Configuring an Air Gap Repository

To ensure that your VMware Telco Cloud Automation environment is secure, you can isolate its network from unsecured public Internet or local area networks. This means, your system does not have any network interfaces connected to external networks.

Here are the high-level steps to set up, configure, and use VMware Telco Cloud Automation in an air-gapped environment.

Step 1: Set up a virtual machine-based VMware Telco Cloud Automation air-gapped server using the steps provided in the following sections. The air-gapped server holds all container images required by the VMware Telco Cloud Automation Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) system, and Photon OS packages for Kubernetes cluster node customization.

Step 2: After setting up the air-gap repository, deploy the VMware Telco Cloud Automation appliance in your air-gapped environment. During the activation step, ensure that you select VMware Telco Cloud Automation as a standalone appliance. For more information about activating your VMware Telco Cloud Automation appliance, see the VMware Telco Cloud Automation Deployment Guide.

Step 3: Register the air-gapped repository as a partner system in VMware Telco Cloud Automation. For more information, see Add an Air Gap Repository.

Step 4: Use the air-gapped repository to deploy a Management cluster and a Workload cluster. For steps to deploy a VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid cluster, see Deploying a Kubernetes Cluster.