Cisco Intersight - Hyperflex Installation,
Configuration & Deployment on VMware ESXi
Contents
Introduction
Prerequisites
Requirements
Supported versions for HX FI-attached Cluster Deployments
Intersight Connectivity
Other requirements
Components Used
Configure
Network Diagram
Configuration Steps
Verify
Introduction
Cisco Intersight, simplifies data center operations by delivering systems management as-a-
service, alleviating the need to maintain islands of on-premise management infrastructure.
Cisco Intersight provides an installation wizard to install, configure, and deploy Cisco HyperFlex
clusters — HX Edge and FI-attached. The wizard constructs a pre-configuration definition of your
cluster called an HX Cluster Profile. This definition is a logical representation of the HX nodes in
your HX cluster and includes-
●Security— credentials for HyperFlex cluster such as controller VM password, hypervisor
username, and password.
●Configuration — server requirements, firmware, etc.
●Connectivity— upstream network, virtual network, etc.
This document provides the steps and screen shot of how to deploy FI-attached Hyperflex clusters
using intersight.
Prerequisites
Requirements
Supported versions for HX FI-attached Cluster Deployments
Component Version/Release
HX220C-M4S
HXAF220C-M4S
M4, M5 Servers
HX240C-M4SX
HXAF240C-M4S
HX220C-M5SX
HXAF220C-M5SX
HX240C-M5SX
HXAF240C-M5SX
Device Connector Auto-upgraded by Cisco Intersight
Intersight Connectivity
Consider the following prerequisites pertaining to Intersight connectivity-
Make sure that the device connector on the corresponding UCS Manager instance is
●
properly configured to connect to Cisco Intersight and claimed.
All device connectors must properly resolve svc.ucs-connect.com and allow outbound
●
initiated HTTPS connections on port 443.
Hyperflex Installer version till 3.5(2a) supports the use of an HTTP proxy, except when the
●
cluster is redeployed and is not new from the factory.
All controller VM management interfaces must properly resolve download.intersight.com and
●
allow outbound initiated HTTPS connections on port 443. The current version of HX
Installer supports the use of an HTTP proxy if direct Internet connectivity is
unavailable, except when the cluster is redeployed and is not new from the factory.
The intended ESX server, HX Controller network, and vCenter host must be accessible
●
through UCS Fabric Interconnect management interfaces.
Starting with HXDP release 3.5(2a), the Intersight installer does not require a factory installed
●
controller VM to be present on the HyperFlex servers. However, this requirement will still
be applicable if connectivity to Intersight is through a HTTP proxy. All NEW HX servers
may be deployed as-is with an HTTP proxy.
Other requirements
Software Requirements
Physical Requirements
Network Requirements
Port Requirements
Deployment Information
Components Used
● Cisco Intersight
● Cisco UCSM
● Cisco HX Servers
● Cisco Hyperflex
● VMWare ESXi
● VMware vCenter
Configure
Network Diagram
● Cisco Intersight provides an easy way to deploy HyperFlex Clusters by including the
HyperFlex Installer in all Editions of Cisco Intersight.
Configuration Steps
Step 1. Login to Cisco Intersight and select the user account as shown below-
Step 2. On the dashboard click on the Devices tab on the right pane.
Step 3. Under Devices, Click on Claim a New Device
Step 4. Login to UCS Manager, browse to Admin -> Device Connector. Click on Settings to
configure Access Mode and Proxy Configuration
Step 5. In UCS Manager, browse to Admin -> Device Connector. Enable Intersight
Management toggle button and get the Device ID and the Claim Code.
Step 6. On Intersight account, use the Claim Code and Device ID (captured in step 5) to Claim
the device. Now the UCSM domain is claimed.
Step 7. Check under Devices to confirm the new domain shows "Connected" and "Claimed".
Also, check that you now have the option to cross launch UCSM UI and UCSM CLI from
Intersight.
Step 8. Under Service Profiles, click Create Hyperflex Cluster Profile
Step 9. Configure the Service Profile using the below steps,
General Tasks
Cluster Configuration - Security
Cluster Configuration - DNS, NTP and Timezone
Cluster Configuration - vCenter Configuration
Note:- For vCenter Configuration it is recommended to skip the vCenter Single-Sign-On Server.
Please check below document page 27,
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/hyperconverged-infrastructure/hyperflex-
hx-series/whitepaper-c11-740456.pdf
Cluster Configuration - Storage Configuration
Cluster Configuration - Auto Support
Cluster Configuration - IP & Hostname
Cluster Configuration - UCSM Configuration
Cluster Configuration - Network
Cluster Configuration - External Storage (Optional)
If enabled, fill the VSAN name and VSAN ID for FI A and FI B respectively.
Cluster Configuration - Proxy Setting (Optional)
Cluster Configuration - Hyperflex Storage Network
Step 10. Select the servers as a part of Node Assignment.
Step 11. Configure and confirm Hypervisor IP & Storage Controller IP address for Node
Configuration,
Step 12. Click Validate & Deploy and check the progress status and wait for the installation to
complete.
Step 13. Check progress status and wait for the installation to complete.
Step 14. Please verify that cluster is ONLINE and HEALTHY and RUN the post_install.py script.
● SSH to the cluster management IP address and login using <root> (HX 4.0 and below) or
<admin> (HX 4.5 and above) username and the controller VM password provided during
installation.
● Paste the following command in the Shell, and hit enter: hx_post_install
Verify
Step 1. Check the Service Profile status under Service Profiles.
Step 2. Under Hyperflex Cluster, confirm the HX cluster Health and other details,
Step 3. Click the Name HX-2 and browse to profile details, verify the following under Details,
● Cluster Management IP Address
● Storage VLAN ID
● Replication Factor
● Cluster Type
Verify the various policies and node details under Configuration,
Step 4. Cross launch Hyperflex Connect from Hyperflex Clusters on Intersight and verify the
cluster status from Hyperflex Connect.
