VMware Cloud Provider Pod Designer User Guide October 2018 Cloud Provider Pod 1.0
Table of Contents About VMware Cloud Provider Pod 3 VMware Validated Design versus Advanced Design versus VMware Cloud Verified 3 VMware Validated Design Explained... 3 VMware Cloud Verified Explained... 4 Understanding the Designer Wizard 5 VMware Validated Design Wizard 5 Advanced Designer Wizard 6 Upload Your Configuration 6 How to Use Cloud Pod Deployer 6 Working with the Designer Wizard 7 General Parameters 8 Optional Packages... 9 Sizing and Storage Configuration 10 VMware Validated Design Sizing Configuration... 10 Advanced Designer Sizing and Storage Configuration... 11 General Network Configuration 13 Management Cluster Settings 14 Network Settings... 14 Management Cluster Networks... 15 External/DMZ IP Assignment... 17 MAC Addresses... 17 Resource Cluster Settings 18 Resource Cluster Networks... 19 Second Resource Cluster... 21 Hypervisor Details 22 Licensing 23 Configuration Summary 24
About VMware Cloud Provider Pod VMware Cloud Provider Pod is the fastest and most reliable way for a cloud service provider to get to a fully software-defined, multi- tenant datacenter, along with operations, such as visibility, cloud management, metering and chargeback, thereby accelerating their time-to-market and improving service delivery. VMware Validated Design versus Advanced Design versus VMware Cloud Verified The Cloud Provider Pod Designer offers you the choice of starting out with the VMware Validated Design or the Advanced Design option, that can be Cloud Verified, if certain requirements are met. VMware Validated Design Explained With the Cloud Provider Pod Designer you can build a public Cloud IaaS offering that is based on management components by VMware for a scalable and best-practice configuration that is a VMware Validated Design. Designer Guide 3
VMware Validated Design provides you with comprehensive and extensively-tested blueprints which allow you to build and operate a Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC). VMware Validated Design reduces uncertainty and potential risks associated with implementing and operating the SDDC by ensuring interoperability and compatibility of all software components that are included in the design. It also includes scale and performance testing. VMware Cloud Verified Explained A cloud provider who achieves the VMware Cloud Verified designation signifies the ability to deliver a full set of interoperable VMware Cloud infrastructure capabilities. When cloud consumers see the VMware Cloud Verified logo, they know they have easy access to the full set of interoperable VMware Cloud Infrastructure capabilities, delivered as a service by the VMware Cloud Provider partners. To learn more about the VMware Cloud Verified program, see https://www.vmware.com/vmware-cloud-verified.html. If your configuration meets the technical requirements of the program, the Cloud Provider Pod Designer appears in the upper-left corner. Designer Guide 4
Understanding the Designer Wizard After you log in with your VMware Partner Central credentials, you have three options to get started. A VMware Validated Design, an Advanced Design that is altered to your specific needs, or you can upload a previously generated configuration. This chapter includes the following topics: VMware Validated Design Wizard Advanced Designer Wizard Upload a Previously Created Configuration File How to Use the Cloud Provider Pod Deployer VMware Validated Design Wizard Certain options, such as the ability to choose the storage type, are not displayed, because the validated design requires the use of vsan. Other requirements that are not optional when you run the VMware Validated Design wizard, are the usage of SDN routing and a USB as boot media. You also must provide a Border Gateway Protocol Autonomous System (BGP AS) number. Even if you have started in advanced mode, you can always switch back to VMware Validated Design mode. If you close the wizard and continue your configuration in the VMware Validated Design mode, the data you have already provided is carried over, as long as you do not reload the page, or restart the browser. Certain settings, such as storage configuration, for example, will be set to match the requirements of the VMware Validated Design program. This works even with uploaded configuration files. Note that the button will change to Switch to a VVD design: You will also have to confirm the change of your configuration data. Designer Guide 5
Advanced Designer Wizard You can customize the design to your needs by using the Advanced Configuration wizard. The main difference between the VMware Validated Design and Advanced Configuration modes is that you can select to use NFS or iscsi as your storage options. The setup of BGP AS and other options are also not required, but can be. However, depending on your selection, other settings, such as the need for an Active Directory Domain when using NFS version 4.1,might become mandatory. Upload a Previously Created Configuration File On the VMware Cloud Provider Pod Designer page, you can also upload your own, previously generated configuration file. This file has to be the same, unaltered configdata.cfg file that you have received as part of your configuration package from a previous session in the Cloud Provider Pod Designer. Important: Make sure that the file was not changed outside of the Cloud Provider Pod Designer, as the Designer performs many validation procedures when data is entered. These validations will be carried out again with the uploaded data, so changing the values in the document might lead to unforeseen problems. How to Use the Cloud Provider Pod Deployer Detailed documentation and step-by-step instructions on how to use the Cloud Provider Pod Deployer to stand up a new environment are available in Cloud Provider Operations guide which is delivered by Cloud Provider Pod Designer as part of generated documentation. Designer Guide 6
