Deploy an Edge Host with USB NIC

This section explains how to modify the VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator kickstart ks.cfg to install VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator on a machine that has a USB NIC (of a chipset supported by ESXi USB NIC Fling) only, no internal supported NIC is installed in the machine.

ESXi supports various on-board or PCI/PCIe slotted NICs by bundling drivers for them in the base image (for example, Intel NICs), however ESXi does not support USB plugged NICs of a certain chip sets that are popular in consumer market (for example, RealTek systems).

There is, however, a VMware Fling that adds native driver support for some of the chipset: USB Network Native Driver for ESXi. The VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator installer bundles this USB NIC fling VIB in it. To boot the host from a USB NIC, follow the these steps:

Prerequisites

• A machine that has no on-board/PCI/PCIe NIC of supported chipset (check VMware I/O devices category HCL).

• A USB NIC that is supported by USB NIC fling (check USB NIC requirements).

Procedure

1. Download the VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator install media.
2. Modify ESXi kickstart ks.cfg in the root of the install media at two places - for %pre script section and %firstboot section.
3. Add or modify the %pre script block section, a typical VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator ks.cfg does not have a %pre section. Add the following script block after the reboot kickstart instruction line and before the %post script section.

   %pre --interpreter=busybox
   # ============================================================================
   # PRE_INSTALL section start:
   # ============================================================================
   
   # Installer env: Configure USB NIC device for Management Network portgroup of
   # vSwitch0. Create a standard switch and mgmt network portgroup (since they will
   # not get created automatically due to lack of supported nic).
   # NOTE: Following config assumes DHCP usage for ESXi, if using static IP for
   # the network config (e.g. management portgroup network), need changes to
   # following section.
   # - Create a standard vSwitch and management network portgroup.
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg="Management Network" vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --link=vusb0 vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg-uplink=vusb0 --pg="Management Network" vSwitch0
   # - Create a vmknic wiring up above vswitch/pg/pnic.
   /bin/esxcfg-vmknic --add --ip=DHCP --portgroup="Management Network"
   # esxcli is not available in pre-install env, use localcli instead of esxcli
   /bin/localcli network ip interface ipv4 set --peer-dns=true -i vmk0
   
   # ============================================================================
   # PRE_INSTALL section end
   # ============================================================================
   

   An example of this is as follows:

   Figure 1. Example %Pre Section of ks.cfg

   

4. Modify the %firstboot script block section, a typical VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator ks.cfg has an existing %firstboot section. Add the new lines after %firstboot line and before the existing first line of that section.

   # -- USB-NIC-NETCOFNFIG start:
   # Configure USB NIC device for Management Network portgroup of vSwitch0
   # (this step is needed because the default network stack config creation
   # functionality - responsible for setting up this config during boot/jumpstart,
   # does not get triggered for USB NIC vusbN devices, only gets triggered for
   # vmkN devices).
   # NOTE: Following config assumes DHCP usage for ESXi, if using static IP for
   # the network config (e.g. management portgroup network), need changes to
   # following section.
   
   echo "Current networking state"
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch -l
   /bin/esxcfg-vmknic -l
   /bin/cat /etc/resolv.conf
   
   echo "Reset networking"
   /bin/esxcfg-vmknic --del --portgroup "Management Network"
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --del-pg="Management Network" vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --delete vSwitch0
   
   echo "Create vswitch and pgs, add vswitch pg uplink"
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --link=vusb0 vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg="Management Network" vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg="VM Network" vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg-uplink=vusb0 --pg="Management Network" vSwitch0
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch --add-pg-uplink=vusb0 --pg="VM Network" vSwitch0
   # Using DHCP:
   /bin/esxcfg-vmknic --add --ip=DHCP --portgroup="Management Network"
   /bin/localcli network ip interface ipv4 set --peer-dns=true -i vmk0
   # Restart infravisor (it might have started before DHCP DNS config was set).
   /etc/init.d/infravisor stop
   /bin/crx-cli kill -f -i infravisor-pod
   /etc/init.d/infravisor start
   
   echo "New networking state"
   /bin/esxcfg-vswitch -l
   /bin/esxcfg-vmknic -l
   /bin/cat /etc/resolv.conf
   
   echo "Enable full USB NIC scan for subsequent reboots"
   localcli system module parameters set -p "usbBusFullScanOnBootEnabled=1" -m vmkusb_nic_fling
   
   # -- USB-NIC-NETCOFNFIG end
   

   An example of this is shown below:

   Figure 2. Example %firstboot Section of ks.cfg