Deploy the vSphere Integrated Containers Appliance

You install vSphere Integrated Containers by deploying a virtual appliance. The appliance runs the vSphere Integrated Containers Registry and vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal services, and publishes the downloads of the vSphere Integrated Containers Engine binaries.

NOTE: This topic reflects changes to the deployment procedure that were introduced in vSphere Integrated Containers 1.2.1. Do not attempt to deploy version 1.2.0.

Prerequisites

  • You downloaded an official build or an open-source build of the OVA installer.

  • Deploy the appliance to a vCenter Server instance. Deploying the appliance directly on an ESXi host is not supported.

  • Deploy the appliance to a vCenter Server system that meets the minimum system requirements:

    • vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5
    • ESXi 6.0 or 6.5 for all hosts
    • 2 vCPUs
    • 8GB RAM
    • 80GB free disk space on the datastore
  • Ensure that all vCenter Server instances and ESXi hosts in the environment in which you are deploying the appliance have network time protocol (NTP) running. Running NTP prevents problems arising from clock skew between the vSphere Integrated Containers appliance, virtual container hosts, and the vSphere infrastructure.
  • IMPORTANT: If you intend to use a custom certificates, vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal requires the TLS private key to be supplied as a PEM-encoded PKCS#8-formatted file. For information about how to convert keys to the correct format, see Converting Keys for Use with vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal.
  • You can deploy multiple vSphere Integrated Containers appliances to the same vCenter Server instance. Also, if a Platform Services Controller manages multiple vCenter Server instances, you can deploy multiple appliances to different vCenter Server instances that share that Platform Services Controller.
  • Use the Flex-based vSphere Web Client to deploy the appliance. You cannot deploy OVA files from the HTML5 vSphere Client or from the legacy Windows client.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Web Client, right-click an object in the vCenter Server inventory, select Deploy OVF template, and navigate to the OVA file.

  2. Follow the installer prompts to perform basic configuration of the appliance and to select the vSphere resources for it to use.

    • Accept or modify the appliance name
    • Select the destination datacenter or folder
    • Select the destination host, cluster, or resource pool
    • Accept the end user license agreements (EULA)
    • Select the disk format and destination datastore
    • Select the network that the appliance connects to

  3. On the Customize template page, under Appliance Security, set the root password for the appliance VM and optionally uncheck the Permit Root Login checkbox.

    Setting the root password for the appliance is mandatory.

    IMPORTANT: You require SSH access to the vSphere Integrated Containers appliance to perform upgrades. You can also use SSH access in exceptional cases that you cannot handle through standard remote management or CLI tools. Only use SSH to access the appliance when instructed to do so in the documentation, or under the guidance of VMware GSS.

  4. Expand Networking Properties and optionally configure a static IP address for the appliance VM.

    To use DHCP, leave the networking properties blank.

    IMPORTANT: If you set a static IP address for the appliance, use spaces to separate DNS servers. Do not use comma separation for DNS servers.

  5. Expand Registry Configuration to configure the deployment of vSphere Integrated Containers Registry.

    • In the Registry Port text box, optionally change the port on which to publish the vSphere Integrated Containers Registry service.
    • In the Notary Port text box, optionally change the port on which to publish the Docker Content Trust service for vSphere Integrated Containers Registry.
    • Optionally check the Garbage Collection check box to enable garbage collection on the registry when the appliance reboots.

  6. Expand Management Portal Configuration to configure the deployment of vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal.

    • In the Management Portal Port text box, optionally change the port on which to publish the vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal service.

    • To use custom certificates to authenticate connections to vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal, optionally paste the content of the appropriate certificate, key, and Certificate Authority (CA) files in the SSL Cert, SSL Cert Key, and CA Cert text boxes.

      IMPORTANT: Provide the TLS private key as a PEM-encoded PKCS#8-formatted file.

    • Leave the text boxes blank to use auto-generated certificates.

  7. Expand Fileserver Configuration to configure the file server from which you download the vSphere Integrated Containers Engine binaries, and which publishes the plug-in packages for the vSphere Client.

    • In the Fileserver Port text box, optionally change the port on which the vSphere Integrated Containers Engine file server runs.
    • To use custom certificates to authenticate connections to the vSphere Integrated Containers Engine file server, optionally paste the content of the appropriate certificate and key files in the SSL Cert and SSL Cert Key text boxes. The file server supports RSA format for TLS private keys.
    • Leave the text boxes blank to use auto-generated certificates.

  8. Expand Demo VCH Installer Wizard Configuration to optionally change the port on which the interactive web installer for virtual container hosts (VCHs) runs.

  9. Expand Configure Example Users to configure the ready-made example user accounts that vSphere Integrated Containers creates by default in the Platform Services Controller.

    You can use these accounts to test the different user personas that can access vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal and Registry.

    • Uncheck the Create Example Users checkbox if you do not want vSphere Integrated Containers to create user accounts in the Platform Services Controller.
    • In the Username Prefix for Example Users text box, optionally modify the prefix of the example user names from the default, vic. If you unchecked the Create Example Users checkbox, this option is ignored.

    • In the Password for Example Users text boxes, modify the password for the example user account from the default, VicPro!23. The new password must comply with the password policy for the Platform Services Controller, otherwise the creation of the example user accounts fails. If you unchecked the Create Example Users checkbox, this option is ignored.

      IMPORTANT: If you did not uncheck the Create Example Users checkbox, it is strongly recommended that you change the default password for the example users.

  10. Click Next and Finish to deploy the vSphere Integrated Containers appliance.

  11. When the deployment completes, power on the appliance VM.

    If you deployed the appliance so that it obtains its address via DHCP, go to the Summary tab for the appliance VM and note the address.

  12. (Optional) If you provided a static network configuration, view the network status of the appliance.

    1. In the Summary tab for the appliance VM, launch the VM console
    2. In the VM console, press the right arrow key.

    The network status shows whether the network settings that you provided during the deployment match the settings with which the appliance is running. If there are mismatches, power off the appliance and select Edit Settings > vApp Options to correct the network settings.

  13. In a browser, go to http://vic_appliance_address and when prompted, enter the connection details for the vCenter Server instance on which you deployed the appliance.

    • The address and single sign-on credentials of vCenter Server.
    • If vCenter Server is managed by an external Platform Services Controller, enter the FQDN and administrator domain for the Platform Services Controller. If vCenter Server is managed by an embedded Platform Services Controller, leave the External PSC text boxes empty.

    IMPORTANT: The installation process requires the single sign-on credentials to register vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal and Registry with the Platform Services Controller and to tag the appliance VM for use in Docker content trust. The vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal and Registry services cannot start if you do not complete this step.

  14. Click Continue to initialize the appliance.

Result

  • You see the vSphere Integrated Containers Getting Started page at http://vic_appliance_address. The Getting Started page includes links to the vSphere Integrated Containers Management Portal, the Demo VCH Installer Wizard, the download for the vSphere Integrated Containers Engine bundle, and to documentation.
  • If you see the error Failed to register with PSC. Please check the vSphere user domain PSC settings and try again, see the procedure in vSphere Integrated Containers Appliance Fails to Register with PSC to register vSphere Integrated Containers with the Platform Services Controller.
  • If the initialization fails with any other error, see Reinitialize the vSphere Integrated Containers Appliance. You should not reinitialize the appliance in any circumstances other than those described in that topic.

What to Do Next

Access the different vSphere Integrated Containers components from the vSphere Integrated Containers Getting Started page at http://vic_appliance_address.

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