Working with the Designer Wizard The Designer wizard performs many validations during the input of your data. Many settings are preset, so you can create a design that is validated by VMware by providing just your organization name, email, and domain addresses. In this chapter we go step by step through each of the following pages of the designer: General Parameters Sizing and Storage Configuration General Network Configuration Management Cluster Settings Resource Cluster Settings Hypervisor Details Licensing Configuration summary Tip: An information tooltip (the icon) located on the right of each input element or label throughout the designer provides further information about the intent of a setting. Designer Guide 7
General Parameters 1. Click the button. The Cloud Provider Pod Designer wizard opens. Tip: 2. Provide the name of your organization, the email addresses of the recipients of the Cloud Provider Pod documents, and the domain of your new Cloud infrastructure. Email address: You can provide multiple recipients in the email text box, separated by a semicolon (without whitespaces). We will send the finalized design documents and workflow configuration files to these addresses. The sender of these emails is automator@vcppdemo.com and the subject of the email is: "Your VMware Cloud Provider Pod documents are ready for download". Ensure that you add the automator@vcppdemo.com email address to the whitelist of your spam filter. The initial password is set to VMware123!. Designer Guide 8
Optional Packages The Domain field is required and must be formatted as a valid domain name. If you operate multiple sites, make sure that you provide a unique site name in the Site Name text box. The site name must be unique to identify the different sites. The site name is also used for VMware vsphere, vcenter Single Sign-On, VMware vcloud Director and other services in the naming schema. Cloud Provider Pod Designer can configure several VMware products and services. This is optional. If you prefer, you can select No and these products and services will not be integrated into your design. Hybrid Cloud Extensibility Enables the cloud management layer to deploy workloads not only to local infrastructure but to remote Clouds too. Furthermore, it enables moving onpremises workloads into the service provider managed cloud infrastructure. That eases the onboarding process because customers still use familiar interfaces and APIs. Existing Usage Meter Parameters If you have an existing Usage Meter appliance running in your infrastructure, you can provide the FQDN or IP address of the appliance in the Cloud Provider Pod Deployer to include it in the configuration. vrealize Operations Manager and vrealize Network Insight are being configured by default. Designer Guide 9
Sizing and Storage Configuration Depending on whether you have selected to start with a VMware Validated Design or Advanced Design, the Sizing and Storage Configuration page displays different settings. VMware Validated Designer Advanced Designer VMware Validated Design Sizing Configuration VMware Validated Design configuration requires the usage of VMware vsan, therefore the storage settings are omitted. Note: Depending on whether you select one or two Resource Clusters, the following pages will adjust. So, if you upload an existing configuration, on the wizard pages that follow, you must verify that all settings have been applied properly to the second cluster. Designer Guide 10
Advanced Designer Sizing and Storage Configuration The page offers sizing and storage setting options for both the Management Cluster and the Resource Cluster. Caution: If both clusters are set to a storage option other than vsan, your design is no longer VMware Cloud Verified. NFS Settings When you select NFS as the storage type for either the Management or Resource Clusters, additional settings, such as server address, folder and datastore name are available. Designer Guide 11
When you select to use NFS version 4.1 you must provide a user name and password as well. Note: If you use NFS version 4.1, you must provide the address for the Active Directory. Also, NFS version 4.1 requires a more complex preparation and setup of the infrastructure. It is only supported in combination with HW based routing (SDN routing is no longer possible) and DNS preconfigured according to the DNS record in the provided Configuration Sheet (sent as part of the documents by the VMware Cloud Provider Pod Designer). iscsi Settings When you select to use iscsi, more complex, additional settings can be made. Besides the Dynamic Target IP Address and Port, you can also change the handling of LUNs. Option 1: By default, the Designer configures to reformat all existing LUNs. That means, that all existing LUNs will be repartitioned and reformatted. Warning: Any data on any connected LUN will be lost! Option 2: Reformat and add all existing LUNs (both green)existing LUNs with VMFS will be added to the Datastore Cluster and not reformatted. Non-VMFS Designer Guide 12
