NetScaler VPX

Apply Citrix ADC VPX configurations at the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance on VMware ESX hypervisor

You can apply the Citrix ADC VPX configurations during the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance on the VMware ESX hypervisor. Therefore in certain cases, a specific setup or VPX instance is brought up in much lesser time.

For more information on Preboot user data and its format, see Apply Citrix ADC VPX configurations at the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance in cloud.

To bootstrap using preboot user data in ESX, default gateway config must be passed in <NS-CONFIG> section. For more information on the content of the <NS-CONFIG> tag, see Sample-<NS-CONFIG>-section.

Sample <NS-CONFIG> section:

  <NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG>

      <NS-CONFIG>
          add route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0  10.102.38.1
      </NS-CONFIG>

      <NS-BOOTSTRAP>
              <SKIP-DEFAULT-BOOTSTRAP>YES</SKIP-DEFAULT-BOOTSTRAP>
              <NEW-BOOTSTRAP-SEQUENCE>YES</NEW-BOOTSTRAP-SEQUENCE>

          <MGMT-INTERFACE-CONFIG>
                  <INTERFACE-NUM> eth0 </INTERFACE-NUM>
                  <IP> 10.102.38.216 </IP>
                  <SUBNET-MASK> 255.255.255.0 </SUBNET-MASK>
          </MGMT-INTERFACE-CONFIG>
      </NS-BOOTSTRAP>

  </NS-PRE-BOOT-CONFIG>
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How to provide preboot user data on ESX hypervisor

You can provide preboot user data on ESX hypervisor in the following two ways:

  • Using CD/DVD ISO
  • Using OVF Property

Provide user data using CD/DVD ISO

You can use VMware vSphere client to inject user data into the VM as an ISO image using the CD/DVD drive.

Follow these steps to provide user data using CD/DVD ISO:

  1. プレブートユーザーデータコンテンツを含むファイル名userdataでファイルを作成します。 For more information on the content of the &lt;NS-CONFIG&gt; tag, see Sample &lt;NS-CONFIG&gt; section.

    ファイル名は厳密に userdataとして使用する必要があります。

  2. Store the userdata file in a folder, and build an ISO image using the folder.

    You can build an ISO image with userdata file by the following two methods:

    • Using any image processing tool such as PowerISO.
    • Using mkisofs command in Linux.

    The following sample configuration shows how to generate an ISO image using the mkisofs command in Linux.

      root@ubuntu:~/sai/14jul2021# ls -l total 4
      drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 14 12:32 esx_preboot_userdata
      root@ubuntu:~/sai/14jul2021#
      root@ubuntu:~/sai/14jul2021# ls -l esx_preboot_userdata/total 4
      -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3016 Jul 14 12:32 userdata
      root@ubuntu:~/sai/14jul2021# mkisofs -o esx_preboot_userdata.iso ./esx_preboot_userdata
      I: -input-charset not specified, using utf-8 (detected in locale settings)
      Total translation table size: 0
      Total rockridge attributes bytes: 0
      Total directory bytes: 112
      Path table size(bytes): 10
      Max brk space used 0
      176 extents written (0 MB)
      root@ubuntu:~/sai/14jul2021# ls -lh
      total 356K
      drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 14 12:32 esx_preboot_userdata
      -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 352K Jul 14 12:34 esx_preboot_userdata.iso
    
      root@ubuntu:~/sai# ls preboot_userdata_155_193 userdata
      root@ubuntu:~/sai# mkisofs -o preboot_userdata_155_193.iso ./preboot_userdata_155_193
      I: -input-charset not specified, using utf-8 (detected in locale settings)
      Total translation table size: 0
      Total rockridge attributes bytes: 0
      Total directory bytes: 112
      Path table size(bytes): 10
      Max brk space used 0
      176 extents written (0 MB)
    
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  3. Provision the Citrix ADC VPX instance using standard deployment process to create the VM. But do not power on the VM automatically.

