I wanted to check out the changes to Avi 21.1 so I did a new install in my lab. There have been quite a few GUI-related changes both during the installation and Admin portal to make it look and feel similar to VMware’s other products. I documented the process here since the official documentation has not been updated with 21.1 screenshots. I hope it’s helpful.
I’m only covering a basic vSphere install of Avi (NSX ALB). Best for a Proof of Concept or testing. This may look long, but that’s mostly due to me going wild with screenshots.
*Avi Vantage is now called NSX Advanced Load Balancer, but I’ll be referring to it mostly as Avi here.
Preparation
Refer to the documentation to ensure you have the necessary prerequisites to install Avi. Official Avi Documentation
Important Requirement callouts:
- If you plan to use Write Access for vSphere be sure you have the appropriate credentials for Avi to be able to deploy the Service Engines inside vSphere.
- Ensure you have the appropriate resources for the Controller and ultimately the Service Engines(SE), although I won’t be covering the SE specifically here. Controller TLDR: 8vCPU, 24GB RAM, 128GB Disk.
- Management IP Address and DNS entry for the controller.
- Download the Avi Controller OVA. At the time of writing this the VMware download portal (Customer Connect) still redirects you to the Avi Networks Portal to download. If you are entitled to it you should have no problem with the redirect.
- Login to VMware Customer Connect and locate the dowload for VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer. In the below screenshot you can see instructions are provided for the redirect to Avi Networks Portal once you click Download Now.
- From the Avi Portal locate the version and click the download icon on the far right.
Avi Controller Install
Start by logging into the vSphere environment where you would like to have the Avi Controller live. From there select the location you’d like to deploy to. In my lab, I selected a cluster and right-clicked on the cluster name. Click on Deploy OVF Template.
From the OVF Wizard select the radio button for Local file and then click Upload Files.
Navigate to the controller ova file previously downloaded. It should look similar to the file you see below, although the version may differ.
You will now see the controller OVA file displayed and can click Next.
By default the VM name will be “controller” and I’d recommend you change this to something meaningful for your environment. You may have multiple controllers based on your requirements and design. Below I’ve named mine AVI-CNTR-02 and I’ve already created a DNS entry matching this with the static IP I plan to use later for management of the controller. Select the appropriate location for the appliance to be deployed within your vSphere environment and click Next.
Next select the compute resource where you want the new appliance to run. This may be a cluster or a specific host. Once selected click Next.
On the Review details screen, you can simply click Next. If you’re concerned with the thick provisioned storage shown there’s no need to worry because you can set that to thin on the next screen if you wish.
Now select the datastore where you want the appliance to live (A). Then go up and select the virtual disk format that’s appropriate for your environment (B). I typically select “Thin Provision” for all my VMs unless there is a hard requirement not to. Be sure to double-check your format selection before clicking next since the format can change each time you select another datastore. I find it safer to do that last. If all looks good click Next.
Next, select the network that your management vNIC for the controller should be connected to. Click Next.
For the last bit of configuration, several fields will need to be completed on the Customize template screen. Most can be left blank if you’re doing a basic install, such as a POC or there is no NSX-T deployed. For a basic non-NSX-T environment, as I’ve done here, provide the Management IP (A) which will be used for the controller management. Provide the Management Interface Subnet Mask (B) and the Default Gateway (C). That’s it, click Next.
If all looks good on the Ready to complete screen click Finish and the OVA should now deploy to your vSphere environment.
Now just wait for the deployment to complete.
Initial Configration
The Avi controller should now be deployed within your vSphere environment. You can power it on and wait for the appliance to fully boot. This can take several minutes. I usually give it 5-10 and then navigate to the controller management IP address from a browser. Expect a certificate warning (default self-signed) that you can accept to continue. In my case, I entered https://192.168.0.172 (static IP I chose in my lab) into your browser. The address you finally land on is going to be https://IPaddress/#!/admin-user-setup and you should be presented with the VMware NSX ALB (Avi) login page shown below.
On the login page, you are actually setting the local “admin” account password. Enter a secure password and optionally enter an associated email address. Then click Create Account. You will not be able to change the username for this account and SSH access will not be available until you set a password here. It will have a super-user role within the Controller.
The password must be at least 8 characters and contain a combination (3) of numeric, special, uppercase, and lowercase characters.
Next, you need to set a Passphrase, confirm that Passphrase, provide your DNS servers under DNS Resolver(s), and your domain for the DNS Search Domain. The passphrase is used for the configuration export and any periodic backups you perform.
You’ll need to click Next below DNS Search Domain to actually move down to the Email/SMTP section. The arrows are deceiving since they don’t actually expand those lower sections, but “Next” will bring you there.
Under Email/SMTP the default is Local Host. Being a lab environment I won’t be setting up SMTP right now so I changed the selection to None. If you plan to use one of the Email/SMTP options select the appropriate type and enter the relevant info. When you’re done click Next.
Under Multi-Tenant for a basic install, this will be left to the default configuration, as shown below in my lab. Click Save.
You should then be presented with the Avi (NSX-ALB) admin portal.
Configure vCenter access for Avi
Now we need to add our vCenter server. To do that navigate to the Infrastructure (A) tab and click Create (B), followed by VMware vCenter/vSphere ESX (C).
Enter the name of your vCenter server. This is just a display name. Ensure the VMware icon is selected under Cloud Infrastructure Type, it should be by default. Click Next.
Next, Avi needs some credentials to access vCenter. If you will be allowing Avi to create Service Engines on its own be sure to provide an account with the correct permissions. Details on the account can be found here. If this is in a lab environment and security isn’t as important simply use a vCenter admin account. I created a local vSphere account with admin rights for my lab.
Enter the Username (A) and Password (B) for the vSphere account. Then provide the vCenter Address (C). If you are allowing Avi to deploy Service Engines within vCenter then be sure Write Access Permission (D) is selected. If you don’t want Avi to manage the SEs then select “Read”. The defaults for the remaining items should be fine for now. You can always come back and add the IPAM info later if you plan to use it. Click Next.
Next, select the Data Center where Avi will view inventory and ultimately deploy your service engines from the dropdown. To minimize the inventory being searched Avi only looks at 1 vCenter DC object per cloud. You can add multiple if you have them and would like service engines deployed there as well, assuming network connectivity requirements are met for Avi.
Click Next.
On the Network screen first, select the Management Network (A) where you would like the Service Engines management IP to live. I find it easier to allow the Service Engines to use DHCP addresses since Avi will manage them. Optionally, you could define an IP pool for them if you need a defined scope(s). For DHCP simply click the box next to DHCP Enabled (B).
Selecting DHCP above should now reflect the below screenshot. If it looks good click Complete.
You should now see the new “Cloud” resource listed for your vCenter. It may take a few moments for the status to show green. If it doesn’t be sure to check your configuration and validate network connectivity based on your config.
At this point, Avi is ready to deploy a Service Engine into your vCenter. I hope you found this useful and thank you for reading.
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