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HCX client deployment

HCX client deployment

A minimal VMware HCX™ installation consists of a single cloud and client-side deployment.

The HCX client side can install on any version of vSphere supported by HCX on the assumption that network connectivity between the client and cloud sides exists.

Requirements

Table 1. Requirements
Component CPU count Memory (GB) Disk (GB)
HCX Manager 4 12 60
HCX Interconnect (HCX-IX) 4 3 2
HCX Network Extension (HCX-NE) 4 3 2
HCX WAN Optimizer (HCX-WAN) 8 14 100

Client licensing

HCX is a service. HCX is licensed per site and per virtual machine (VM) managed through licensing servers that are maintained by VMware®. The HCX cloud and client-side instances require communication with the VMware registration site throughout their lifecycle.

  • Traffic on 80 and 443 must be allowed to https://connect.hybridity.vmware.com
  • A one-time use registration key is provided by the IBM Cloud® for VMware Solutions console for the client-side installation. A key is required for each client-side HCX installation.

Procedure to order on-premises HCX licenses

  1. From the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions console, click Licences from the left navigation pane.
  2. Scroll to the On-premises HCX licenses table and click Create new.
  3. Specify the license name.
  4. Click the link or links of the terms that apply to your order, and ensure that you agree with these terms before you order the license.
  5. Click Create.

IP address requirements

To deploy the HCX, the proper number of IP addresses must be available both on-premises and in the target IBM Cloud.

  • vMotion address Maintaining a separate network for vMotion is a common practice in the on-premises data center. The Cloud Gateway must have access to the vMotion network. If it does not, an extra IP address is needed to communicate with the vMotion network.

  • On-premises

    • One IP address for the HCX Manager appliance.
    • One for each InterConnect Appliance, and an additional one for a separate vMotion network connection, if it exists.
    • One for each standard Network Extension.

  • IBM Cloud

    • Two IP addresses per HCX Manager appliance connected to IBM Cloud. The addresses can be used to connect to the Internet or one or more Direct Connect lines.
    • An additional IP address for a separate vMotion network connection, if it exists.

Client-side OVA download

The client-side HCX is user-deployed and it requires administrator level permissions to the source vCenter. As of this writing, the HCX client-side manager ova is approximately 1.7 GB. When use the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions console to order HCX, a URL is provided with a link to download the version of HCX for the client-side that matches the version of HCX deployed on the cloud side. This link is provided in the cloud side HCX Manager user interface (UI).

A one-time use registration key is also provided. Use the following steps to configure the use registration.

Download HCX client (enterprise) OVA from the link provided in the cloud side HCX UI.

  1. Log in to the cloud side HCX UI by using the HCX registration UI provided by IBM.
  2. Use the cloud vCenter ID and password to log in to the UI.
  3. On the Administration tab, select request download link to download the client-side OVA. Use a jump server that is local to the source vCenter where the OVA is deployed to complete this step.

Installing and configuring HCX on the source

The on-premises installation entails deploying the HCX management appliance and registering it with the vCenter environment.

Installing the HCX Manager Appliance

Install the HCX Manager appliance in the on-premises vCenter.

  1. Log in to My VMware and download the Hybrid Cloud Services OVA file from the product download page.

  2. Open a browser and log in to the vSphere Web Client. View the Home tab.

  3. In the Inventories Trees list, click Host and Clusters.

  4. Expand the hierarchy to show the data centers.

  5. Right-click the target data center and select Deploy OVF Template from the menu. It might take a few seconds for the Deploy OVF template menu item to appear.

  6. Choose Deploy OVF template.

    1. Select Local file and click Browse to find the OVA file downloaded to the computer. Click Next.
    2. On the Review details page, check the Accept extra configuration options box and click Next.
    3. On the Accept EULAs page, scroll down to review the VMware user license agreement. Click Accept and Next.
    4. On the Select name and folder page, edit the name if necessary and select the location for the Hybrid Cloud Services. Click Next.
    5. On the Select a resource page, select the installation location.
    6. On the Select storage page, select the storage for the Hybrid Cloud Services and click Next. From the Select virtual disk format list, you can select either thin provisioning or thick provisioning.
    7. On the Setup networks page, map the Hybrid Cloud Services adapter to a host network chosen from the Destination list.