LUNs will be reformatted and added to the Datastore Cluster. Option 3: Add all existing LUNs but not reformat them (first off, second green) LUNs with VMFS will be added to the Datastore Cluster and not reformatted. Other LUNs will not be affected. General Network Configuration On the General Network Configuration page you can provide network settings, such as host name prefix, DNS server, and NTP server settings. The Use Highest IP and Use Lowest IP options determine whether the router gateway is assigned to the highest or to the lowest network address. The Active Directory Domain address text box is required when you select to use NFS version 4.1. Designer Guide 13
Management Cluster Settings Network Settings On the Management Cluster Network and MAC Address Configuration page, the Cloud Provider Pod Designer provides default values that you can adjust, if necessary. In VMware Validated Design mode, the BGP AS number is required. The Cloud Provider Pod Designer verifies that no network range overlaps inside the cluster and across clusters, with Resource Cluster IP or VLAN ID ranges. External / DMZ networks can be shared between Management and Resource Clusters. However, it is recommended to use unique networks. Designer Guide 14
Management Cluster Networks Each management cluster network is used for specific purposes. Management External/DMZ Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR, VLAN ID, external gateway IP, and the external DNS. The management external/dmz network is used for Internet access. It also hosts the public-facing vcloud Director system. It is required that the Internet is accessible from either the 5 predefined IP addresses or if Cloud Provider Pod does the IP address allocation, any IP address in this network is used to download additional software. The download requires DNS, either forward or root, HTTP, and HTTPS. Gateway in this network can be lowest or highest IP. The minimum size is a /28 network. You must provide 5 free IP addresses out of this space during the design generation. Set up the management external/dmz network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Management Internal Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and the VLAN ID. The management internal network hosts all management components of the infrastructure including the Cloud Provider Pod Initiator virtual machine which will be hosted on either an additional physical ESXi host, VMware Workstation, or VMware Fusion. Physical ESXi hosts PXE boot from the management internal network, so this network must be setup as an access network towards the hosts and directly attached to the machine running the Cloud Provider Pod Initiator virtual machine. No gateway or routing is required, as the Cloud Provider Pod sets up its own NSX routing. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components are allowed in this network. Set up the management internal network in access mode towards the hosts PXE adapters for boot. Management vcloud Director Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The management vcloud Director network hosts the vcloud Director infrastructure including the vcloud Director Cells, database, NFS Server, Cassandra components, RabbitMQ, and so on. Designer Guide 15
No gateway or routing is required, as the Cloud Provider Pod sets up its own NSX routing. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components are allowed in this network. Set up the management vcloud Director network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Management vmotion Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The management vmotion network is the ESXi host vmotion network. No gateway or routing are required, as the Cloud Provider Pod sets up its own NSX routing. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components are allowed in this network Set up the management vmotion network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Management vsan or IP Storage Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The management vsan or IP storage network is used for vsan or IP-based Storage communication. If you use IP-based storage it must be routed by the Service Provider into this network. Routing is required only if you use IP-based storage. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components except gateways are allowed in this network. Set up the management vsan or IP Storage network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Management VXLAN Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The management VXLAN network is for future use. The minimum size is a /24 No other components except gateways are allowed in this network. Set up the management VXLAN network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Designer Guide 16
