Procedure

  1. Create a Catalog within your VDC
  2. Upload the ISO to the catalog
  3. Create a new VM
  4. Mount the ISO to the new virtual machine and power it on
    1. Complete the install within the console of the virtual machine
    2. Unmount the ISO from the virtual machine

Create a Catalog within your VDC

You can create new catalogs and associate them with a storage policy.

Check the name of the datacenter you are in and place the catalog on the associated storage policy. This allows deployment and uploads to work faster as all traffic will be contained within the same datacenter and its associated storage policies.

Prerequisites

This operation requires the rights included in the predefined Catalog Author or an equivalent set of rights.

Procedure

  1. On the Virtual Datacenters dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore.
  2. From the main menu select Libraries and select Catalogs from the left panel.
  3. Click New to create a new catalog.
  4. Enter the name and, optionally, a meaningful description of the catalog.
  5. Select whether you want to assign a storage policy to the catalog, and select a storage policy.
    1. You can edit this at a later time if desired.
    2. We recommend setting a storage policy to ensure correct data placement.
  6. Click OK.

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Upload the ISO to the Catalog

You can upload ISO and OVF / OVA to catalogs to use with virtual machine creation.

Prerequisites

This operation requires the rights included in the predefined Catalog Author or an equivalent set of rights.

Upload Media (ISO) Procedure

  1. On the Virtual Datacenters dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore.
  2. From the main menu select Libraries and select Media & Other from the left panel.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Select a catalog
  5. The Name field will auto populate based on the ISO file name.
    1. The Name must contain the file extension otherwise it will not be recognized as an ISO.
  6. Click the Upload icon and select the ISO to upload
  7. Click OK to begin the transfer.
  8. You can monitor the progress in the Recent Tasks.
  9. You can then delete the ISO if needed by selecting it and clicking Delete.

Upload OVF / OVA Procedure

If uploading an OVA fails we highly recommend converting into an OVF as shown here.

  1. On the Virtual Datacenters dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore.
  2. From the main menu select Libraries and select vApp Templates from the left panel.
  3. Click Add to upload an OVA/OVF.
  4. Click the Browse icon to select an OVA/OVF and all related files to upload.
    1. For an OVF, select all associated files. Typically consisting of an .mf descriptor file, .vmdk virtual disk file, and .ovf file.
    2. For an OVA, select the single OVA file.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Review the details and click Next.
  7. Provide a name for the vApp Template and select a catalog if needed and click Next.
    1. The EvolveIP provided catalogs are unable to be written to.
  8. Review the Ready to Complete page and click Finish.

Note: Uploading an OVA/OVF may take a long time depending on upload speeds. During the upload the progress will sit at 1%. Once the progress moves past 1% the upload is complete and the system is importing the OVA/OVF from the staging directory into the Catalog.

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Create a new VM (Not from Template)

Prerequisites

This operation requires the rights included in the predefined Organization VDC Admin, VApp Admin or an equivalent set of rights.

If deploying a VM from a template, you must already have access to a template. Or have created your own Catalog and uploaded your own template or ISO. Instructions can be found under the Working with Catalogs section.

Procedure

  1. On the Virtual Datacenters dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to deploy a new virtual machine into and select Virtual Machines from the left menu.
  2. Click NEW VM.
  3. Enter the name and the computer name for the virtual machine.
    1. Important: the computer name can contain only alphanumeric characters and cannot consist of digits only.
  4. check the box if you want the VM to power on right after it is created.
  5. (Optional) Enter a meaningful description.

Create a New VM

Create a New VM from Template

  1. Select the New radio button.
  2. Select an Operating System family and Operating System.
    1. If you don't see your operating system select the closest.
    2. Example If you want Server 2019 and it is not available, select Server 2016 from the list.
  3. (Optional) Select a Boot Image
    1. This will select ISO's available from catalogs.
  4. Select the size of the VM or click Customize to enter the compute, memory, and storage settings manually.
    1. Compute (CPU)
      1. For smaller VMs we recommend 2 virtual CPUs with 1 core per socket. This will result in 2 sockets with 1 CPU each.
      2. For larger VMs we recommend 4 virtual CPUs with 2 cores per socket. This will result in 2 sockets with 2 CPUs each.
      3. We do not recommend going over 8 virtual CPUs as it will result in lower performance.
    2. Memory
      1. If you want more or less RAM than is available from the selection drop-down, it can be specified after initial creation and before you power the VM on for the first time.
    3. If you want a different size HDD you can alter it before powering on.
  5. Click Customize to specify network settings for the VM, such as network, IP mode, IP address, and primary NIC.
  6. Click OK.
  7. You can watch the creation of the VM in the Recent Tasks, the VM will show busy as it is creating.
  8. Once complete the VM is ready to be powered on and configured.
  1. Select the Template with the desired OS that you want to deploy.
    1. Name: The OS of the Template
    2. Catalog: The location of the Template
      1. Make sure the Catalog location lines up with the datacenter location you are deploying to.
      2. If you select a template from another location it may take a while to deploy.
  2. Click Ok.
  3. You can watch the creation of the VM in the Recent Tasks, the VM will show busy as it is creating.
  4. Once complete the VM is ready to be powered on and configured.

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Mount the ISO and Install OS (Windows)

Procedure

  1. Click Actions on the Virtual Machine
    1. Click Insert Media
    2. Select the correct mediafrom the list and click Insert
  2. Power on the Virtual Machine
  3. Follow the normal prompts to install the OS
    1. As VMware Tools is not yet installed, using the keyboard arrows and CTRL+'keys' will simplify the install
    2. To escape the VMware Remote Console (VMRC) press CTRL+ALT on your keyboard
  4. Once complete click Actions on the VM and select Eject Media to remove the ISO