After meeting all the required deployment prerequisites, you can install the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance using an OVA.

This OVA is a standard virtual appliance based on Photon OS for installing the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance.

Procedure

  1. Enter your Broadcom support portal login credentials and click the Download product bits from the support portal icon. (HTTPS Download) icon to access the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance OVA file.

    You can copy the download URL or download the OVA file to your local environment.

  2. Log in to the vSphere Client with admin privileges.
  3. Navigate to the vSphere host cluster on which to install the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance.
  4. Right-click the vSphere host cluster and select Deploy OVF template to start the installation wizard.
  5. Enter the download OVA URL or select Local file and navigate to the downloaded OVA file.

    The local file option is more reliable than the URL option.

  6. Click Next.
  7. Enter a name and specify a data center folder location for the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance VM.

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

  8. Click Next.
  9. Select a compute resource for the vSphere cluster or ESXi host and click Next.
  10. Review the appliance details and click Next.

    You can verify the release version of the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance.

  11. Accept the appliance EULA agreement and click Next.
  12. Select the datastore storage configuration and disk file and click Next.
  13. Select a network to map the appliance vNIC to a management port group and click Next.
    See the topology diagram for the networking configuration details.
  14. Configure the Customize template section with the appliance OVA parameters and properties.
    Option Description

    NAPP Automation Appliance Properties

    Set the initial root appliance password and Admin password.

    As a best practice, set a host name and activate SSHD for remote access.

    This option is mandatory.

    NAPP Automation Networking Properties

    (Optional) The Network Mode is set to DHCP by default.

    If this setting is inappropriate for your environment, change the network mode to Static and enter the defined IP, gateway, DNS, domain, and prefix information for your destination network.
  15. Verify that your installation configurations are accurate and click Finish to begin the installation.
    List of the appliance configuration settings for compute, storage, and network mapping. List of the appliance configuration settings for network mapping and custom properties.
    Depending on your environmental resources, the installation duration might vary.
  16. At the bottom of the page, click the Recent Tasks tab and check your deployment status.
    After the deployment is successfully complete, the newly created VM appears under the cluster and VMs section.

    Image of the newly created NSX Application Platform Automation Application VM, which is powered on in the vSphere Client.

  17. Right-click your NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance VM and select Power > Power On.
  18. Open a remote console to view the login screen and first boot initialization.

    After the initialization process, your console screen refreshes, and the host name, and assigned IP address appear.

    NSX Application Platform Automation Application initialization in the vSphere Client.
    You can also see that the OVF parameters has successfully loaded in the first boot initialization. 
    Welcome to the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance (Version: v4.2.0)
If your network was initialized correctly, access the NAPP Automation UI at the following URL:
https://10.221.69.9
Your OVF Parameters loading is:
Successful
You can use the CLI by logging in as root, and running:
su automation cd /opt/napp
export KUBECONFIG=/opt/napp/config/.kube/config
napp-automation
to get started with your NAPP Deployment.
Note: Please provide your feedback on usage of the NAPP Automation Appliance.

    If the IP address configured during deployment is not assigned or you have connectivity issues, you can log in using the console to troubleshoot or redeploy the appliance if it is an external configuration issue.

  19. Access the NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance UI using the HTTPS URL on the welcome screen in your browser.
    Note: The NSX Application Platform Automation Appliance is secure with ICMP ping blocked and only SSH is allowed as the inbound connection protocol.
    Sample HTTPS URL - https://10.221.69.9
  20. Log in using the admin user name and password set during OVA deployment.

What to do next

To install Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and NSX Application Platform, download specific Helm charts and Docker images from a container registry.