You can add NSX Edge nodes to an NSX Edge Cluster that you created with SDDC Manager.

You might want to add NSX Edge nodes to an NSX Edge cluster, for:
  • Rack failure resiliency
  • When the Tier-0 Service High Availability is Active-Standby and you require more than two NSX Edge nodes for services.
    Note: Only two of the NSX Edge nodes can have uplink interfaces, but you can add more nodes without uplink interfaces.
  • When the Tier-0 Service High Availability is Active-Active and you require more than 8 NSX Edge nodes for services.
  • When you add Supervisor Clusters to a Workload Management workload domain and need to support additional tier-1 gateways and services.
The available configuration settings for a new NSX Edge node vary based on:
  • The Tier-0 Service High Availability setting (Active-Active or Active-Standby) of the NSX Edge cluster.
  • The Tier-0 Routing Type setting (static or EBGP) of the NSX Edge cluster.
  • Whether the new NSX Edge node is going to be hosted on the same vSphere cluster as the existing NSX Edge nodes (in-cluster) or on a different vSphere cluster (cross-cluster).

Prerequisites

  • Verify that separate VLANs and subnets are available for the NSX host overlay VLAN and NSX Edge overlay VLAN. You cannot use DHCP for the NSX Edge overlay VLAN.
  • Verify that the NSX host overlay VLAN and NSX Edge overlay VLAN are routed to each other.
  • For dynamic routing, set up two Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peers on Top of Rack (ToR) switches with an interface IP, BGP autonomous system number (ASN), and BGP password.
  • Reserve a BGP ASN to use for the NSX Edge cluster’s Tier-0 gateway.
  • Verify that DNS entries for the NSX Edge nodes are populated in the customer-managed DNS server.
  • The vSphere cluster hosting the NSX Edge nodes must include hosts with identical management, uplink, NSX Edge overlay TEP, and NSX Edge overlay TEP networks (L2 uniform).
  • The vSphere cluster hosting the NSX Edge nodes must have the same pNIC speed for NSX-enabled VDS uplinks chosen for Edge overlay.
  • All NSX Edge nodes in an NSX Edge cluster must use the same set of NSX-enabled VDS uplinks. These uplinks must be prepared for overlay use.
  • The NSX Edge cluster must be Active.
  • The NSX Edge cluster must be hosted on one or more vSphere clusters from the same workload domain.
  • If the vSphere cluster hosting the NSX Edge nodes has hosts with a DPU device:
    • Enable SR-IOV in the BIOS and in the vSphere Client (if required by your DPU vendor).
    • Ensure that UPT is enabled for the DPU-backed NICs.

Procedure

  1. In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
  2. In the Workload Domains page, click a domain name in the Domain column.
  3. Click the Edge Clusters tab.
  4. Click the vertical ellipsis menu for the Edge Cluster you want to expand and select Expand Edge Cluster.
  5. Verify the prerequisites, select Select All, and click Begin.
  6. Enter and confirm the passwords for the NSX Edge cluster.
  7. (Optional) Enter a name to create a new tier-1 gateway.
  8. Enter the configuration settings for the new NSX Edge node and click Add Edge Node.
    Setting Description
    Edge Node Name (FQDN) Enter the FQDN for the NSX Edge node. Each node must have a unique FQDN.
    Cluster Select a vSphere cluster to host the NSX Edge node.

    If the workload domain has multiple vSphere clusters, you can select the vSphere cluster hosting the existing NSX Edge nodes (in-cluster expansion) or select a different vSphere cluster to host the new NSX Edge nodes (cross-cluster expansion).

    Note: If the vSphere cluster you select already hosts management virtual machines that are connected to the host Management port group, the VM Management Portgroup VLAN and VM Management Portgroup VLAN settings are not available.
    Cluster Type Select L2 Uniform if all hosts in the vSphere cluster have identical management, uplink, host TEP, and Edge TEP networks.

    Select L2 non-uniform and L3 if any of the hosts in the vSphere cluster have different networks.

