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Installing Virl On Vmware Esxi 5

This document provides instructions for installing VIRL on VMware ESXi 5.x. It describes downloading the OVA file, deploying the virtual machine template, enabling nested virtualization, and configuring network and system settings. Key steps include deploying the OVA template, editing the VMX file to enable nested virtualization, editing the settings.ini file to configure networking and other settings, and rebooting between configuration steps.

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94 views12 pages

Installing Virl On Vmware Esxi 5

This document provides instructions for installing VIRL on VMware ESXi 5.x. It describes downloading the OVA file, deploying the virtual machine template, enabling nested virtualization, and configuring network and system settings. Key steps include deploying the OVA template, editing the VMX file to enable nested virtualization, editing the settings.ini file to configure networking and other settings, and rebooting between configuration steps.

Uploaded by

barabolja
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Installing VIRL on VMWare ESXi 5.

x :
NOTE – If using VMware ESXi 5.0, you MUST update your host system to the latest patch level.
More details are available from
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&exter
nalId=1014508#ESXiESX

1. Ensure that if you are using ESXi via vSphere client, that you have SSH / root access to the
host on which you which to deploy the VIRL OVA. If you do not have access (or know
someone who does) do not proceed as it will be necessary to edit the new VM's .vmx file in
order to enable nested virtualization.
2. If you are managing ESXi via vCentre, then you do NOT have SSH access to the host.
3. The videos posted at http://wwwin-drrc.cisco.com/demos/virl-videos/ contain walkthroughs of
VIRL deployment on ESXi 5.x.
4. BEFORE YOU START, confirm if the ESXi host is on a subnet which has DHCP address
assignment available or if you need a static IP address for your VIRL VM - THIS IS VITAL
5. Ensure that the two Port-Groups ‘Flat’ and ‘SNAT’ exist on the target host (the use of these
networks / interfaces is beyond scope and will be covered in VIRL documentation).
o You can use the vSphere Client or the CLI to setup these networks (this example
adds the new port-groups to vSwitch0):

esxcfg-vswitch -A Flat vSwitch0


esxcfg-vswitch -p Flat -v 1 vSwitch0
esxcfg-vswitch -A SNAT vSwitch0
esxcfg-vswitch -p SNAT -v 2 vSwitch0

o You should see the ‘Flat’ and ‘SNAT’ networks in the configuration before
proceeding:

6. Configure the virtual switch to allow promiscuous mode


Log into the ESXi/ESX host or vCenter Server using the vSphere Client.
Select the ESXi/ESX host in the inventory.
Click the Configuration tab.
In the Hardware section, click Networking.
Click Properties of the virtual switch for which you want to enable promiscuous mode.
Select the virtual switch you wish to modify and click Edit.
Click the Security tab.
From the Promiscuous Mode dropdown menu, click Accept.

7. FOR ESXi 5.0,5.1 or later - Download the OVA (virl.vTxxx.esxi.ova)

FOR ESXi 5.0 only – also download the file ‘virl.esxi50.vhv.config’

The files are LARGE - the OVA and .ISO images are 4GB - The torrent download function is
also available which we encourage you to take advantage of - look at using QBittorrent
(available from http://www.qbittorrent.org/) . Please click and open necessary torrent file for
the image you want to download.

If you are using HTTP-based download, use of a download manager such as iGetter or
DownThemAll is strongly recommended. Typical problem encountered with using a regular
web-browser to download, is that the download halts/times-out part way through the
download.

Please check the md5 checksum of your downloaded file against the values in the hashes file
that accompanies the release.

8. Start the deploy OVF template wizard:

9. Choose the OVA file from the browser. Note: Because the OVAs are currently built for
ESXi5.1 / 5.5 you may see an error similar to that shown below after you select the OVA if
you are deploying to ESXi 5.0. It is safe to ignore this error and proceed by choosing 'Yes'.
10. Confirm the OVA Details:
11. Set the VM name:
12. Assign the VM to a Datastore:
13. Choose the VMDK/Disk Format
14. Confirm the VM's network interface assignments
15. Review settings before deployment
16. The OVA should deploy:

17. Eventually the deployment will finish:


18. You must now manually enable nested virtualization for the newly deployed VM:
o Login as root to the host on which you've deployed the OVA.
o ESXi 5.0 ONLY -

add the following to /etc/vmware/config:

vhv.allow = "TRUE"
usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"
usb.generic.allowLastHID = "TRUE"

Navigate to the appropriate datastore and directory (for example:


/vmfs/volumes/datastore10/virl.vTxxx/).
Edit the .vmx file associated with the new VM (for example: virl.vTxxx.vmx).
Ensure that *all* of the following lines exist or are added to the .vmx file –

cpuid.1.ecx="----:----:----:----:----:----:--h-:----"
cpuid.80000001.ecx.amd="----:----:----:----:----:----:----:-h--"
cpuid.8000000a.eax.amd="hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"
cpuid.8000000a.ebx.amd="hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"
cpuid.8000000a.edx.amd="hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh"
monitor.virtual_mmu = "hardware"
monitor.virtual_exec = "hardware"

Ensure that the following line is also present - this MAY already be defined - if you have this
line more than once, the VM will NOT launch!

vcpu.hotadd = FALSE

o ESXi 5.1 or 5.5 ONLY -

Navigate to the appropriate datastore and directory (for example:


/vmfs/volumes/datastore10/virl.vTxxx/).
Edit the .vmx file associated with the new VM (for example: virl.vTxxx.vmx).
Ensure that the virtual hardware version is set to '9':

virtualHW.version = "9"

Ensure that the following line exists or is added to the .vmx file:

vhv.enable = "TRUE"

19. After saving the .vmx file you can start the VM:
20. Logging in to the VIRL VM

When the VM boots, log in as username 'virl', password 'VIRL' - yes, its case-sensitive.

21. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND HOSTNAME CHANGES -

If you have confirmed that you need to apply a static IP address to the VIRL VM, need to
change the hostname, or any other configuration change, do the following:
Open the ESXi console for the VIRL VM and log in (username 'virl'/password 'VIRL')
1. Double-click “edit settings.ini” - make the necessary changes and press ‘save’
2. Double-click “virl-install networking” and reboot
3. Double-click “virl-install changes” and reboot again before use
YOU MUST REBOOT BETWEEN STEP 2 AND STEP 3 AND AFTER STEP 3
When editing settings.ini, verifying at least the following fields: (when you edit don't forget to
remove the '#' sign from start of line. If no change is required you can leave the lines alone)

1. location region (US or EU, note - APAC is not yet operational)


2. hostname (DO NOT CHANGE – LEAVE AS ‘virl’)
3. using dhcp on the public port (set to 'False')
4. public_port
5. Static IP
6. public network
7. public netmask
8. public gateway
9. user list (in the format user:password,user1:password1, etc)

Save the changes!


NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE DEPLOYED BEHIND A PROXY, THE SYSTEM MUST
HAVE A PROXY DEFINED, PROXY SET TO TRUE AND AN NTP CLOCK SOURCE
MUST BE REACHABLE!

ENSURE THAT THE CORRECT IP ADDRESS IS PRESENT WHEN IT RELOADS -


ifconfig eth0
When the server boots, log in and wait for at least 120 seconds. Check that the output of the
command 'date' provides a result which is valid. You may see that the server reports as being
in in GMT timezone, this is not important - it is key the time value is accurate. If this is NOT
accurate, force an NTP update using the commands:

sudo service ntp stop


sudo ntpdate ntp.esl.cisco.com
sudo service ntp start

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