings Configuration in the Administration Guide document.
  12. On the Customize template page, customize the deployment properties of the on-premises appliance and click Next.
    Option Description
    Root Password Enter and confirm the initial password for the appliance root user.

    Later, when logging in for the first time as the root user, the appliance requires changing this initial password.
    NTP Server Enter an NTP server hostname or IP address.
    Important: In the disaster recovery environment, ensure that both vCenter Server instances in the source and in the destination, the ESXi hosts, and the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances all use the same NTP server.
    Hostname Enter the appliance hostname. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.
    Address Enter the IP address of the appliance. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.

    Ensure that the IP is in the CIDR notation, for example, enter 192.168.0.222/24. Otherwise, the boot-up sequence shows an error and 127.0.0.1 as the IP address.
    Gateway Enter the gateway of the appliance network. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.
    MTU Enter the maximum transmission unit of the network. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.
    DNS servers Enter DNS servers for the appliance network. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.
    Search domains Enter the search domains for the appliance network. Leave blank if DHCP is desired.
  13. On the Ready to complete page, review the settings, 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.