Introduction to Deploying SMI Cluster Manager
This chapter provides information about deploying (orchestrating) and upgrading the SMI Cluster Manager in a VMware vCenter environment using Docker. The deploying process involves creating a working SMI Cluster Manager Virtual Machine (VM) used for deploying the SMI Kubernetes Clusters. For instantiating the Kubernetes Clusters on the SMI Cluster Manager, see the Ultra Cloud Core Subscriber Microservices Infrastructure Operations Guide.
![]() Note |
The SMI supports only the UTC time zone by default. Use this time zone for all your deployment and installation activities related to the SMI. |
![]() Important |
The /home directory is reserved for the SMI Cluster Deployer. Do not use this directory for storing data. If you must store data, use the /data directory instead. |
VMware Requirements
This section provides information about the VMware vCenter Server requirements for deploying the SMI Cluster Manager.
The VMware vCenter Server requirements for deploying the SMI Cluster Manager includes:
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VMware vCenter Server.
The following version of VMware vCenter is supported:
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VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.5 and later versions. The VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.5 and 6.7 has been fully tested and meets performance benchmarks.
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The VMware vCenter Server must be ready for deploying the VMs. The setup must include:
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Creating the Datacenter, Cluster, and Host(s).
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Setting up the Datastore on the Solid State Drive (SSD).
Note
Deploying on the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) datastores is the best effort support. It can lead to timeouts and slow performance.
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Network setup configuration:
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The SMI Cluster Manager requires at least one static IPv4 address. The IPv4 address must be routable from the machine on which the Docker is being run.
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Authentication to the VMware vCenter Server.
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Administrative access to the VMware vCenter Server (user name and password).
Note
It is possible to setup a limited permission user to perform the deploy operations. Due to the complexity involved in troubleshooting permissions issues in ESXi, only best effort support is provided for non-administrative users.
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A valid IPv4 address for the ESXi host.
Note
The default Docker installation does not enable IPv6, which is the cause of this limitation. This limitation will be addressed in a future release.
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The Docker software package.
Note
To install docker on your laptop or an existing virtual machine (VM), see Docker software package in Prerequisites section.
The Docker must have network access to:
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The VMware vCenter Server.
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The deployed SMI Cluster IP address. An SSH connection is used to configure the SMI Cluster Manager after booting it in the vCenter.
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The SMI Deployer artifacts.
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For information on downloading the artifacts, see Prerequisites section.
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