Install the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance from the Graphical Installer

Download and install the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance if you want to enable Hybrid Linked Mode from your on-premises SDDC or access other features of the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance.

Prerequisites

Verify that the host on which you intend to the install the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance meets the following hardware requirements.


Hardware	Minimum required
CPUs	8
Memory	24 GB
Storage	190 GB

Procedure

Download the VMware vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance from https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VMC_GA&productId=664.
You are directed to My VMware, where you can complete the download of the appliance installer ISO image.
In the installer ISO image, browse to the ui-installer folder and open the folder for the operating system from which you want to install the appliance.
- For Windows OS, go the win32 subdirectory and run the installer.exe file.
- For Linux OS, go to the lin64 subdirectory, and run the installer file.
- For Mac OS, go to the mac subdirectory and run the Installer.app file.
Click Get Started.
Under Deploy vCenter Cloud Gateway, click Start.
Accept the End-User License agreement.

Specify the Gateway deployment parameters and click Next.

Option	Steps
You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the appliance.	Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. Click Next. Verify that the certificate warning displays the SHA1 thumbprint of the SSL certificate that is installed on the target ESXi host, and click Yes to accept the certificate thumbprint.
You can connect to a vCenter Server instance and browse the inventory to select an ESXi host or DRS cluster on which to deploy the appliance.	Enter the FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server instance. Enter the HTTPS port of the vCenter Server instance. Enter the user name and password of user with vCenter Single Sign-On administrative privileges on the vCenter Server instance, for example, the administrator@`your_domain_name` user. Click Next. Verify that the certificate warning displays the SHA1 thumbprint of the SSL certificate that is installed on the target vCenter Server instance, and click Yes to accept the certificate thumbprint. Select the data center or data center folder that contains the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance, and click Next Note: You must select a data center or data center folder that contains at least one ESXi host that is not in lockdown or maintenance mode. Select the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance, and click Next.

Option

Steps

You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the appliance.

Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host.
Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host.
Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user.
Click Next.
Verify that the certificate warning displays the SHA1 thumbprint of the SSL certificate that is installed on the target ESXi host, and click Yes to accept the certificate thumbprint.

You can connect to a vCenter Server instance and browse the inventory to select an ESXi host or DRS cluster on which to deploy the appliance.

Enter the FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server instance.
Enter the HTTPS port of the vCenter Server instance.
Enter the user name and password of user with vCenter Single Sign-On administrative privileges on the vCenter Server instance, for example, the administrator@your_domain_name user.
Click Next.
Verify that the certificate warning displays the SHA1 thumbprint of the SSL certificate that is installed on the target vCenter Server instance, and click Yes to accept the certificate thumbprint.
Select the data center or data center folder that contains the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance, and click Next

Note: You must select a data center or data center folder that contains at least one ESXi host that is not in lockdown or maintenance mode.
Select the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance, and click Next.

Set up the target appliance VM and click Next.

Parameter	Description
VM name	Enter a name for the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance VM. The appliance name must not contain a percent sign (%), backslash (\), or forward slash (/) and must be no more than 80 characters in length.
Set root password	Set a root password for the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance VM. The password must contain only lower ASCII characters without spaces, at least eight characters, a number, uppercase and lowercase letters, and a special character, for example, an exclamation mark (!), hash key (#), at sign (@), or brackets (()).
Confirm root password	Confirm the password you set above.

Select the datastore location for the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance and click Next.
1. Select the datastore where you want to place the vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance.
2. Select Enable Thin Disk Mode to conserve disk space by deploying the appliance using a thin disk.

Configure the network settings for the appliance and click Next.

Parameter	Description
Network	Select the network. The networks displayed in the drop-down menu depend on the network settings of the target server. If you are deploying the appliance directly on an ESXi host, non-ephemeral distributed virtual port groups are not supported and are not displayed in the drop-down menu.
IP version	Select the version for the appliance IP address. You can select either IPv4 or IPv6.
IP assignment	Select how to allocate the IP address of the appliance. static The wizard prompts you to enter the IP address and network settings. Note: Avoid using an IP address as a system name. If you use an IP address as a system name, you cannot change the IP address and update the DNS settings after deployment. DHCP A DHCP server is used to allocate the IP address. Select this option only if a DHCP server is available in your environment.
FQDN	If you have an enabled DDNS in your environment, you can enter a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the appliance. If you enter a FQDN that exists, the installer warns you that this will cause an error in deployment unless you isolate the network that the appliance is on. For example, you can deploy the appliance on a different port group from the existing FQDN.
IP address	If you selected a static IP address, enter the IP address for the appliance. If you enter an IP address that exists, the installer warns you that this will cause an error in deployment unless you isolate the network that the appliance is on. For example, you can deploy the appliance on a different port group from the existing IP address.
Subnet mask or prefix length	Enter the subnet mask or prefix length for the IP address.
Default Gateway	Enter the default gateway to be used by the appliance.
DNS Servers	Enter the addresses of the DNS servers used by the appliance.

Configure appliance Settings and click Next.
- Select Synchronize Time with NTP servers and enter the address of one or more NTP servers in the text box to use NTP servers for time synchronization.
- Select Synchronize Time with ESXi host to synchronize time to the host you're deploying to.
Log in to your on-premises SSO domain and click Next.
Click Yes to accept the certificate warning.
Click Finish to deploy the appliance.

Results

The vCenter Cloud Gateway Appliance is deployed to your on-premises environment. A progress bar shows the progress of deployment.

What to do next

After you have installed the appliance, consider configuring appliance log collection following the guidelines in VMware Knowledge Base article 67158. Appliance logs are useful when requesting support.