    Standard VM deployment

  4. After the VM is successfully created, attach the ISO file as CD/DVD drive to the VM.

    Attach CD DVD drive

  5. Navigate to New CD/DVD Drive and choose Datastore ISO file from the drop-down menu.

    Datastore ISO file

  6. Select a Datastore in the vSphere Client.

    Datastore in the vSphere Client

  7. Power on the VM.

Provide user data using OVF property

Follow these steps to provide user data using OVF property.

  1. Create a file with user data content.

    Preboot user data for ESX

  2. Encode the user data content with Base64 encoding. You can perform the Base64 encoding using the following two methods:

    • In Linux, use the following command:

         base64 <userdata-filename>  >   <outuput-file>
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         base64 esx_userdata.xml  > esx_userdata_b64
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      Base64 encoded userdata

    • Use online tools to encode user data content, for example, Base64 Encode and Decode.

  3. Include a Product section in the OVF template of a Citrix ADC VPX instance on ESX hypervisor.

    Sample Product section:

      <ProductSection>
    
        <Info>Information about the installed software</Info>
        <Product>NSVPX-VSK Template</Product>
        <Vendor>Citrix</Vendor>
        <VendorUrl>www.citrix.com</VendorUrl>
        <Category> Preboot Userdata </Category>
    
        <Property ovf:key="guestinfo.userdata" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true" ovf:value="">
    
          <Label>Userdata</Label>
          <Description> Userdata for ESX VPX </Description>
        </Property>
    
      </ProductSection>
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  4. Provide the base64 encoded user data as the ovf:value for guestinfo.userdata property in the Product section.

      <ProductSection>
    
        <Info>Information about the installed software</Info>
        <Product>NSVPX-VSK Template</Product>
        <Vendor>Citrix</Vendor>
        <VendorUrl>www.citrix.com</VendorUrl>
        <Category> Preboot Userdata </Category>
        <Property ovf:key="guestinfo.userdata" ovf:type="string" ovf:userConfigurable="true"
          ovf:value="PE5TLVBSRS1CT09ULUNPTkZJRz4KICAgIDxOUy1DT05GSUc+CglhZGQgcm91dGUgMC4wLjAuMCAw
          LjAuMC4wIDEwLjEwMi4zOC4xCiAgICA8L05TLUNPTkZJRz4KCiAgICA8TlMtQk9PVFNUUkFQPgog
          ICAgICAgICAgICA8U0tJUC1ERUZBVUxULUJPT1RTVFJBUD5ZRVM8L1NLSVAtREVGQVVMVC1CT09U
          U1RSQVA+CiAgICAgICAgICAgIDxORVctQk9PVFNUUkFQLVNFUVVFTkNFPllFUzwvTkVXLUJPT1RT
          VFJBUC1TRVFVRU5DRT4KCiAgICAgICAgPE1HTVQtSU5URVJGQUNFLUNPTkZJRz4KICAgICAgICAg
          ICAgICAgIDxJTlRFUkZBQ0UtTlVNPiBldGgwIDwvSU5URVJGQUNFLU5VTT4KICAgICAgICAgICAg
          ICAgIDxJUD4gICAgMTAuMTAyLjM4LjIxOSA8L0lQPgogICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgPFNVQk5FVC1N
          QVNLPiAyNTUuMjU1LjI1NS4wIDwvU1VCTkVULU1BU0s+CiAgICAgICAgPC9NR01ULUlOVEVSRkFD
          RS1DT05GSUc+CiAgICA8L05TLUJPT1RTVFJBUD4KPC9OUy1QUkUtQk9PVC1DT05GSUc+Cg==">
    
          <Label>Userdata</Label>
          <Description> Userdata for ESX VPX </Description>
        </Property>
    
      </ProductSection>
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  5. Use the modified OVF template with Product section for the VM deployment.

    OVF template with Product section

Apply Citrix ADC VPX configurations at the first boot of the Citrix ADC appliance on VMware ESX hypervisor