So for the NSX manager, even though it can be deployed, for example, on our A,
B, or
manager ESXi host, which are running as VMs in our nested environment, I have
had less than 100%
success in doing that. And there's a couple of reasons. Number one, the NSX
manager by default
doesn't like snapshots, and they're not allowed by default. Now we can override
that default
behavior, and we can say snapshots are allowed, but we're adding a little bit
additional problem
if we try to run the NSX manager on a VM, which is actually ESXi host running WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
if we try to run the NSX manager on a VM, which is actually ESXi host running
as a VM.
So in that case, we'd have this VM running in this VM, and then if we're trying
to also make
sure we have correct snapshots of that as well and snapshots of these, that can
lead to additional
problems. So what I'd recommend is instead of trying to run the NSX manager and
deploying it
on one of our nested ESXi hosts, we're going to go ahead and deploy it as
another VM right here on
one of our physical hosts. So in our physical host environment here, we'd be
running the VMs for WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
running the VMs for
ESXi A, and also for ESXi B, and also for the ESXi manager, which is running
our vCenter server.
And in addition to that, we'd also run our NSX manager also on our physical ES
Xi hosts.
And the benefit of that is we're going to have some better response time with
the NSX manager,
and I haven't yet had any problems in my lab environment by creating snapshots
of the NSX
manager. Also, because these snapshots can become quite large for the NSX
manager,
putting it directly on hardware, as opposed to putting it in a nested WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
putting it directly on hardware, as opposed to putting it in a nested
environment,
is going to make that part perform better as well. So let me show you my
existing topology,
which includes the NSX manager running directly on one of my physical hosts. So
again, light mode
here is my nested environment, and the dark mode here is the parent physical
environment.
So here in this folder called nested NSX blue, I've got ESXi A running as a VM,
ESXi B is a VM,
ESXi management running as a VM, and I also have deployed when it came time to
do it,
I deployed the NSX manager 01 here. So let's also talk for a moment about how WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
I deployed the NSX manager 01 here. So let's also talk for a moment about how
we can overcome
the issue of this little VM, the NSX manager, not wanting to allow snapshots.
To get around that,
we go ahead and go to that VM, and we click on data stores to see where he's
stored. It's stored
on this iSCSI network shared drive, so we'll click on that and click on files,
and then scroll
down till I find the folder with the same name. So there's NSX manager 01 local
right there,
and if we open that up, I go ahead and collapse the left hand side here, and we WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
and if we open that up, I go ahead and collapse the left hand side here, and we
scroll down,
there's the VMX file for us. What did it was? I just downloaded the VMX to my
local management
computer, and I might add I did this while that VM was not powered on. So I
downloaded this to
my local computer, I then went in and edited the file and specified that for
snapshots instead of
saying zero, which means snapshots are not allowed, I changed it to a two,
meaning up to two snapshots
are allowed. Then I renamed the original file that was in the data store here
to something else,
and then I uploaded the edited file, which allowed the snapshots, and then with WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
and then I uploaded the edited file, which allowed the snapshots, and then with
that modified VMX
file that allows the snapshots, I could then go ahead and do snapshots on that
VM. And for all
the snapshots, granted my nested environment, I'm not doing any of them while
they're powered on.
I want to make sure everything is nice and gracefully shut down, then I'll do
the snapshot,
and then as I go forward, if I need to revert back, I can revert back to that
snapshot. And then as
I proceed through, I'll delete the older snapshots and create new snapshots as
I continue to walk
through the process of configuring and building on the lab environment. So if WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
through the process of configuring and building on the lab environment. So if
we go back to our
VMs and templates here, here's the NSX manager, and if we go to snapshots,
there is the last snapshot
I took. So I gracefully powered it down, I'll walk through that as well, I
gracefully powered it down,
I deleted the old snapshot, created a new snapshot, and then moved forward. And
I also do the same thing
for ESXIA and B and the management ESXI host. So that way they're all in lock
step with each other.
So when I did a snapshot for the NSX manager, at that same time, I also did
snapshots for ESXIA, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
B and management, which it looks like was on December 31st, 2023, Happy New
Year at around 301.
And because I do all those in close proximity, they all should have a timestamp
very close to
each other, which they do. Fantastic. Also, just be aware that when you do
clean up the snapshots,
for example, like on the NSX manager, sometimes it may take anywhere between
five and 30 minutes
for it to clean up or delete an old snapshot as it merges all the disks. So my
process is to go
ahead, gracefully shut everything down, delete all the snapshots. If I'm
comfortable with where I'm WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
comfortable with where I'm
at now, then I create the new snapshots and then move forward. So the result is
the nested environment
here, the OGI T dot lab in light mode. If I go to the host and clusters view,
here I have the two
ESXI hosts that are nested, and B in this cluster. And I've also got the ESXI
management VM in a
cluster all by itself. And you don't have to put them in a separate cluster,
but it makes it easier
when you want to go ahead and deploy NSX. We can just grab the entire cluster.
In this case,
this one to deploy and roll out NSX to all the hosts in this cluster, again, WEBVTT X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:900000
this one to deploy and roll out NSX to all the hosts in this cluster, again,
not required,
just a little bit easier. So now that we've taken a look at the deployment of
the NSX
manager also as a virtual machine on the physical servers. In the next video,
let me walk you through
my implementation of the host transport nodes in the nested environment.