The NSX Manager is the central component of NSX. It is a single VM which is deployed as appliance. How to do the few steps to deploy the machine is explained here…

Preparation

Appliance deployment

  • Login to vCenter WebClient
  • Right-Click in your Cluster and select Deploy OVF Template
Deploy Wizard
  • Select LocalFile and browse to the downloaded ovf.
  • Change the name for the appliance as desired and select a datacenter or folder to deploy to.
  • After Cluster is selected you have to select a resource pool
  • Click on Next to accept the advanced configuration options.
  • You have to accept the license agreements.
  • Choose a storage for the appliance (a 60GB harddisk will be created)
  • Select the network
  • Customization – the order is confusing a little bit…
    enter the values for:

    • DNS
    • Domain Search List
    • IPv4 Gateway
    • Hostname
    • IPv4 Address
    • Network 1 Netmask
    • SSH enabled/disabled
    • NTP
    • Password for admin
    • Password for Privilege Mode
    • VMWare CEIP yes/no
  • After that review you settings and click on Finish
  • Wait until the VM is deployed. Then power on the NSX Manager.

Connect to vCenter

  • After the NSX Manager is up and running, log into it. https://nsxmgr
    Username: admin
    Password: *****
  • Select Manage vCenter Registration
  • Edit the Lookup Service URL
  • Enter the URL of your vCenter Server and use the SSO Administrator Account.
  • Confirm the certificate trust.
  • If everything works fine the status should show Connected with a green light
  • Lets connect the vCenter server with the NSX Manager. Click on Edit for vCenter Server
  • Enter the FQDN of your vCenter and the Credentials of your administrator.
  • Trust the Certificate too
  • After that the second status should show connected too. By using the refresh button behind Last successful inventory update the status shows a timestamp.

Check Installation

  • If you are logged into your vSphere WebClient – logoff and login again.
  • You will see a new point Networking & Security – select it
  • The Dashboard shows connection of NSX Manager is ok (green)

The deployment and integration of NSX Manager is complete. Next steps will be the deployment of three controller VMs.