After you deploy the compute vCenter Server, you must create and configure the shared edge and compute cluster for high availability of and resource usage policy for virtual machines, and for central user management using Active Directory.

To create and configure the shared edge and compute cluster, you perform the following tasks:
  • Create the cluster.
  • Configure vSphere DRS.
  • Add the ESXi hosts to the cluster.
  • Add the ESXi hosts to the Active Directory domain.
  • Create resource pools for the NSX-T edge devices and for the tenant workloads.
  • Create folders for the virtual appliances of the NSX-T Edge devices for inbound and outbound network traffic in the workload domain.

Procedure

  1. In a Web browser, log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client.
    Setting Value
    URL https://sfo01m01vc01.sfo01.rainpole.local/ui
    User name administrator@vsphere.local
    Password vsphere_admin_password
  2. Create a data center object.
    1. In the Hosts and clusters inventory, right-click the sfo01w02vc01.sfo01.rainpole.local vCenter Server instance and click New datacenter.
    2. In the New datacenter dialog box, enter sfo01-w02dc and click OK.
  3. Create the shared edge and compute cluster.
    1. In the inventory tree, right-click the sfo01-w02dc data center and click New cluster.
    2. In the New cluster dialog box, enter the values and click OK.
      Setting Value
      Name sfo01-w02-shared01
      DRS Enabled
      vSphere HA Disabled
      vSAN Disabled
  4. Add the ESXi hosts to the shared edge and compute cluster.
    1. Right-click the sfo01-w02-shared01 cluster, and select Add Hosts.
    2. On the Add hosts page, select the Use same credentials for all hosts check box, configure the settings, and click Next.
      IP Address or FQDN User name Password
      sfo01w02esx01.sfo01.rainpole.local root esxi_root_user_password
      sfo01w02esx02.sfo01.rainpole.local - -
      sfo01w02esx03.sfo01.rainpole.local - -
      sfo01w02esx04.sfo01.rainpole.local - -
    3. In the Security alert dialog box, select all ESXi hosts, and, to confirm the validity of the host certificates, click OK .
      A trusted connection between vCenter Server and the ESXi hosts is established by using the host certificates for SSL handshake.
    4. On the Host summary page, review the host information and click Next.
    5. On the Ready to complete page, review the configuration and click Finish.
    6. On the Hosts tab for the cluster, select all ESXi hosts, right-click and select Maintenance mode > Exit maintenance mode.
    7. Select all ESXi hosts, right-click, select Assign license, select the ESXi license from the inventory of the License Service, and click OK.
  5. Add an ESXi host to the Active Directory domain
    1. In the inventory tree, expand the entire sfo01w02vc01.sfo01.rainpole.local tree.
    2. Select the sfo01w02esx01.sfo01.rainpole.local host.
    3. On the Configure tab, in the System section, select Authentication services.
    4. On the Authentication services page, click the Join domain button.
    5. In the Join domain dialog box, configure the settings and click OK.
      Setting Value
      Domain sfo01.rainpole.local
      User name svc-domain-join@rainpole.local
      Password svc-domain-join_password
  6. Set the Active Directory service to start and stop with host.
    1. Select the sfo01w02esx01.sfo01.rainpole.local host.
    2. On the Configure tab for the host, in the System section, select Services.
    3. Select the Active Directory service and click Edit startup policy.
    4. In the Edit startup policy dialog box, select Start and stop with host and click OK.
  7. Create the resource pools for the shared edge and compute cluster.
    You create resource pools for the following components:
    • NSX-T Edge devices that control the network traffic in and out of the workload domain
    • NSX-T Edge devices that provide networking services to the tenant workloads in the workload domain
    • Tenant workloads in the workload domain
    1. Right-click the sfo01-w02-shared01 cluster and select New resource pool.
    2. In the New resource pool dialog box, enter the values for the sfo01-w02rp-sddc-edge resource pool and click OK.
      Setting Resource Pool 1 Resource Pool 2 Resource Pool 3
      Name sfo01-w02rp-sddc-edge sfo01-w02rp-user-edge sfo01-w02rp-user-vm
      CPU-Shares High Normal Normal
      CPU-Reservation 0 0 0
      CPU-Reservation Type Expandable selected Expandable selected Expandable selected
      CPU-Limit Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
      Memory-Shares Normal Normal Normal
      Memory-Reservation 32 GB 0 0
      Memory-Reservation type Expandable selected Expandable selected Expandable selected
      Memory-Limit Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
    3. Repeat the step to create the remaining resource pools.
  8. Create a folder for the virtual machines of the NSX-T Edge devices for the inbound and outbound traffic in the workload domain.
    1. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the sfo01w02vc01.sfo01.rainpole.local tree.
    2. Right-click the sfo01-w02dc data center and select New folder > New VM and template folder.
    3. In the New folder dialog box, enter sfo01-w02fd-nsx and click OK.