Configure the Controller

Configure the Controller VM for your vSphere with Tanzu environment.

To connect the load balancer control plane with the vCenter Server environment, the Controller requires several post-deployment configuration parameters.

Prerequisites

• Verify that your environment meets the system requirements for configuring the NSX Advanced Load Balancer. See System Requirements for Setting Up vSphere with Tanzu with vSphere Networking and NSX Advanced Load Balancer.
• Deploy the Controller. See Deploy the Controller

Procedure

1. Using a browser, navigate to the IP address that you specified when deploying the Controller.
2. Create an Administrator Account.

   Option	Description
   Username	The administrator user name for initial configuration. You cannot edit this field.
   Password	Enter an administrator password for the Controller VM. The password must be at least 8 characters and contain a combination of numeric, special, uppercase, and lowercase characters.
   Confirm Password	Enter the administrator password again.
   Email Address (optional)	Enter an administrator email address. It is recommended that you provide an email address for password recovery in a production environment.

3. Configure System Settings.

   Option	Description
   Passphrase	Enter a passphrase for the Controller backup. The Controller configuration is automatically backed up to the local disk on a periodic basis. For more information, see Backup and Restore. The passphrase must be at least 8 characters and contain a combination of numeric, special, uppercase, and lowercase characters.
   Confirm Passphrase	Enter the backup passphrase again.
   DNS Resolver	Enter an IP address for the DNS server you are using in the vSphere with Tanzu environment. For example, 10.14.7.12.
   DNS Search Domain	Enter a domain string.

4. (Optional) Configure Email/SMTP

   Option	Description
   SMTP Source	None, Local Host, SMTP Server, or Anonymous Server
   From Address	Email address

5. Click Next.
6. Configure the multi-tenant settings.
   1. Retain the default tenant access.
   2. Select Setup Cloud After and click Save .
      Note: If you did not select Setup Cloud After option before saving, the initial configuration wizard exits. The Cloud configuration window does not automatically launch and you are directed to a Dashboard view on the controller. In this case browse to Infrastructure > Clouds and edit the Default-Cloud and continue with below steps.
7. Configure Default-Cloud.
   1. Edit Default-Cloud settings.
   2. Select VMware vCenter/vSphere ESX as the infrastructure type.
      vSphere with Tanzu supports only Default-Cloud.
   3. Select Yes, Continue.
   The Default-Cloud settings page is displayed.
8. Configure the General settings.

   Option	Description
   Name	Optionally enter a name for the Default-Cloud.
   Type	The cloud type is VMware vCenter/vSphere ESX.

9. (Optional) Select DHCP Enabled if DHCP is available on the vSphere port groups.
   Leave the option unselected if you want the Service Engine interfaces to use only static IP addresses. You can configure them individually for each network.

   For more information, see Configure a Virtual IP Network.

10. Configure the Virtual Service Placement settings.

    Option	Description
    Prefer Static Routes vs Directly Connected Network for Virtual Service Placement	Select this option to force the Service Engine VM to access the server network by routing it through the default gateway. By default, the Controller directly connects a NIC to the server network and you must force the Service Engine to connect only to the Data Network and route to the Workload Network.
    Use Static Routes for Network Resolution of VIP for Virtual Service Placement	Leave this option unselected.

11. Configure the vCenter/vSphere credentials.

    Option	Description
    vCenter Address	Enter the vCenter Server hostname or IP address for the vSphere with Tanzu environment.
    Username	Enter the vCenter administrator user name, such as [email protected]. To use lesser permissions, create a dedicated role. See VMware User Role for details.
    Password	Enter the user password.
    Access Permissions	Read: You create and manage the service engine VMs. Write: Controller creates and manages the service engine VMs. You must select Write.

12. Configure the Data Center settings.
    1. Select the vSphere Data Center where you want to enable Workload Management.
    2. Select the Use Content Library option and select the local content library from the list.
13. Select SAVE & RELAUNCH to create the VMware vCenter/vSphere ESX cloud with the settings you configured.
14. Configure the Network settings and click Save.

    Option	Description
    Management Network	Select the VM Network. This network interface is used by the Service Engines to connect with the Controller.
    Service Engine	Leave the Template Service Engine Group empty.
    Management Network IP Address Management	Select DHCP Enabled.

15. (Optional) Configure the following network settings only if you do not select DHCP Enabled.

    Option	Description
    IP Subnet	Enter the IP subnet for the Management Network. Note: Enter an IP subnet only if DHCP is not available.
    Add Static IP Address Pool	Enter one or more IP addresses or IP address range. Note: Enter an IP subnet only if DHCP is not available.
    Default Gateway	Enter the default gateway for the Management Network. Note: Enter an IP subnet only if DHCP is not available.

16. Create an IPAM profile and configure IPAM/DNS settings.
    IPAM is required to allocate virtual IP addresses when virtual services get created.
    1. From the More actions menu of IPAM Profile, select Create.
       The NEW IPAM/DNS PROFILE page is displayed.
    2. Configure the IPAM Profile.

       Option	Description
       Name	User-defined string, such as ipam-profile
       Type	Select AVI Vantage IPAM
       Allocate IP in VRF	Deselect this option.
       Cloud	Select Default-Cloud from the drop-down list.

    3. Click Add in the Usable Network and select the Virtual IP network that you configured. This network is the primary network.
    4. Click SAVE.
17. (Optional) Configure NTP settings if you want to use an internal NTP server.
    1. Select Administration > Settings > DNS/NTP.
    2. Delete existing NTP servers if any and enter the IP address for the DNS server you are using.

Results

Once you complete the configuration, you see the Controller Dashboard. Select the Infrastructure > Clouds and verify that the status of the Controller for Default-Cloud is green. Sometimes the status can be yellow for some time till the Avi Controller discovers all the port groups in the vCenter environment, before it turns green.