Describes Deploy VAs in VMware in Cisco Secure Access and explains Prerequisites and Configure Authentication for the Virtual Appliances. It summarizes the behavior, configuration context, and operational considerations presented throughout the topic.

Deploy Cisco Secure Access Virtual Appliances (VAs) in VMware.

Note
You must deploy at least two Virtual Appliances (VAs) in a Secure Access Site. It is critical that these VAs are not cloned or copied in any way. Configure and set up each VA manually.

Prerequisites

Full Admin user role. For more information, see Manage Accounts.
For information about the network requirements for deploying VAs, see Prerequisites for Virtual Appliances.
Basic knowledge of VMware ESXi. For more information, see the VMware documentation.

Configure Authentication for the Virtual Appliances

Before you can download the Virtual Appliance images in Secure Access, you must configure your Secure Access API keys for the Virtual Appliances in your organization. Secure Access enables the Download Components button only after the API keys for the VAs are configured. For more information, see Configure Authentication for Virtual Appliances.

Procedure for Deploying VAs in VMware

Step 1 – Download OVF Template

Procedure

Navigate to Connect > DNS Forwarders and click Download Components.
Click Download next to VA for VMWare ESXi.
Umbrella generates and downloads a .tar file unique to your deployment.

This tar file includes:
- an .ovf template containing the virtual hard disks that need to be deployed on VMware
- a signature file
- a Cisco public certificate to validate the signature
- a readme file
Extract the contents of the tar file using the command tar –xvf <tar filename> -C <Destination folder>.

To verify the integrity of the downloaded file, validate the signature by following the instructions provided in the readme file. On successful signature validation, you should see a message saying “Verified OK."

Step 2 – Deploy OVF Template

Procedure

Log into your VMware vSphere client and select the File tab.
Click Deploy OVF Template, choosing the downloaded .ova template.
Follow the deployment wizard prompts, but be sure to follow these steps:
- For the source, browse to the .ova file you just downloaded.
- Specify a unique name and location for your VA.
Select the disks appropriate to your environment. It is recommended to select Thin Provision for the disk format, but it is not mandatory.
Select or map a network.
Click Finish.

The system begins to deploy the VA. During the deployment, subsequent prompts update you about the status of the deployment.

Step 3 – Deploy a Second Virtual Appliance

While the first VA is deploying, repeat the previous two steps to configure your second VA.

Note
Two VAs are required per Umbrella site. It is critical that these VAs are not cloned or copied in any way. Each VA must be set up and configured manually.

Step 4 – Power on the Virtual Machines

If the deployment succeeded, you'll see the VA console screen. For information about configuring VAs, see Configure Virtual Appliances.

Powering on the virtual machine in the Virtual Appliance console

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