To set up an airgap repository, your environment must have the prerequisites listed in this section.

Resource Preparation

To set up an airgap server, you must prepare the following resources:
  1. An environment with Internet connectivity with access to the following websites:
    • projects.registry.vmware.com
    • vmwtec.jfrog.io
    • packages.vmware.com
    • github.com
  2. An FQDN to assign to the airgap server. Optionally, DNS service can be available for resolving FQDN names if the setup environment is not the target environment.
  3. (Optional) Server certificates. To generate private CA-signed certificates automatically, the VMware Telco Cloud Automation airgap server provides setup scripts. However, you can prepare your own server certificate that is private CA-signed or public CA-signed. For a chained certificate, it must contain all the trusted CA certificates:
    • Self-signed certificate or chained certificate file.
    • Certificate key file.
    • (Optional) CA certificate file for verifying the server certificate. It can be a self-signed certificate or a trusted private root CA file that has signed the certificate chain. For a public-signed server certificate, you need not specify the CA file but ensure that you include the CA certificates in the chained certificate file.
  4. Download the airgap tarball file named VMware-Telco-Cloud-Automation-airgap-files-2.0.0-.tar.gz from the VMware Customer Connect site. The tarball file is included in the VMware Telco Cloud Automation build.

Deploy Photon OS 3 OVA

A virtual machine with Photon OS 3.0 Rev 3 must be available for providing repository services in the airgap environment. Download the OVA template from here.
  1. Import the OVA template onto the ESXi host in an environment that has Internet connectivity.
    1. Right-click the ESXi host and select Deploy OVF Template.
    2. To complete the deployment, follow the wizard.
  2. Edit the imported airgap virtual machine with the following hardware requirements:
    • CPU - 4
    • RAM - 8 GB
    • NIC - 1. Wire to the network with Internet connectivity.
    • Hard Disks - 2. One with a minimum disk space of 16 GB for Photon OS. The other with at least 200 GB for Docker repository, Harbor repository, and Photon repository.
    Note: When setting up the airgap server, The default CD drive location can display an error while saving the settings. If you face this issue, remove the CD drive from the virtual machine.
  3. Power on the airgap server.
  4. Log in and update its root password. The default password is changeme.