Configure NSX-T Data Center for OpenStack

If you want to use NSX-T Data Center as the networking solution for VMware Integrated OpenStack, deploy and configure NSX-T Data Center as described in the following procedure.

Prerequisites

• Deploy vSphere, including vCenter Server and all ESXi hosts.

• Install NSX-T Data Center.
  1. Deploy NSX Manager. See NSX Manager Installation.
  2. Deploy NSX Controller instances. See NSX Controller Installation and Clustering.
  3. Join each NSX Controller with the NSX Manager. See Join NSX Controllers with the NSX Manager.
  4. Initialize the control cluster. See Initialize the Control Cluster to Create a Control Cluster Master.
  5. If you deployed multiple NSX Controller instances, join them to the cluster. See Join Additional NSX Controllers with the Cluster Master.
  6. (Optional) Add your vCenter Server instance as a compute manager. See Add a Compute Manager.
  7. Deploy NSX Edge nodes. See NSX Edge Installation.

Procedure

1. Log in to the NSX Manager as an administrator.
2. Add your ESXi hosts to the NSX-T Data Center fabric.
   1. Select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. In the Hosts tab, click Add.
   3. Enter the name, management IP address, user name, and password of the host.
      You can also enter a host thumbprint. If you do not enter a thumbprint, NSX-T Data Center will prompt you to use the default thumbprint provided by the host.
   4. Click Save.
3. Create an IP address pool for tunnel endpoints.
   1. Select Inventory > Groups.
   2. In the IP Pools tab, click Add.
   3. Enter a name and description for the IP address pool.
   4. Under Subnets, click Add.
   5. Click the first entry under each column and specify the IP address range, gateway, and network address.
      You can also specify DNS servers (separated by commas) and a DNS suffix.
   6. Click Save.
4. Create an overlay transport zone.
   1. Select Fabric > Transport Zones and click Add.
   2. Enter a name, description, and host switch name for the overlay transport zone.
      The host switch name will be used for the host switch that is installed on transport nodes added to this transport zone.
   3. Select Overlay for the traffic type.
   4. Click Save.
5. Create a VLAN transport zone.
   1. Select Fabric > Transport Zones and click Add.
   2. Enter a name, description, and host switch name for the overlay transport zone.
      The host switch name will be used for the host switch that is installed on transport nodes added to this transport zone.
   3. Select VLAN for the traffic type.
   4. Click Save.
6. Create an uplink profile.
   1. Select Fabric > Profiles.
   2. In the Uplink Profiles tab, click Add.
      Note: If you are using a physical link on an ESXi host, you can modify the default policy instead of creating a new one.
   3. Enter a name and description for the profile and select a teaming policy.
   4. (Optional) Under LAGs, add and configure one or more link aggregation groups (LAGs).
   5. In the Active Uplinks text box, specify a physical link on your ESXi host or NSX Edge node.

      The link must be up and available.

      If you are using a physical link on an ESXi host, you can also specify a standby uplink if desired.

