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.

Note: For NSX-T Data Center to work with vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) version 7.0, you must install vSphere 7.0 and NSX-T 3.0 or later. Before deploying and configuring NSX-T Data Center, see Prepare a vSphere Distributed Switch for NSX-T.

Prerequisites

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

• Install NSX-T Data Center.
  1. Deploy NSX Manager. See NSX Manager Installation.
  2. Add your vCenter Server instance as compute manager. See Add a Compute Manager.

  3. For using NSX Manager cluster, you must deploy NSX Manager nodes. See Deploy NSX Manager Nodes to Form a Cluster from UI.

     Note: An NSX Manager cluster provides high availability for a single NSX-T Data Center instance. Multiple instances of NSX-T Data Center cannot be used with the same VMware Integrated OpenStack deployment.
  4. Deploy NSX Edge nodes. See Installing NSX Edge.
  5. If you are running vSphere 7.0 or later, add a new compute manager. See Add a Compute Manager.
• Generate the NSX-T root CA certificate using the cluster virtual IP. See Generating and Registering NSX Manager Certificate for Enterprise PKS.

Procedure

1. Log in to the NSX Manager as an administrator.
2. Create an overlay transport zone.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Transport Zones.
   2. On the Transport Zones tab, click Add Zone.
   3. Enter the name, description, and N-VDS name for the overlay transport zone.
      The N-VDS name is used for the N-VDS installed on the transport nodes added to this transport zone.
   4. If provided with the option, select Standard or Enhanced Datapath for the N-VDS.
   5. Select Overlay for the traffic type.
   6. Click Add.
3. Create a VLAN transport zone.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Transport Zones.
   2. On the Transport Zones tab, click Add Zone.
   3. Enter the name, description, and N-VDS name for the VLAN transport zone.
      The N-VDS name is for the N-VDS installed on the transport nodes added to this transport zone.
   4. Select Standard or Enhanced Datapath for the N-VDS mode.
   5. Select VLAN for the traffic type.
   6. Click Add.
4. Add the compute managers.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Compute Managers.
   2. On the Compute Managers tab, click Add Compute Manager.
   3. Enter the name, description, type, IP address, HTTPS port of reverse proxy, user name, and password for the new compute manager.
   4. Click Add.
5. Create an uplink profile.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Profiles.
   2. On the Uplink Profiles tab, click Add Profile.
      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.
   4. (Optional) Under LAGs, add and configure one or more link aggregation groups (LAGs).
   5. Under Teamings, add a new teaming policy or configure the default policy.
   6. In the Active Uplinks column, define a custom uplink name.

      If you are using a physical link on an ESXi host, you can also define a standby uplink name.

   7. Click Add.
6. For using the N-VDS in standard mode, create a Network I/O Control (NIOC) profile.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Profiles.
   2. On the NIOC Profiles tab, click Add Profile.
   3. Enter the name and description for the profile.
   4. Set Status to Enabled.
   5. Under Host Infra Traffic Resource, specify the desired traffic types and bandwidth allocations.
   6. Click Add.
7. Under Policy view, create an IP address pool for tunnel endpoints.
   1. On the Networking tab, select IP Address Pools.
   2. On the IP Address Pools tab, click Add IP Address Pool.
   3. Enter the name and description for the pool.
   4. Under Subnets, click Set.
   5. Click the first entry under each column and specify the IP address ranges and CIDR.
      You can also specify DNS servers (separated by commas) and a DNS suffix.
   6. Click Add.
8. Add the NSX Edge nodes in your edge cluster to the NSX-T Data Center fabric.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. On the Edge Transport Nodes tab, click Add Edge Node.
   3. Enter the name, FQDN, and description for the transport node.
   4. Select a form factor and click Next.
   5. Enter the credentials for the NSX Edge virtual machine and click Next.
   6. From the Compute Manager drop-down menu, select the compute manager that you configured in this procedure.
   7. Select the cluster, resource pool or host, and datastore for the NSX Edge virtual machine and click Next.
   8. Select whether to use DHCP or a static IP address for the NSX Edge virtual machine.

      If you select Static, enter the management IP address and default gateway.

