Use the OVF Tool to Deploy vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance

You can use the VMware OVF tool to deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance from an OVF template.

VMware OVF Tool (ovftool) is a flexible command-line utility that you can use to import and export OVF packages to and from a wide variety of VMware products. For more information about ovftool, see the OVF Tool Documentation.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you have downloaded and mounted the vSphere Replication .iso image.
• Verify that you have downloaded and installed on your computer the VMware OVF tool 4.2 or later.

Procedure

1. To deploy the vSphere Replication Virtual Appliance with the VMware OVF Tool, use one of the following command lines.
   • If you want to obtain network settings through DHCP:

     ovftool 
     --acceptAllEulas 
     --datastore="DATASTORE NAME" 
     --name="VIRTUAL MACHINE NAME" 
     --deploymentOption='standard | light'
     --ipAllocationPolicy="dhcpPolicy"
     --net:"Network 1"="VC NETWORK TO BE USED FOR VA"  
     --prop:"varoot-password"="PASSWORD"
     --prop:"vaadmin-password"="PASSWORD"
     --prop:"ntpserver"="NTP SERVER IP OR FQDN" 
     --prop:network.netmode.vSphere_Replication_Appliance='dhcp'
     --prop:network.addrfamily.vSphere_Replication_Appliance='ipv4'
     --vService:installation=com.vmware.vim.vsm:extension_vservice 
     ${VSPHERE_REPLICATION_OVF_FILEPATH}
     vi://${VSPHERE_USER}:${VSPHERE_USER_PASSWORD}@${VCENTER_SERVER_ADDRESS}/?ip=${ESX_HOST_NAME}

   • If you want to obtain network settings through a static IP address:

     ovftool 
     --acceptAllEulas 
     --datastore="DATASTORE NAME"  
     --name="VIRTUAL MACHINE NAME"
     --deploymentOption='standard | light'
     --net:"Network 1"="VC NETWORK TO BE USED FOR VA" 
     --prop:"varoot-password"="PASSWORD"
     --prop:"vaadmin-password"="PASSWORD"
     --prop:"ntpserver"="NTP SERVER IP OR FQDN" 
     --prop:"network.ip0.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"="VA IP" 
     --prop:"network.netprefix0.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"="NETWORK PREFIX"
     --prop:"network.gateway.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"="GATEWAY IP"
     --prop:"network.DNS.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"="DNS SERVER 1, DNS SERVER 2"
     --prop:"network.searchpath.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"="DNS SEARCH PATH - DOMAIN"
     --prop:"network.netmode.vSphere_Replication_Appliance"='static'
     --ipAllocationPolicy="fixedPolicy"
     --prop:network.addrfamily.vSphere_Replication_Appliance='ipv4'
     --vService:installation=com.vmware.vim.vsm:extension_vservice 
     ${VSPHERE_REPLICATION_OVF_FILEPATH}
     vi://${VSPHERE_USER}:${VSPHERE_USER_PASSWORD}@${VCENTER_SERVER_ADDRESS}/?ip=${ESX_HOST_NAME}

2. Replace the variables in the example with values from your environment.

   Variable	Description
   DATASTORE NAME	The target datastore name.
   VIRTUAL MACHINE NAME	Specify the vSphere Replication Management Server name.
   NETWORK 1	The name of the network to which you attach the vSphere Replication Appliance.
   PASSWORD	The password for the root account. The password must be at least eight characters long and must contain characters from four character classes: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters. The password for the admin account, which you use to log in to the vSphere Replication Management Server. The password must be at least eight characters long and must contain characters from four character classes: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
   NTP SERVER IP OR FQDN	The IP address or FQDN of the NTP server.
   VA IP	The IP address of the vSphere Replication Management Server.
   NETWORK PREFIX	The network prefix of the vSphere Replication Management Server.
   GATEWAY IP	The gateway IP address of the vSphere Replication Management Server.
   DNS SERVER	The DNS address of the vSphere Replication Management Server.
   DNS SEARCH PATH - DOMAIN	The domain search path for this virtual machine (use a comma or a space to separate the different names.)
   VSPHERE_REPLICATION_OVF_FILEPATH	The path to the OVF package. To get access to the vSphere Replication OVF files, navigate to the \bin directory in the ISO image.
   VSPHERE_USER	The user name for the target vCenter Server.
   VSPHERE_USER_PASSWORD	The password for the target vCenter Server.
   VCENTER_SERVER_ADDRESS	The address of the target vCenter Server.
   ESX_HOST_NAME	The name of the target ESX host.

What to do next

Register the vSphere Replication appliance with the vCenter Single Sign-On service.