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Installing NetScaler Virtual Appliances on VMware ESX

Jul 27, 2017
Before installing NetScaler virtual appliances on VMware ESX, make sure that VMware ESX Server is installed on a machine with adequate system resources. To install NetScaler virtual appliances 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.

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

After the initial configuration of the NetScaler appliance, if you want to upgrade the appliance to the latest software release, see "Upgrading or Downgrading the System Software."

Important

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

Prerequisites for Installing NetScaler Virtual Appliances on VMware

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 virtual appliance setup files.
  • Label the physical network ports of VMware ESX.
  • Obtain NetScaler license files. For more information about NetScaler virtual appliance 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 ncore virtual appliance.

Table 1. Minimum System Requirements for VMware ESX Servers Running NetScaler nCore virtual appliance
Component Requirement

CPU

2 or more 64-bit x86 CPUs with virtualization assist (Intel-VT or AMD-V) enabled

Note: To run NetScaler virtual appliance, 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 (The network interfaces must be Intel E1000.)

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 NetScaler ncore virtual appliance.

Table 2. Minimum Virtual Computing Resources Required for Running NetScaler ncore virtual appliance
Component Requirement

Memory

2 GB

Virtual CPU (VCPU)

2

Virtual network interfaces

1

Note: 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: This is in addition to any disk requirements for the hypervisor.
Note: For production use of NetScaler 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 virtual appliance Setup Files

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

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

MyCitrix.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 )

Labeling the Physical Network Ports of VMware ESX

Before installing a NetScaler 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 NetScaler 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

  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).