  7. On the Customized template page, enter the values specific to the environment:

    • For the passwords, the default username for both the command-line interface (CLI) and the web user interface is admin. The admin user and password to log in to the web user interface is required as is also a root user account that has a password that can be set.
    • Enter and reenter the CLI admin user password.
    • Enter and reenter the root user password. In the future, if help is needed from VMware Global Support Services (GSS), this password might have to be shared so they can troubleshoot the system.
    • For the network properties, enter the hostname for the HCX Manager VM. Enter the network IPv4 address, the IPv4 prefix (the CIDR), and the default gateway. The following table shows sample values:
    Table 2. Sample values for network properties
    Field Value
    Hostname HCM_1
    Network 1 IPv4 address 192.168.200.101
    Network 1 IPv4 prefix 24
    Default IPv4 gateway 192.168.200.1
    Network 1 IPv6 address
    Network 1 IPv6 prefix

  8. Review the vService bindings page. Click Next to continue.

  9. On the Ready to complete page, follow these steps:

    • Check the Power on after deployment box.
    • Review the Hybrid Cloud Services settings, and click Finish. It might take several minutes for the Hybrid Cloud Services appliance to power on.
    • To check the status, go to the vSphere Web Client home page, and on the Home tab, go to Inventories and click Hosts and Clusters. Expand the data center hierarchy, and click the Hybrid Cloud Services service VM to display a summary in the center pane.
    • View the Summary tab, the console reads Powered On and the Play icon is green.

  10. The HCX Manager is powered on and ready to be registered with the on-premises vCenter.

Initial configuration of the HCX Manager Appliance

  1. Ensure that the Hybrid Cloud Service virtual appliance has outbound access to https://connect.hcx.vmware.com and https://hybridity-depot.vmware.com.
  2. Log in to Hybrid Cloud Services virtual appliance admin interface https://<IP>:9443 with admin.
  3. Provide the license key collected in Client-Side Prerequisites.
  4. For HCX Cloud Datacenter Location, enter the city nearest to the data center where the HCX Cloud Instance resides. If the city is not present, select the nearest major city.
  5. Provide the system name.

Import vSphere Server certificate

  1. Log in to HCX Manager Admin Interface https://<IP>:9443.
  2. Select the Administration tab, under Certificate -> Trusted CA Certificate.
  3. Import vSphere Server website.

Procedure to register HCX Manager with vCenter/SSO/NSX

  1. Log in to Hybrid Cloud Services service virtual appliance.
  2. On the Dashboard pane, complete the following steps:
    1. In the left pane, under Configure Systems, select vCenter.
    2. Click Add vCenter on the upper right.
    3. Enter the IP address of the vCenter Server in the form https://vCenter-host-name or https://vCenter-IP-address. For example, https://My-vCenter or https://1.1.1.1.
    4. Enter the vCenter Server username and password. The account that is used must have the vCenter Administrator role.
    5. Click OK. Do not restart when the You need to restart the app message is displayed.
  3. Configure the SSO lookup service.
    1. Click the Manage tab.
    2. Click Edit next to the Lookup Service URL text box.
    3. Enter the lookup network service endpoint in the following form, for vCenter Server 6.5: https://psc/.
    4. Provide NSX details if required.
    5. Click OK. Do not restart when a message to restart the web engine is displayed.
  4. Click the Summary tab and find the Hybridity Management Components section. Stop and start both the application engine and the web engine.
  5. To finalize the registration, log out of the vSphere Web Client. Log back in to vSphere Web Client verify that HCX Tab is present.

Results

Notice the existing Hybrid Cloud icon and the Hybrid Cloud Services menu item on the left. The Hybrid Cloud Services registration updates these labels. In the inventory, the icon label becomes Hybrid Cloud Services.