External/DMZ IP Assignment External IP addresses are automatically assigned by the Cloud Provider Pod Designer if you do not specify any. If you decide to provide your own, ensure that the IP addresses chosen are within the network range of the DMZ/External network and do not overlap: MAC Addresses You can add the MAC addresses for the hosts during the Cloud Provider Pod Designer workflow, or later during the deployment workflow. The number of available MAC addresses text boxes depends on how many hosts have been configured on the Sizing page. You must enter the MAC addresses in the following format: 00:11:22:33:44:55. Designer Guide 17
Resource Cluster Settings The Resource Cluster Network and Mac Address Configuration page contains the network and MAC address settings for one or two configured Resource Clusters. If you want to adjust the VXLAN Segment ID, the Cloud Provider Pod Designer ensures that the range does not exceed 6000 to 16 million and that the begin value is smaller than the end value. Designer Guide 18
Resource Cluster Networks Each resource cluster network is used for specific purposes. Tenant External/DMZ Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR, VLAN ID, and external gateway. The tenant external/dmz network is used by tenants to access the Internet. This network also hosts the public-facing vcloud Director Org Edge system. It is required that the Internet is accessible from any IP address in this network for download of additional software. Gateway in this network can be lowest or highest IP. The minimum size is a /28 network with only the router IP in use. You can share the tenant external/dmz network with the management external/dmz network. Set up the tenant external/dmz network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Resource Pod Internal Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. This network hosts all resource pod ESXi hosts and other management components of the tenant cloud infrastructure. No gateway or routing are required, as the Cloud Provider Pod sets up its own NSX routing. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components are allowed in this network. Set up the resource pod internal network should be setup in access mode towards the hosts PXE adapters for boot. It must also be part of the trunk used for the management hosts. Resource Pod vmotion Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The resource pod vmotion network is the ESXi host vmotion network. No gateway or routing are required, as the Cloud Provider Pod sets up its own NSX routing. Designer Guide 19
The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components are allowed in this network. Set up the resource pod vmotion network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Resource Pod vsan or IP Storage Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The resource pod vsan or IP storage network is used for vsan or IP-based Storage communication. If you use IP-based storage it must be routed by the Service Provider into this network. Routing is required only if you use IP-based storage. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components except gateways are allowed in this network. Set up the resource pod vsan or IP storage network in trunk mode towards the hosts NIC adapters. Resource Pod VXLAN Network Prerequisites: Make sure that you know the network CIDR and VLAN ID. The resource pod VXLAN network is for future use. The minimum size is a /24 network. No other components except gateways are allowed in this network. Designer Guide 20
Second Resource Cluster When you have configured to use two Resource Clusters on the Sizing page, the network settings are automatically made for both clusters. Designer Guide 21
Hypervisor Details The Hypervisor Details page differs significantly depending on whether you use the Cloud Provider Pod Designer in VMware Validated Design, or in Advanced mode. VMware Validated Designer Advanced Designer Because in a VMware Validated Design it is required to boot from a USB device, the ESXi Boot Media setting is hidden. Also, the VMware Validated Design requires two network adapters on both the Management and the Resource Clusters. The Advanced Designer allows you to provide more complex settings. You can only select the same adapter once per cluster. Therefore, the VMNICs that you have already selected are dimmed. Designer Guide 22
Licensing You can add the license keys now or at later stage, during the deployment workflow. In the latter case, leave the default value: "XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX". Tip: You can paste a valid license key (format AB2DE-F34IJ-KL554-12FR5-67FFF) in the first text box and the number is split across the remaining fields. Designer Guide 23
Configuration Summary Verify that all your settings are correct on the Configuration Summary page. If you have to update the configuration data, you can switch off the Generate All Documentation Files setting. Because your architecture and operations guides will not be created, processing time is significantly reduced. This is helpful when you test the Cloud Provider Pod Designer or have minor changes to the configuration. Designer Guide 24
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