Install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware cloud on AWS
The VMware Cloud (VMC) on AWS enables you to create cloud software-defined data centers (SDDC) on AWS with the desired number of ESX hosts. The VMC on AWS supports NetScaler VPX deployments. VMC provides a user interface same as on-prem vCenter. It functions identical to the ESX-based NetScaler VPX deployments.
Prerequisites
Before you begin installing a virtual appliance, do the following:
- One VMware SDDC must be present with at least one host.
- Download the NetScaler VPX appliance setup files.
- Create appropriate network segments on VMware SDDC to which the virtual machines connect.
- Obtain VPX license files. For more information about NetScaler VPX instance licenses, see the NetScaler VPX Licensing Guide at </en-us/licensing/licensing-guide-for-netscaler>.
VMware cloud hardware requirements
The following table lists the virtual computing resources that the VMware SDDC must provide for each VPX nCore virtual appliance.
Table 1. Minimum virtual computing resources required for running a NetScaler VPX instance
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Memory | 2 GB |
| Virtual CPU (vCPU) | 2 |
| Virtual network interfaces | In VMware SDDC, you can install a maximum of 10 virtual network interfaces if the VPX hardware is upgraded to version 7 or higher. |
| Disk space | 20 GB |
Note:
This is in addition to any disk requirements for the hypervisor.
For production use of the VPX virtual appliance, the full memory allocation must be reserved.
OVF Tool 1.0 system requirements
OVF Tool is a client application that can run on Windows and Linux systems. The following table describes the minimum system requirements.
Table 2. Minimum system requirements for OVF tool installation
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | For detailed requirements from VMware, search for the “OVF Tool User Guide” PDF file at http://kb.vmware.com/. |
| CPU | 750 MHz minimum, 1 GHz or faster recommended |
| RAM | 1 GB Minimum, 2 GB recommended |
| NIC | 100 Mbps or faster NIC |
For information about installing OVF, search for the “OVF Tool User Guide” PDF file at http://kb.vmware.com/.
Downloading the NetScaler VPX setup files
The NetScaler VPX instance setup package for VMware ESX follows the Open Virtual Machine (OVF) format standard. You can download the files from the Citrix website. You need a Citrix account to log on. If you do not have a Citrix account, access the home page at http://www.citrix.com. Click the New Users link, and follow the instructions to create a new Citrix account.
Once logged on, navigate the following path from the Citrix home page:
Citrix.com > Downloads > NetScaler > Virtual Appliances.
Copy the following files to a workstation on the same network as the ESX server. Copy all three files into the same folder.
- NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>-disk1.vmdk (for example, NSVPX-ESX-13.0-79.64-disk1.vmdk)
- NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>.ovf (for example, NSVPX-ESX-13.0-79.64.ovf)
- NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>.mf (for example, NSVPX-ESX-13.0-79.64.mf)
Install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware cloud
After you have installed and configured VMware SDDC, you can use the SDDC to install virtual appliances on the VMware cloud. The number of virtual appliances that you can install depends on the amount of memory available on the SDDC.
To install NetScaler VPX instances on VMware cloud, follow these steps:
- Open VMware SDDC on your workstation.
- In the User Name and Password text boxes, type the administrator credentials, and then click Login.
- On the File menu, click Deploy OVF Template.
- In the Deploy OVF Template dialog box, in Deploy from file, browse to the location at which you saved the NetScaler VPX instance setup files, select the .ovf file, and click Next.
Note:
By default, the NetScaler VPX instance uses E1000 network interfaces. To deploy ADC with the VMXNET3 interface, modify the OVF to use VMXNET3 interface instead of E1000.
- Map the networks shown in the virtual appliance OVF template to the networks that you configured on the VMware SDDC. Click Next to start installing a virtual appliance on VMware SDDC.
- You are now ready to start the NetScaler VPX instance. In the navigation pane, select the NetScaler VPX instance that you have installed and, from the right-click menu, select Power On. Click the Console tab to emulate a console port.
- If you want to install another virtual appliance, repeat from Step 6.
- Specify the management IP address from the same segment that is selected to be the management network. The same subnet is used for the Gateway.
- The VMware SDDC requires that NAT and firewall rules are created explicitly for all private IP addresses belonging to network segments.