Complete these tasks to deploy a Catalyst Center on ESXi virtual appliance.

• VMware vSphere installation

• Enterprise interface reservations

• Import the IdenTrust certificate chain

• DNS, NTP, and proxy server settings

• Required internet URLs and fully qualified domain names

• Enable storage input/output control

• HA admission control settings

• Quick Start Workflow preparations

VMware vSphere includes several components.

Use VMware vSphere 7.0.x or later, including all patches, for running Catalyst Center on ESXi. To access the overview of the VMware vSphere installation and setup process, see VMware Installation and Setup.

After installing VMware vSphere, verify that it can be reached from the computer you will use to deploy the virtual appliance's OVA file.

An enterprise interface reservation is a network configuration requirement that

• dedicates an interface on the virtual appliance for enterprise network connectivity,

• requires recording the assigned IP address for later use during appliance setup, and

• may support management interfaces and additional network interfaces for appliance administration.

Before setting up the virtual appliance:

• Reserve at least one 1-Gbps or 10-Gbps Enterprise interface to connect to your enterprise network.

• Note the IP address for this interface. You will enter it later during appliance configuration.

• Optionally, reserve a 1-Gbps or 10-Gbps Management interface for accessing the Catalyst Center on ESXi GUI. Note its IP address if you plan to configure it.

Note these points:

• The IP address of the intracluster interface is predefined. You do not need to enter it when you complete either the Maglev Configuration wizard with default mode selected or the browser-based Install Configuration wizard.

• Catalyst Center on ESXi supports configuring one additional interface for use by the virtual appliance. If you do so, choose VMXNET from the Adapter Type drop-down list. If you select a different type, the appliance configuration will not complete successfully. For more information, see the Add a Network Adapter to a Virtual Machine topic in vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.

While configuring your virtual appliance, you must prepare the DNS, NTP, and proxy servers that your virtual appliance will use.

You will be prompted to specify three items:

• The Domain Name System (DNS) server that Catalyst Center on ESXi will use to convert domain names to IP addresses.

• The Network Time Protocol (NTP) server that Catalyst Center on ESXi will use for clock synchronization.

• (Optional) The proxy server that Catalyst Center on ESXi will use to access internet-bound URLs.

Before you configure your virtual appliance, do the following:

• Ensure that the servers you want to use are available and running.

• For an NTP server, obtain its IP address or hostname. For a proxy server, collect either its URL or hostname and its login credentials.

You must provide secure access to the required URLs and Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) for the virtual appliance to function.

This table describes the features that make use of each URL and FQDN. You must configure either your network firewall or a proxy server so that IP traffic can travel to and from the appliance and these resources.

Caution

If you do not provide access to the listed URLs and FQDNs, the associated features will not work as intended.

Note

Since the destination domain names for third-party vendors may change without notice, it is mandatory to specify them using wildcards.

For more information about for proxy access requirements, see "Provide secure access to the internet" in the Cisco Catalyst Center Third-Generation Installation Guide.

You cannot create three-node clusters by connecting Catalyst Center on ESXi VMs. To enable high availability (HA), use the HA functionality in VMware vSphere. Enable strict admission control to ensure that:

• The system does not power on a virtual machine if that action would violate availability constraints.

• The system enforces configured failover capacity limits.

• HA operates as expected during a failover.

After you create a virtual machine on an ESXi host and configure a Catalyst Center on ESXi virtual appliance, you'll be prompted to complete the Quick Start workflow. By completing this workflow, you will discover the devices that Catalyst Center on ESXi will manage. You will also enable the collection of telemetry from those devices. Complete these tasks to finish the workflow:

• Decide on the username and password for the new admin user you will create. The default admin username and password (admin/P@ssword9) should be used only the first time you log in to Catalyst Center on ESXi.

  Changing this password is critical to network security, especially when the people who set up a Catalyst Center on ESXi virtual appliance are not the same people who will serve as its administrators.

• Obtain the credentials you use to log in to Cisco.com.

• Identify the users who need access to your system. For these users, define their roles, unique passwords, and privilege settings.

You have the option to use an IPAM server and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) with your virtual appliance. If you choose to use one or both of them, you'll also need to obtain the relevant URL and login information.