In this article I am installing a new 3 node Cloud Director 10.2 instance.

The installation has been much simplified since the introduction of the Appliance some versions ago. As there are many new features with this release that I wanted to try out I decided to build and document a fresh install.

Process

Download the relevant OVA from the VMware website.

Ensure that you have checked the pre-requisites and set up the relevant DNS A and PTR records.

With the OVA downloaded log into the vCenter where the instance will be installed and select ‘Deploy OVF Template’.

The first few screens are self explanatory. At stage 6 of the deploy wizard you can select the size and type of deployment. This deployment is for a lab environment therefore I am choosing Primary – Small as its the first cell. For all Enterprise deployments you will choose Primary – Large for the first cell. Later we will make use of the Standby cell type.

Follow through the wizard, choosing which storage to use and the networks you will place eth0 and eth1 onto.

At stage 9 you can customise the deployment by entering NTP, initial password and network information. I don’t require any static routes on either interface but in real deployments these might be required.

Notice that in the 10.2 deployment wizard some of the items you used to supply at this point – NFS, VCD Instance name etc. – are no longer entered at this stage. These will be configured once we log in after first boot.

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Click Next and Finish to start the deployment: Once deployed power on the Appliance.

This will go through its first boot and configure both interfaces. If there are any issues you will see that an error may be displayed saying that there is no network config. If so you can resolve these by powering off and updating the vAPP options.

Now we can browse to the first cell address https://sto-vcd01:5480
This displays the login screen where we can log in as root which we set earlier.

From there we are presented with the initial config. We need to enter a path to a valid empty NFS export created ahead of time. To create an NFS Share please consult the VMware documentation page. In my lab I am using a Windows NFS Share.

Enter and confirm a password for the DB

Click whether you want to join the Customer Improvement program. Click next

You now need to set up your administrator account. I have left the default name of administrator and entered and confirmed a password. Give this account a name and enter an email address. Click next

The final portion is to give the Instance a System Name and an Instance ID number. I only have this one instance so I am happy with the default. For reasons on why you may want to change this consult the VMware documentation for Configure a VMware Cloud Director Installation

Clicking Submit will then take a few moments to configure the first cell in the Instance.

Once this is complete you will then be given a link to log into the provider interface

Click the link from where you can log in.

Further Steps

With the initial primary cell running we can now add an additional 2 standby cells to the cluster. This is as simple as deploying 2 additional cells from the OVA picking Standby (make sure you use the same size as the primary).

Once you power on the new standby cells you can login to each and run through the first run wizard. The major difference is that when picking the NFS share it will detect that you are joining an existing cluster and show a simplified wizard. Adding the cells in will automatically join the cluster and start syncing the DB with the primary.

Finally, once you have the 3 node cluster up and running you can now proceed to set up both a Load Balancer for the UI and set the Database to Automatic failover if required.

Documentation

The full documentaion and release notes for this version of Cloud Director can be found on the VMware Documentation Website.