Install VMware Cloud Gateway Using the GUI

Download and install VMware Cloud Gateway to access solutions available from VMware Cloud.

Procedure

Download the VMware Cloud Gateway installer:
- For vSphere+ and VMware Cloud Foundation+: Log in to the vCenter Cloud Gateway Download page and download the ISO image.
- For VMware Cloud on AWS:
  1. Log in to the VMware Cloud Console at https://vmc.vmware.com.
  2. Click the Tools tab.
  3. Click Download on the Gateway Appliance card.
    
    You are directed to Customer Connect, where you can download the installer ISO image.
In the installer ISO image, browse to the ui-installer/operating_system folder, and run the installer.
- For Windows OS, go the win32 subdirectory and run the installer.exe file.
- For Linux OS, go to the lib64 subdirectory, and run the installer file.
- For Mac OS, go to the mac subdirectory and run the Installer.app file.
Click Deploy VMware Cloud Gateway.
Accept the End User License agreement and click Next.

Specify the deployment parameters according to the VMware Cloud platform and click Next.


VMware Cloud Platform	Deployment Option
VMware Cloud on AWS	Connect to an ESXi host on which to install. VMware Cloud Gateway Connect to a vCenter Server instance and select the ESXi host or cluster on which to install VMware Cloud Gateway.
vSphere+	Connect to the vCenter Server instance that you plan to connect to this VMware Cloud Gateway.
VMware Cloud Foundation+	Connect to the vCenter Server instance for the management domain.

Option	Steps
For VMware Cloud on AWS, you can connect to an ESXi host on which to install VMware Cloud Gateway.	For VMware Cloud on AWS, enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. For vSphere+, enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address of the vCenter Server instance. 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.
For VMware Cloud on AWS, you can connect to a vCenter Server instance and browse the inventory to select an ESXi host or DRS cluster on which to install VMware Cloud Gateway.	Enter the fully qualified domain name (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: For VMware Cloud on AWS: Select the data center or data center folder that contains the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway, 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. For vSphere+: Select the default VM folder in the data center where the cluster resides and click Next. For VMware Cloud Foundation+: Optional. Select the VM folder that contains the virtual machines of the SDDC management components and click Next. Select the compute resource on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway and click Next. For VMware Cloud on AWS: select the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway. For vSphere+: If the vCenter Server version is 8.0 Update 2 or later, select any cluster that is managed by your vCenter Server and click Next. If the vCenter Server version is earlier than 8.0 Update 2, select the cluster where the vCenter Server you plan to subscribe to vSphere+ is deployed and click Next. For VMware Cloud Foundation+: Select the default management cluster.

Option

Steps

For VMware Cloud on AWS, you can connect to an ESXi host on which to install VMware Cloud Gateway.

For VMware Cloud on AWS, enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host.
For vSphere+, enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or IP address of the vCenter Server instance.
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.

For VMware Cloud on AWS, you can connect to a vCenter Server instance and browse the inventory to select an ESXi host or DRS cluster on which to install VMware Cloud Gateway.

Enter the fully qualified domain name (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:
- For VMware Cloud on AWS: Select the data center or data center folder that contains the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway, 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.
  
  For vSphere+: Select the default VM folder in the data center where the cluster resides and click Next.
- For VMware Cloud Foundation+: Optional. Select the VM folder that contains the virtual machines of the SDDC management components and click Next.
Select the compute resource on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway and click Next.
- For VMware Cloud on AWS: select the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to install VMware Cloud Gateway.
- For vSphere+:
  - If the vCenter Server version is 8.0 Update 2 or later, select any cluster that is managed by your vCenter Server and click Next.
  - If the vCenter Server version is earlier than 8.0 Update 2, select the cluster where the vCenter Server you plan to subscribe to vSphere+ is deployed and click Next.
- For VMware Cloud Foundation+: Select the default management cluster.

Set up the target VM and click Next.

Option	Description
VM name	Enter a name for the VMware Cloud Gateway VM. The VM name must not contain a percent sign (%), backslash (\), or forward slash (/) and must not be more than 80 characters in length.
Set root password	Set a root password for the VMware Cloud Gateway 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. A few examples of special character are, an exclamation mark (!), hash key (#), at sign (@), or brackets ().
Confirm root password	Confirm the password you set above.

Option

Description

VM name

Enter a name for the VMware Cloud Gateway VM. The VM name must not contain a percent sign (%), backslash (\), or forward slash (/) and must not be more than 80 characters in length.

Set root password

Set a root password for the VMware Cloud Gateway 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. A few examples of special character are, an exclamation mark (!), hash key (#), at sign (@), or brackets ().

Confirm root password

Confirm the password you set above.

Select the datastore location for VMware Cloud Gateway and click Next.
1. Select the datastore where you want to place the VMware Cloud Gateway VM.
  
  For VMware Cloud Foundation+, select the vSAN datastore of the management domain.
2. Select Enable Thin Disk Mode to conserve disk space by installing VMware Cloud Gateway using a thin disk.

Configure the network settings for VMware Cloud Gateway 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 installing VMware Cloud Gateway directly on an ESXi host, non-ephemeral distributed virtual port groups are not supported and are not displayed in the drop-down menu. For VMware Cloud Foundation+, select the management network.
IP version	Select IPv4. VMware Cloud Gateway does not support IPv6.
IP assignment	Select how to allocate the IP address. 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 the installation. DHCP A DHCP server is used to allocate the IP address. Select this option only if a DHCP server is available in your environment. For VMware Cloud Foundation+, select static.
FQDN	Enter an FQDN for VMware Cloud Gateway.
IP address	If you selected a static IP address, enter the IP address for VMware Cloud Gateway. If you enter an IP address that already exists, the installer warns you that this will cause an error in the installation unless you isolate the network where VMware Cloud Gateway is on. For example, you can install VMware Cloud Gateway 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 that VMware Cloud Gateway should use.
DNS Servers	Enter the addresses of the DNS servers used by VMware Cloud Gateway.

Configure VMware Cloud Gateway 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.
  Note: Ensure that you enter the correct address for the NTP servers. Otherwise, the installation may not complete successfully.
- Select Synchronize Time with ESXi host to synchronize time with the host where you are installing VMware Cloud Gateway.
Click Finish to install VMware Cloud Gateway.

Results

VMware Cloud Gateway is installed in your on-premises environment.

What to do next

Open the VMware Cloud Gateway UI at https://gw-address:5480/gw-platform/ where gw-address is the IP address or FQDN of VMware Cloud Gateway and connect your on-premises deployments to VMware Cloud Gateway.

Note:

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.

For VMware Cloud Foundation+, set up also the high availability of the VMware Cloud Gateway VM in the following way:

On the Configure tab for the default management cluster, click VM Overrides and set the restart priority policy for the VMware Cloud Gateway VM to high.
In an environment with multiple availability zones, add the VMware Cloud Gateway VM to the VM group for the first availability zone.