Deploying the Provider VM Using a vSphere Client

When you deploy the Provider VM, you install and configure the service control plane in a Host Cluster, that can be a vSphere cluster or VMC cluster.

You will perform the following procedure to install and deploy the Provider VM:

Step 1: Satisfy the Prerequisites
Step 2: Identify the Provider .ova download URL, or optionally download the Provider .ova package
Step 3: Install the Provider .ova on vCenter
Step 4: Power On the Provider VM

Audience

The procedures in this topic are performed by a VMware Data Services Manager user in the Provider Administrator role.

Step 1: Prerequisites

Before you begin deploying the Provider VM, your vCenter must be configured. Ensure that you have on hand and can identify:

The IP address or fully-qualified distinguished name of your vCenter server instance.
Your vCenter administrator credentials.
The vCenter Host Cluster or ESXi host on which you plan to install and deploy the VM.
The network or distributed port group that will host the VMware Data Services Manager management application traffic (eth0) for the Provider VM. This Management Network should be configured with either:
- A public IP address.
- A private IP address fronted by a load balancer that has a public IP address.
The network or distributed port group that will host the RabbitMQ traffic (eth1) for the VM (the Control Plane Network).
The default gateway for the Control Plane Network (eth1).
The network information for the Provider VM if you plan to assign it a static IP address, including the IP address, netmask, gateway, and domain information.

Any external endpoint that the Provider VM connects to (LDAP, S3 local/cloud storage) must be resolvable by the DNS server that you specify during deployment.

Step 2: Downloading the Provider .ova

The VMware Data Services Manager Provider .ova is available as a separate download from VMware Tanzu Network and VMware Customer Connect.

Perform these steps to download the Provider .ova:

Navigate to VMware Data Services Manager on VMware Tanzu Network or VMware Customer Connect, locate and select Provider Virtual Appliance, and download the file.

The format of the Provider virtual appliance download file name is:
```
dms-provider-va-<version>-<build>.ova
```
For example:
```
dms-provider-va-1.0.0.1085-18119820.ova
```
Make note of the directory to which the file was downloaded.

Step 3: Installing the Provider .ova

Open a web browser window, and log in to your vCenter server instance:
```
https://vcenter_server_ip_or_fqdn
```
Locate the data center and cluster.
Right click on a cluster or ESXi host, or another inventory object, and then select Deploy OVF Template.

The Select an OVF Template form displays.
Deploy the OVF template at the desired location.
On the Select a compute resource form, select the cluster or ESXi host on which to install the Provider VM. Click NEXT after vCenter successfully completes compatibility checks on the selected object.

After resource validation on the selected deployment target completes, the Review details form displays.
Examine the template details for the Provider VM, taking note of the Size on disk values. This information may help inform your selection of storage configuration for the Provider VM in an upcoming step.
Click NEXT.

The Select storage form displays.

Specify the disk format and the datastore for the virtual machine configuration files and virtual disks:

Property Name	Value
Encrypt this virtual machine	This option is currently deactivated.
Select virtual disk format	Select the format of the virtual disk from the drop-down menu. Choices are `Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed` (recommended for production environments), `Thin Provision`, or `Thick Provision Eager Zeroed`. Note that thick formats improve performance, while thin formats save storage space. Storage Provisioning and Space Reclamation in the VMware vSphere documentation provides more information about these settings.
VM Storage Policy	Retain the `Datastore Default` policy or select a preconfigured policy from the dropdown list.
Disable Storage DRS for this virtual machine	When you check this setting, vSphere cannot move the VM to a different datastore.
Disk	Choose the destination storage disk and select the associated table row.

Wait for the compatibility checks for your selections to complete successfully, and then click NEXT.

The Select networks form displays.

Use the Destination Network drop-down lists to select the networks for the VMware Data Services Manager application and RabbitMQ network traffic:

Source Network	Destination Network
Management Network	Select the network for UI/API traffic (eth0).
Control Plane Network	Select the network for RabbitMQ traffic (eth1).

Review the IP Allocation Settings, and then click NEXT to complete the network configuration.

The Provider Customize template form displays.

Use the Customize template form to configure these Provider Application deployment properties:

Property Name	Value
Provider First name	The first name of the Provider Administrator user.
Provider Last name	The last name of the Provider Administrator user.
Provider Company Name	The name of the Provider Administrator company.
Provider email	The email address of the user. This is the user's login username in the VMware Data Services Manager console.
Provider password	The password for the user. This is the user's login password in the VMware Data Services Manager console.
Provider VM Root Password	The password for the `root` user on the Provider VM.
NTP Server	The NTP server URL. The Provider, Agent, and databases must all use the same NTP server.
Rabbitmq Server admin password	The password for the RabbitMQ server `admin` user.
RabbitMQ Default Gateway	The default gateway for the Control Plane Network.

Configure the Networking Properties of the Provider VM. You must assign a static IP address to the Provider for certain functionality like backup and recovery to work. Specify values for the following properties:

Property Name	Value
Default Gateway	The IP address of the default gateway for the Provider VM.
Domain Name	The DNS search domain.
Domain Name Servers	The IP address of the domain name server for the Provider VM. Note: If there are multiple Domain Name Server entries, separate them by a space and not a comma.
Management Network IP Address	The IP address for the Provider VM on the Management Network.
Management Network Netmask	The netmask or prefix for the Provider VM on the Management Network.
Control Plane Network IP Address	The IP address for the Provider VM on the Control Plane Network.
Control Plane Network Netmask	The netmask or prefix for the Provider VM on the Control Plane Network.

Click NEXT.
Examine the Provider VM configuration displayed on the Ready to complete form, and click FINISH.

Note: It may take some time to deploy the Provider VM. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane at the bottom of the vCenter UI to follow the progress of the operation.

Step 4: Powering On the Provider VM

Power on the Provider VM after it successfully deploys:

Return to the vCenter UI.
Locate the cluster in which you deployed the VM, recall the name of the VM, and select it from the left navigation pane.
Click the green Play icon at the top of the main window, or click Actions and select Power->Power On from the pop-up menu.

Note: Powering on and initializing the VM may take some time. Monitor the appliance startup messages to observe the progress of the power on operation.

Next Steps

You successfully installed and deployed the Provider VM. Next, you may want to review object storage and organizations and users concepts in preparation to complete the Provider configuration.