Install Bare Metal NSX Edge Automatically using ISO File

Use the automated installation of NSX Edge on the bare metal servers because it automatically configures the NSX Edge node according to the hardware configuration and the most frequently used NSX Edge configuration. After the installation is complete, configure the management interface of the nodes as out-of-band or as in-band and provide the final IP configuration of the management interface statically or over DHCP.

Prerequisites

Both BIOS and UEFI boot modes are supported.
See NSX Edge network requirements in NSX Edge Installation Requirements.
See Bare Metal Server System Requirements.
If the bare metal servers for NSX Edge nodes have integrated SD card devices, disable those SD cards. For more information, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/67363.
To prepare a bare metal server as an NSX Edge node, ensure there is a minimum of 200 Gb disk space.

For more details about the supported NICs, see VMware Compatibility Guide.

Procedure

Go to the Broadcom Support page. Select the VMware Cloud Foundation division on the top panel and go to the My Downloads panel.
Search VMware NSX and select the appropriate product version.
Locate and download the ISO file for NSX Edge for Bare Metal.
Log in to the Integrated Lights-Out (ILO) interface of the bare metal server.
Click Launch in the virtual console preview.
Select Virtual Media > Connect Virtual Media.
Wait a few seconds for the virtual media to connect.
Select Virtual Media > Map CD/DVD and browse to the ISO file.
Select Next Boot > Virtual CD/DVD/ISO.
Select Power > Reset System (warm boot).
The installation duration depends on the bare metal environment.
Choose Automated installation.
There might be a pause of 10 seconds after you press Enter.
Select the applicable primary network interface. This is for the management network interface.

During power-on, the installer requests a network configuration. Select static IP settings. If the static IP is not avialable, use DHCP.

By default, the root login password is vmware, and the admin login password is default.

Note: During deployment, the installer automatically selects the largest disk to install NSX on the NSX Edge node.
Power on the appliance. Open the console of the NSX Edge node to track the boot process.
If the console window does not open, make sure that pop-ups are allowed.
After the NSX Edge node starts, log in to the Edge node using the console or SSH (provided SSH is enabled at the time of install) with admin credentials.

Note: After NSX Edge node starts, if you do not log in with admin credentials for the first time, the data plane service does not automatically start on the NSX Edge node.
After the reboot, you can log in with either admin or root credentials. The default root password is vmware.
There are three ways to configure a management interface.
- Untagged interface. This interface type creates an out-of-band management interface.
  (Static) set interface eth0 ip <CIDR> gateway <gateway-ip> plane mgmt
  (DHCP) set interface eth0 dhcp plane mgmt
- Tagged interface.
  set interface eth0 vlan <vlan_ID> plane mgmt
  (Static) set interface eth0.<vlan_ID> ip <CIDR> gateway <gateway-ip> plane mgmt
  (DHCP) set interface eth0.<vlan_ID> dhcp plane mgmt
- In-band interface.
  set interface mac <mac_address> vlan <vlan_ID> in-band plane mgmt
  (Static) set interface eth0.<vlan_ID> ip <CIDR> gateway <gateway-ip> plane mgmt
  (DHCP) set interface eth0.<vlan_ID> dhcp plane mgmt
- Tagged interface and In-band interface.
  Any existing VLAN management interface must be cleared before creating a new one.
  clear interface eth0.<vlan_ID>
- (Optional) Create a bond0 interface for management HA interface with multiple interfaces.
  
  You can configure a bond management interface on an NSX Edge using the following CLI command. Use console to clear existing mangement IP before you create a bond and add an interface to it.
  
  Note: Only active-backup mode is allowed on a bond interface. You can configure VLANs on a bond0 interface.
  Create a bond interface
  
  set interface bond0 ip x.x.x.x/mask gateway x.x.x.x plane mgmt mode active-backup members eth0,eth1 primary eth0
  
  Create vlan inteface on bond0
  
  set interface bond0 vlan Y plane mgmt
  
  Assign IP address to bond0.yyy
  
  set interface bond0.yyy ip x.x.x.x/24 gateway z.z.z.z plane mgmt
Run the get interface eth0 (without VLAN) to verify that the IP address was applied as expected.
```
nsx-edge-1> get interface eth0 

Interface: eth0
  Address: 192.168.110.37/24
  MAC address: 00:50:56:86:62:4d
  MTU: 1500
  Default gateway: 192.168.110.1
  Broadcast address: 192.168.110.255
  ...
```
Note: When bringing up NSX Edge nodes on non-NSX managed host, verify that the minimum MTU setting is set to 1600 (instead of 1500) on the physical host switch for the data NIC.
Set physical NICs to be used by NSX dataplane from the list of available PCI devices.
1. get dataplane device list
2. reset dataplane device list
3. restart service dataplane
4. get physical-port
After selecting physical NICs, restart NSX dataplane services for changes to take effect.
Note: Starting in NSX 3.1.2, you can claim up to 16 physical NICs.

Note: To configure custom NICs for dataplance, run the set dataplane device list <NIC1>, <NIC2>, <NIC3> command.
To avoid network configuration errors, verify that the physical NICs selected match the NICs configured in the uplink profiles.
Verify that the NSX Edge node has the required connectivity.
If you enabled SSH, make sure that you can SSH to your NSX Edge node and verify the following:
- You can ping your NSX Edge node management interface.
- From the NSX Edge node, you can ping the node's default gateway.
- From the NSX Edge node, you can ping the hypervisor hosts that are either in the same network or a network reachable through routing.
- From the NSX Edge node, you can ping the DNS server and NTP Server.
Troubleshoot connectivity problems.

Note: If connectivity is not established, make sure the VM network adapter is in the proper network or VLAN.

By default, the NSX Edge node datapath claims all virtual machine NICs except the management NIC (the one that has an IP address and a default route). If you incorrectly assigned a NIC as the management interface, follow these steps to assign management IP address to the correct NIC.
1. Log in to the NSX Edge CLI and type the stop service dataplane command.
2. (Static IP) Run the set interface <interface-name> ip <x.x.x.x/24> gateway <x.x.x.x> plane mgmt command.
3. (DHCP) Run the set interface interface-name dhcp plane mgmt command.
4. Type the start service dataplane command.
  The datapath fp-ethX ports used for the VLAN uplink and the tunnel overlay are shown in the get interfaces and get physical-port commands on the NSX Edge node.