Install three NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliances to form a management cluster. This cluster provides management function to virtual services, profiles, pools and pool groups that you configure for NSX Advanced Load Balancer.

Prerequisites

  • Supported Avi controller versions: 20.1.7, 21.1.2 or later versions
  • Obtain IP addresses needed to install an appliance:
    • Virtual IP of NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance cluster
    • Management IP address
    • Management gateway IP address
    • DNS server IP address
  • Cluster VIP and all controllers management network must be in same subnet.

Procedure

  1. From a browser, log in with admin privileges to an NSX Manager at https://<nsx-manager-ip-address>.
    Note: You must log in with enterprise privileges. You cannot install NSX Advanced Load Balancer controller nodes with only load balancer privileges.
  2. Select System > Appliances > NSX Advanced Load Balancer.
  3. Before you start deployment, set a virtual IP for the NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance cluster.
  4. Click Set Virtual IP and enter the VIP for the cluster. It is mandatory to set a VIP for the cluster.
    Note: Verify that the virtual IP address you set is correct. If you set an incorrect cluster virtual IP address, then NSX Manager, API clients and end users cannot access the NSX Advanced Load Balancer controller. The only workaround is to delete all appliances and reconfigure the cluster with correct virtual IP address before proceeding with deployment.
  5. Click Save.
  6. To enter deployment parameters for the first NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance, click the Add NSX Advanced Load Balancer card.
  7. In Add Appliance wizard, you can provide a server URL to a remote OVA build.
    Field Action
    Remote OVA file Enter URL of the server where the OVA build is stored.
    Note: OVA upload can fail if the OVA file version being uploaded is different from the already deployed OVA files. For example, the second or third OVA deployment version is different from the first OVA deployment.
  8. Click Upload.
  9. On the Add Appliance window, configure these fields:
    Field Description
    Hostname Enter a valid hostname for the appliance. To enter a hostname that resolves to a FQDN, contact the DNS owner.
    Management IP/Netmask Enter a static IP address for the management IP address and netmask.

    For example, 192.168.1.2/22
    Management Gateway Enter a static IP address for the management gateway. The management gateway is used by NSX Advanced Load Balancer controller to communicate with NSX Manager and other NSX-T objects.
    DNS Server Enter the IP address of the DNS server.
    NTP Server Enter the IP address of the NTP server.
    Node Size Select the node size you want to deploy based on the requirements of your network.
    Supported node sizes are:
    • Small: 8 vCPU, 24 GB RAM, 128 GB storage
    • Medium: 16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 256 GB storage
    • Large: 24 vCPU, 48 GB RAM, 512 GB storage
  10. Click Next.
  11. On the Configuration window, configure these fields:
    Field Description
    Compute Manager Select a compute manager that registers the appliance.
    Compute Cluster Select a compute cluster where appliance will be deployed.
    Resource Pool (Optional) Select a resource pool that will be used during appliance deployment.
    Host Select a host where appliance will be deployed.
    Note: Select either a host or a resource pool as storage location for deployment.
    Datastore Select a datastore that will be provide storage capacity for appliance.
    Virtual Disk Format By default, the Thin Provision format is selected.

    However, you can select a format that is feasible in your environment.
    Network Click Select Network to select the port group that will provide network connectivity to the appliance.
    Note: If incorrect compute manager details are provided, deployment fails. As a workaround, you must force delete the deployment and redeploy the appliance by providing the correct compute manager details.
  12. Click Next.
  13. On the Access & Credentials window, enter an admin password that complies with the required complexity.
    Important: Enter the same password when deploying all the controllers.
  14. (Optional) In the SSH Key field, enter the private key of the SSH key pair to access controller using SSH key.
  15. Click Install Appliance.

    Do not try to delete the controller when NSX-T is registering the controller.

  16. Follow steps 1-14 to deploy the second and third appliance.
    Note: Cluster formation only happens after the third appliance is deployed.
  17. If clustering fails on the deployed controller nodes, the NSX Advanced Load Balancer displays an error message. Click Start Clustering to retrigger clustering of the deployed controller nodes. If clustering still fails, force delete the controller and reinstall it again.
    NSX-T forms a cluster of the deployed controller nodes.

Results

NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance cluster is deployed and status is Stable.

Example:

What to do next

For troubleshooting installation issues related to NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance cluster, see Troubleshooting NSX Advanced Load Balancer Controller Issues.

After successfully deploying NSX Advanced Load Balancer appliance cluster, configure a NSX-T Cloud Connector in the AVI UI and then configure virtual services that will load balance traffic across servers.