   6. In the Transport VLAN text box, enter the VLAN ID of the physical network.
   7. Retain the default MTU value of 1600.
   8. Click Save.
7. Add the ESXi hosts in your compute cluster to the overlay transport zone.
   1. Select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. In the Transport Nodes tab, click Add.
   3. Enter a name for the transport node.
   4. From the Node drop-down list, select the desired ESXi host.
   5. Under Transport Zones, select the overlay transport zone in the Available column and click the left arrow to move it to the Selected column.
   6. Open the Host Switches tab.
   7. Select the host switch for the overlay transport zone and the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
   8. From the IP Assignment drop-down list, select Use IP Pool.
   9. From the IP Pool drop-down list, select the tunnel endpoint IP address pool that you created in this procedure.
   10. From the Physical NICs drop-down lists, select an unused NIC and uplink.
   11. Click Save.
8. Add NSX Edge nodes to the overlay and VLAN transport zones.
   1. Select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. In the Transport Nodes tab, click Add.
   3. Enter a name for the transport node.
   4. From the Node drop-down list, select the desired NSX Edge node.
   5. Under Transport Zones, select the overlay and VLAN transport zones in the Available column and click the left arrow to move them to the Selected column.
   6. Open the Host Switches tab.
   7. Select the host switch for the overlay transport zone and the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
   8. From the IP Assignment drop-down list, select Use IP Pool.
   9. From the IP Pool drop-down list, select the tunnel endpoint IP address pool that you created in this procedure.
   10. From the Virtual NICs drop-down lists, select an unused NIC and uplink.
   11. Click Add Host Switch.
   12. Select the host switch for the VLAN transport zone and the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
   13. From the IP Assignment drop-down list, select Use DHCP.
   14. From the Virtual NICs drop-down lists, select an unused NIC and uplink.
   15. Click Save.
9. Create an edge cluster and add NSX Edge nodes to it.
   1. Select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. In the Edge Clusters tab, click Add.
   3. Enter a name and description for the cluster.
   4. Select an edge cluster profile from the drop-down list.
   5. Click Edit... to the right of the Transport Nodes field.
   6. From the Type drop-down list, select Virtual Machine.
   7. From the Member Type drop-down list, select Edge Node.
   8. Select the NSX Edge nodes in the Available column and click the left arrow to move them to the Selected column.
   9. Click OK and click Save.
10. Create a logical switch.
    1. Select Switching.
    2. In the Switches tab, click Add.
    3. Enter a name and description for the switch.
    4. Select the VLAN transport zone.
    5. Click Save.
11. Create a tier-0 router.
    1. Select Routing.
    2. In the Routers tab, click Add > Tier-0 Router.
    3. Enter a name and description for the router.
    4. Select the edge cluster that you created in this procedure.
    5. Select Active-Active or Active-Standby as the high availability mode.
    6. If you want to use Active-Standby mode, select Preemptive or Non-Preemptive as the failover mode and select a preferred member from the edge cluster.
    7. Click Save.
12. Create a port on the tier-0 router to associate with the upstream physical router.
    1. Select Routing.
    2. In the Routers tab, click the name of your tier-0 router.
    3. Select Configuration > Router Ports and click Add.
    4. Enter a name and description for the port.
    5. In the Type field, select Uplink.
    6. From the Transport Node drop-down list, select a member of the edge cluster.
    7. From the Logical Switch drop-down list, select the switch that you created in this procedure.
    8. Select Attach to new switch port and enter a name for the switch port.
    9. Enter the IP address of the router port in CIDR format (for example, 192.0.2.20/24).
       Note: This IP address cannot be within the subnet of any OpenStack external network.
    10. Click Save.
13. Enable BGP on the tier-0 router and add BGP neighbors.
    1. Select Routing.
    2. In the Routers tab, click the name of your tier-0 router.
    3. Select Routing > BGP and click Edit.
    4. Toggle Status to Enabled.
    5. Enter your AS number and click Save.
    6. Under Neighbors, click Add.
    7. Enter the IP address and a description of the BGP neighbor.
    8. Enter the remote AS number for the neighbor.
    9. Open the Local Address tab.
    10. From the Type drop-down list, select Uplink.
    11. Select the uplink ports in the Available column and click the left arrow to move them to the Selected column.
    12. Click Save.
14. Create a DHCP server profile.
    1. Select DDI > DHCP.
    2. In the Server Profiles tab, click Add.
    3. Enter a name and description for the profile.
    4. Select the edge cluster that you created in this procedure.
    5. Click Save.
15. Create a metadata proxy server.
    1. Select DDI > DHCP.
    2. In the Metadata Proxies tab, click Add.
    3. Enter a name and description for the metadata proxy server.
    4. In Nova Server URL, enter the planned private virtual IP address of your VMware Integrated OpenStack deployment.

       VMware Integrated OpenStack uses the first IP address in the management network as the private virtual IP address. If you are not certain which IP address will be used, you can enter a placeholder IP address and update this setting after you have deployed VMware Integrated OpenStack.

    5. In the Secret text box, enter a password to pair with your VMware Integrated OpenStack deployment.
    6. Select the edge cluster that you created in this procedure.
    7. Click Save.

What to do next

Prepare to Install VMware Integrated OpenStack with NSX-T Data Center