In my previous post, Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-8-vCenter we have successfully deployed vCenter server, and now we are ready to configure vCenter server.
Just be aware that as we are performing these actions in a nested environment, we will face performance issues, hence do not run out of patience due to slowness and delayed response.
Now in order to start we will login to the vCenter server https://vcsa.lab.local, using SSO credentials.
In my previous post Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-7-Shared storage, we have configured shared storage, DNS entries and NTP setup. Now we are ready to deploy vCenter.
Lets start by downloading the vCenter ISO from VMware Customer connect portal.
Once you have downloaded the ISO, we can start deployment process.
Locate the downloaded ISO and mount it on the base machine ( I am using addc server for this task).
In my previous post Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-6-Nested-ESXi we completed, installation of nested esxi servers, and now we are ready to create shared storage for our nested SDDC environment.
To facilitate shared storage to our ESXi servers, we have already installed iSCSi target server role on ADDC in our previous post Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-5-Infrastructure Services now its time to configure the shared volume and for that we added one extra disk to the ADDC server. You can ignore the extra disk I added other than the one highlighted (I am using it for keeping ISO files).
In my previous post, Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-5-Infrastructure Services we have completed configuration of Active Directory, DNS and NTP (DC will serve as NTP), these are our infrastructure services.
Now we are ready for deployment of Nested ESXi servers. installation procedure is same as physical server however, there are few things we need to keep in mind while creating the VM for nested environment.
So lets start, login to the physical ESXi server with root credentials by navigating to https://"youresxiIP and under virtual machines select option Create VM.
In my previous post Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-4-virtual router, we configured complete underlay networking for our Nested SDDC, We will do BGP configuration once we advance thru the lab.
As now we have Compute, Storage and Network ready, we need the infrastructure services, such as DNS, Active Directory and NTP.
We need to install one windows server which will serve as an active directory, DNS and iSCSi server for our setup.
In order to install the windows server, we would need windows server ISO. Now we will start installation of the server.
We will login to the ESXi server we installed, https://youresxiIP and use "root" credentials for login.
We will use the same steps as we used in deploying CSR1000v in our previous post and we will deploy it on the management network. We will use below mentioned IPs for our servers.
In my previous post HomeLab Step-by-Step Part-3-Networking, we have completed configuration of
required port groups, datastore etc. Now we are ready to start deployment of
virtual router.
We will be creating a network topology shown in this image.
In my previous post Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-2-Hostconfig we configured the IP address on our physical ESXi
host, and now we are ready to configure networks required for our nested SDDC.
Below table shows the list of VLANs we will configure, and we have named each vlan as per its use.
Let’s start from where we left in Home Lab Step-by-Step Part-1-HostInstallation.
Once ESXi installation is complete, you will be presented with this screen, here press F2 to start initial configuration of ESXi.
Getting started with base infrastructure for home LAB
Technology is evolving each day, and to keep up with the
momentum VMware is coming up with upgrades/updates of the VMware portfolio products.
To stay upto date with the latest versions, hosting a lab
has become a necessity, but what I saw most of the IT practitioners, who are
not from infrastructure domain face challenges setting up their labs.
Well it wouldn’t be an issue anymore, I am going to lay down
step by step instructions on how to setup your home LAB with just one ESXi.