    Important: VMware Cloud Foundation does not support Edge cluster creation on L2 non-uniform and L3 vSphere clusters.
    Management IP (CIDR) Enter the management IP for the NSX Edge node in CIDR format. Each node must have a unique management IP.
    Management Gateway Enter the IP address for the management network gateway.
    VM Management Portgroup VLAN For in-cluster expansion, the new Edge node uses the same VM Management port group VLAN as the other Edge nodes in the Edge cluster.
    For cross-cluster expansion:
    • If the VM Management port group exists on the vSphere distributed switch of the vSphere cluster that you selected to host the Edge node, then the VM Management port group VLAN is displayed and cannot be edited.
    • If the VM Management port group does not exist on the vSphere distributed switch of the vSphere cluster that you selected to host the Edge node, enter a VLAN ID to create a new VM Management port group or click Use ESXi Management VMK's VLAN to use the host Management Network VLAN for the VM Management port group.
    VM Management Portgroup Name For in-cluster expansion, the new Edge node uses the same VM Management port group name as the other Edge nodes in the Edge cluster.
    For cross-cluster expansion:
    • If the VM Management port group exists on the vSphere distributed switch of the vSphere cluster that you selected to host the Edge node, then the VM Management port group name is displayed and cannot be edited.
    • Otherwise, type a name for the port group.
    Edge TEP 1 IP (CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the first NSX Edge TEP. Each node must have a unique Edge TEP 1 IP.
    Edge TEP 2 IP (CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the second NSX Edge TEP. Each node must have a unique Edge TEP 2 IP. The Edge TEP 2 IP must be different than the Edge TEP 1 IP.
    Edge TEP Gateway Enter the IP address for the NSX Edge TEP gateway.
    Edge TEP VLAN Enter the NSX Edge TEP VLAN ID.
    First NSX VDS Uplink Specify an ESXi uplink to map the first NSX Edge node uplink network interface to a physical NIC on the host. The default is uplink1.

    The information you enter here determines the active uplink on the first VLAN port group used by the NSX Edge node. If you enter uplink3, then uplink3 is the active uplink and the uplink you specify for the second NSX VDS uplink is the standby uplink.

    (cross-cluster only)

    Note: For in-cluster NSX Edge cluster expansion, new NSX Edge nodes use the same NSX VDS uplinks as the other Edge nodes hosted on the vSphere cluster.
    Second NSX VDS Uplink Specify an ESXi uplink to map the second NSX Edge node uplink network interface to a physical NIC on the host. The default is uplink2.

    The information you enter here determines the active uplink on the second VLAN port group used by the NSX Edge node. If you enter uplink4, then uplink4 is the active uplink and the uplink you specify for the first NSX VDS uplink is the standby uplink.

    (cross-cluster only)

    Note: For in-cluster NSX Edge cluster expansion, new NSX Edge nodes use the same NSX VDS uplinks as the other Edge nodes hosted on the vSphere cluster.
    Add Tier-0 Uplinks Optional. Click Add Tier-0 Uplinks to add tier-0 uplinks.

    (Active-Active only)
    First Tier-0 Uplink VLAN Enter the VLAN ID for the first uplink.

    This is a link from the NSX Edge node to the first uplink network.

    (Active-Active only)
    First Tier-0 Uplink Interface IP (CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the first uplink. Each node must have unique uplink interface IPs.

    (Active-Active only)
    Peer IP (CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the first uplink peer.

    (EBGP only)
    Peer ASN Enter the ASN for the first uplink peer.

    (EBGP only)
    BGP Peer Password Enter and confirm the BGP password.

    (EBGP only)
    Second Tier-0 Uplink VLAN Enter the VLAN ID for the second uplink.

    This is a link from the NSX Edge node to the second uplink network.

    (Active-Active only)
    Second Tier-0 Uplink Interface IP(CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the second uplink. Each node must have unique uplink interface IPs. The second uplink interface IP must be different than the first uplink interface IP.

    (Active-Active only)
    Peer IP (CIDR) Enter the CIDR for the second uplink peer.

    (EBGP only)
    ASN Peer Enter the ASN for the second uplink peer.

    (EBGP only)
    BGP Peer Password Enter and confirm the BGP password.

    (EBGP only)
  9. Click Add More Edge Nodes to enter configuration settings for additional NSX Edge nodes.
    An NSX Edge cluster can contain a maximum of 10 NSX Edge nodes.
    • For an NSX Edge cluster with a Tier-0 Service High Availability setting of Active-Active, up to 8 of the NSX Edge nodes can have uplink interfaces.
    • For an NSX Edge cluster with a Tier-0 Service High Availability setting of Active-Standby, up to 2 of the NSX Edge nodes can have uplink interfaces.
  10. When you are done adding NSX Edge nodes, click Next.
  11. Review the summary and click Next.
    SDDC Manager validates the NSX Edge node configuration details.
  12. If validation fails, use the Back button to edit your settings and try again.
    To edit or delete any of the NSX Edge nodes, click the three vertical dots next to an NSX Edge node in the table and select an option from the menu.
  13. If validation succeeds, click Finish to add the NSX Edge node(s) to the NSX Edge cluster.
    You can monitor progress in the Tasks panel.