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Install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware ESX

April 20, 2020
Contributed by:  S C S

Before installing NetScaler VPX instances on VMware ESX, make sure that VMware ESX Server is installed on a machine with adequate system resources. To install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware ESXi , you use VMware vSphere client. The client or tool must be installed on a remote machine that can connect to VMware ESX through the network.

Important

You cannot install standard VMware Tools or upgrade the VMware Tools version available on a NetScaler VPX instance. VMware Tools for a NetScaler VPX instance are delivered as part of the NetScaler software release.

Prerequisites

Before you begin installing a virtual appliance, do the following:

  • Install VMware ESX on hardware that meets the minimum requirements.
  • Install VMware Client on a management workstation that meets the minimum system requirements.
  • Download the NetScaler VPX appliance setup files.
  • Label the physical network ports of VMware ESX.
  • Obtain VPX license files. For more information about NetScaler VPX instance licenses, see the NetScaler VPX Licensing Guide at http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx131110.

VMware ESX hardware requirements

The following table describes the minimum system requirements for VMware ESX servers running NetScaler VPX ncore virtual appliance.

Table 1. Minimum system requirements for a VMware ESX server running a NetScaler VPX instance

Component Requirement
- 2 or more 64-bit x86 CPUs with virtualization assist (Intel-VT) enabled. Note that to run NetScaler VPX instance, hardware support for virtualization must be enabled on the VMware ESX host. Make sure that the BIOS option for virtualization support is not disabled. For more information, see your BIOS documentation.
RAM 3 GB
Disk space 40 GB of disk space available
Network One 1-Gbps NIC; Two 1-Gbps NICs recommended

For information about installing VMware ESX, see http://www.vmware.com/.

The following table lists the virtual computing resources that the VMware ESX server must provide for each VPX ncore virtual appliance.

Table 2. Minimum virtual computing resources required for running a NetScaler VPX instance

Component Requirement
Memory 2 GB
Virtual CPU (VCPU) 2
Virtual network interfaces 1. Note that with ESX, you can install a maximum of 10 virtual network interfaces if the VPX hardware is upgraded version to 7 or higher.
Disk space 20 GB

Note that this is in addition to any disk requirements for the hypervisor.

For production use of VPX virtual appliance, the full memory allocation must be reserved. CPU cycles (in MHz) equal to at least the speed of one CPU core of the ESX should also be reserved.

VMware vSphere client system requirements

VMware vSphere is a client application that can run on Windows and Linux operating systems. It cannot run on the same machine as the VMware ESX server. The following table describes the minimum system requirements.

Table 3. Minimum system requirements for VMware vSphere client installation

Component Requirement
Operating system For detailed requirements from VMware, search for the “vSphere Compatibility Matrixes” PDF file at http://kb.vmware.com/.
CPU 750 megahertz (MHz); 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster recommended
RAM 1 GB; 2 GB recommended
Network Interface Card (NIC) 100 Mbps or faster NIC

OVF Tool 1.0 system requirements

OVF Tool is a client application that can run on Windows and Linux systems. It cannot run on the same machine as the VMware ESX server. The following table describes the minimum system requirements.

Table 4. Minimum system requirements for OVF tool installation

Component Requirement
Operating system For detailed requirements from VMware, search for the “OVF Tool User Guide” PDF file at http://kb.vmware.com/.
CPU 750 MHz minimum, 1 GHz or faster recommended
RAM 1 GB Minimum, 2 GB recommended
Network Interface Card (NIC) 100 Mbps or faster NIC

For information about installing OVF, search for the “OVF Tool User Guide” PDF file at http://kb.vmware.com/.

Downloading the NetScaler VPX setup files

The NetScaler VPX instance setup package for VMware ESX follows the Open Virtual Machine (OVF) format standard. You can download the files from the Citrix website. You need a Citrix account to log on. If you do not have a Citrix account, access the home page at http://www.citrix.com, click the New Users link, and follow the instructions to create a new Citrix account.

Once logged on, navigate the following path from the Citrix home page:

Citrix.com > Downloads > NetScaler > Virtual Appliances.

Copy the following files to a workstation on the same network as the ESX server. Copy all three files into the same folder.

  • NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>-disk1.vmdk (for example, NSVPX-ESX-9.3-39.8-disk1.vmdk)
  • NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>.ovf (for example, NSVPX-ESX-9.3-39.8.ovf)
  • NSVPX-ESX-<release number>-<build number>.mf (for example, NSVPX-ESX-9.3-39.8.mf )

Label the physical network ports of VMware ESX

Before installing a VPX  virtual appliance, label of all the interfaces that you plan to assign to virtual appliances, in a unique format, for example, NS_NIC_1_1, NS_NIC_1_2, and so on. In large deployments, labeling in a unique format helps in quickly identifying the interfaces that are allocated to the VPX  virtual appliance among other interfaces used by other virtual machines, such as Windows and Linux. Such labeling is especially important when different types of virtual machines share the same interfaces.

To label the physical network ports of VMware ESX server, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to the VMware ESX server by using the vSphere client.
  2. On the vSphere client, select the Configuration tab, and then click Networking.
  3. At the top-right corner, click Add Networking.
  4. In the Add Network Wizard, for Connection Type, select Virtual Machine, and then click Next.
  5. Scroll through the list of vSwitch physical adapters, and choose the physical port that will map to interface 1/1 on the virtual appliances.
  6. Enter the label of the interface, for example, NS_NIC_1_1 as the name of the vSwitch that will be associated with interface 1/1 of the virtual appliances.
  7. Click Next to finish the vSwitch creation. Repeat the procedure, beginning with step 2, to add any additional interfaces to be used by your virtual appliances. Label the interfaces sequentially, in the correct format (for example, NS_NIC_1_2).

Install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware ESX

After you have installed and configured VMware ESX, you can use the VMware vSphere client to install virtual appliances on the VMware ESX server. The number of virtual appliances that you can install depends on the amount of memory available on the hardware that is running VMware ESX.

To install NetScaler VPX instances on VMware ESX by using VMware vSphere Client, follow these steps:

  1. Start the VMware vSphere client on your workstation.
  2. In the IP address / Name text box, type the IP address of the VMware ESX server that you want to connect to.
  3. In the User Name and Password text boxes, type the administrator credentials, and then click Login.
  4. On the File menu, click Deploy OVF Template.
  5. In the Deploy OVF Template dialog box, in Deploy from file, browse to the location at which you saved the NetScaler VPX instance setup files, select the .ovf file, and click Next.
  6. Map the networks shown in the virtual appliance OVF template to the networks that you configured on the ESX host. Click Nextto start installing a virtual appliance on VMware ESX. When installation is complete, a pop-up window informs you of the successful installation.
  7. You are now ready to start the NetScaler VPX instance. In the navigation pane, select the NetScaler VPX instance that you have just installed and, from the right-click menu, select Power On. Click the Consoletab to emulate a console port.
  8. If you want to install another virtual appliance, repeat steps 4 through 6.

Note

By default, the NetScaler VPX instance uses E1000 network interfaces.

After the installation, you can use vSphere client or vSphere Web Client to manage virtual appliances on VMware ESX.

Note

For the VLAN tagging feature to work,on the VMware ESX, set the port group’s VLAN ID to 1 - 4095 on the VSwitch of VMware ESX server. For more information about setting a VLAN ID on the VSwitch of VMware ESX server, see http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx3_vlan_wp.pdf.

Install a NetScaler VPX instance on VMware ESX

April 20, 2020
Contributed by:  S C S

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