You must deploy NSX Edge nodes as a virtual machine on ESXi using an OVA or OVF file.

Do not deploy on bare metal. Do not deploy from the NSX Manager user interface.

Snapshots of NSX appliances (including Edge node VMs) are not supported and must be disabled. For information on how to disable snapshots, see the topic Disable Snapshots on an NSX Appliance in the NSX Installation Guide.

NSX Edge nodes must be connected to trunk portgroups. To learn more about NSX Edge networking, see "NSX Edge Networking Setup" in the NSX Installation Guide.

Caution: If you deploy the NSX Edge node VM on an NSX-V-prepared host, connectivity of the Edge node might be affected by a Distributed Firewall deny rule in NSX-V. To avoid this issue, add the Edge node VM to the Distributed Firewall's exclusion list.

Prerequisites

  • You must have sufficient ESXi hosts with appropriate resources available to accommodate the NSX Edge appliances.

Procedure

  1. Locate the NSX Edge node appliance OVA file on the VMware download portal.
    Either copy the download URL or download the OVA file onto your computer.
  2. In the vSphere Client, select the host on which to install NSX Edge node appliance.
  3. Right-click and select Deploy OVF template to start the installation wizard.
  4. Enter the download OVA URL or navigate to the saved OVA file, and click Next.
  5. Enter a name and location for the NSX Edge node , and click Next.

    The name you type appears in the VMware vCenter and vSphere inventory.

  6. Select a compute resource for the NSX Edge node appliance, and click Next.
  7. Review and verify the OVF template details, and click Next.
  8. Select a deployment configuration and click Next.
    See the Import Configuration step for details on the size of Edge nodes you must deploy.
  9. Select storage for the configuration and disk files, and click Next.
    1. Select the virtual disk format.
    2. Select the VM storage policy.
    3. Specify the datastore to store the NSX Edge node appliance files.
  10. Select a destination network for each source network.
    1. For network 0, select the VDS management portgroup.
    2. For networks 1, 2, and 3, select the previously configured VDS trunk portgroups.
    Post-migration, the NSX Edge node is connected to one of these three trunk networks using only a single fastpath interface. The network settings can be adjusted or verified after the NSX Edge node is deployed.
  11. Configure IP Allocation settings.
    1. For IP allocation, specify Static - Manual.
    2. For IP protocol, select IPv4.
  12. Click Next.
    The following steps are all located in the Customize Template section of the Deploy OVF Template wizard.
  13. Enter the NSX Edge node system root, CLI admin, and audit passwords.
    Note: In the Customize Template window, ignore the message All properties have valid values that is displayed even before you have entered values in any of the fields. This message is displayed because all parameters are optional. The validation passes as you have not entered values in any of the fields.
  14. Enter the hostname of the NSX Edge.
  15. Enter the default gateway, management network IPv4, and management network netmask address.
    Skip any VMC network settings.
  16. Enter the DNS Server list, the Domain Search list, and the NTP Server IP or FQDN list.
  17. (Optional) Do not enable SSH if you prefer to access NSX Edge using the console. However, if you want root SSH login and CLI login to the NSX Edge command line, enable the SSH option.
    By default, SSH access is disabled for security reasons.
  18. Verify that all your custom OVA template specification is accurate and click Finish to initiate the installation.
    The installation might take 7-8 minutes.
  19. Start the NSX Edge node VM manually.
  20. 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.
  21. After the NSX Edge node starts, log in to the CLI 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.
  22. Run the get interface eth0 (without VLAN) or get interface eth0.<vlan_ID> (with a VLAN) command to verify that the IP address was applied as expected. 
    nsx-edge-1> get interface eth0.100 

Interface: eth0.100
  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
  ...
  23. 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 IP or FQDN list.
  24. 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 use DHCP 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. Type the set interface interface dhcp plane mgmt command.
    3. Place interface into the DHCP network and wait for an IP address to be assigned to that interface.
    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.