   9. From the Management Interface drop-down menu, select the management network and click Next.
   10. Select the DNS servers and NTP servers and click Next.
   11. In the Edge Switch Name text box, enter the NSX Edge switch name.
   12. From the Transport Zone drop-down menu, select the overlay transport zone.
   13. From the Uplink Profile drop-down menu, select the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
   14. From the IP Assignment drop-down menu, select Use IP Pool.
   15. From the IP Pool drop-down menu, select the tunnel endpoint IP address pool that you created in this procedure.
   16. From the DPDK Fastpath Interfaces drop-down menu, select the uplink name that you defined in the uplink profile.
   17. Click Finish.
   18. To add another switch, click Add Switch.
   19. From the New Node Switch drop-down menu, in the Edge Switch Name text box, enter the NSX Edge switch name.
   20. From the Transport Zone drop-down menu, select the VLAN transport zone.
   21. From the Uplink Profile drop-down menu, select the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
   22. From the DPDK Fastpath Interfaces drop-down menu, select the uplink name that you defined in the uplink profile.
   23. Click Finish.
9. Create an edge cluster and add NSX Edge nodes to it.
   1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Nodes.
   2. On the Edge Clusters tab, click Add Edge Cluster.
   3. Enter the name and description for the edge cluster.
   4. From the Edge Cluster drop-down menu, select the edge cluster.
   5. From the Member Type drop-down menu, select the Edge Node.
   6. Select the NSX Edge nodes in the Available column and click the left arrow for moving them to the Selected column.
   7. Click Add.
10. Under Policy view, create a logical switch.
    1. On the Networking tab, select Segments.
    2. On the Segments tab, click Add Segment.
    3. Enter the name and description for the switch.
    4. From the Connected Gateway drop-down menu, select the gateway as None.
    5. From the Transport Zone drop-down menu, select the VLAN transport zone.
    6. Select an uplink teaming policy.
    7. Specify the VLAN ID of the network.
    8. Click Add.
11. Under Policy view, create a tier-0 gateway.
    1. On the Networking tab, select Tier-0 Gateways and click Add Gateway.
    2. Enter the name and description for the gateway.
    3. From the Edge Cluster drop-down menu, select the default cluster that you created in this procedure.
    4. Select Active-Active or Active-Standby as the high availability mode.
    5. For using Active-Standby mode, select Preemptive or Non-Preemptive as the failover mode and select a preferred member from the edge cluster.
    6. Click Add.
12. Under Policy view, create a port on the tier-0 gateway for associating with the upstream physical router.
    1. On the Networking tab, select Tier-0 Gateways.
    2. For editing the tier-0 gateway settings, click the three dots before the name of the tier-0 gateway.
    3. Under Interface, click Set.
    4. Enter the name and description for the interface.
    5. Specify the type of interface.
    6. Enter the name of the switch connected to the segment.
    7. Specify the edge node of the interface.
    8. Enter the IP address of the interface and its prefix length in bits.
       Note: This IP address cannot be within the subnet of any OpenStack external network.
    9. Click Add.
13. Under Policy view, create a DHCP server profile.
    1. On the Networking tab, select DHCP.
    2. Under DHCP, click Add DHCP Profile.
    3. Enter the name and description for the profile.
    4. From the Edge Cluster drop-down menu, select the default cluster that you created in this procedure.
    5. Select the server IP address.
    6. Enter the lease time in seconds.
    7. Click Add.
14. Under Policy view, create a metadata proxy server.
    1. On the Networking tab, select Segments.
    2. On the Metadata Proxies tab, click Add Metadata Proxy.
    3. Enter the name and description for the metadata proxy server.
    4. In the Server Address field, enter the planned private OpenStack endpoint of your VMware Integrated OpenStack deployment.

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

    5. In the Shared Signature Secret text box, enter a password for pairing with your VMware Integrated OpenStack deployment.
    6. From the Edge Cluster drop-down menu, select the default cluster that you created in this procedure.
    7. Click Add.
15. Under Policy view, create a transport node profile.
    1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Profiles.
    2. On the Transport Node Profiles tab, click Add Profile.
    3. Enter the name and description for the transport node profile.
    4. From the NSX Host Switch drop-down menu, select the type as N-VDS.
    5. Select the standard mode.
    6. Enter the NSX switch name.
    7. From the Transport Zone drop-down menu, select the overlay and the VLAN transport zone.
    8. From the NIOC Profile drop-down menu, select the NIOC profile that you created in this procedure.
    9. From the Uplink Profile drop-down menu, select the uplink profile that you created in this procedure.
    10. From the LLDP Profile drop-down menu, select the desired LLDP profile.
    11. From the IP Assignment drop-down menu, select Use IP Pool.
    12. From the IP Pool drop-down menu, select the tunnel endpoint IP address pool that you created in this procedure.
    13. In the Physical NICs text box, enter the name of an unused NIC on your host.
    14. From the drop-down, select the uplink name that you defined in the uplink profile.
    15. Click Add.
16. Configure compute cluster with transport profile as transport node.
    1. On the System tab, select Fabric > Nodes.
    2. Under the Host Transport Nodes tab, from the Managed by drop-down menu, select the IP address.
    3. Select compute cluster for applying the transport node profile.
    4. From the Transport Node Profile drop-down menu, select the transport node.
    5. Click Apply.

What to do next

Install VMware Integrated OpenStack. See Installing VMware Integrated OpenStack.