I recently ran into a small issue applying a patch to one of my lab’s vCenter Servers. Specifically, attempts to patch the vCenter Server ran into the error, Exception occurred in install precheck phase.
With the recent announcement and general availability of VMware NSX-T Data Center 3.1 on Friday 30th October 2020, we have a number of enhancements, new features, and functionality. The new features and functionality can be seen in a previous post (VMware NSX-T 3.1.0 Release Announcement), however, I realise I’ve never discussed the upgrade procedure itself.
Upgrading NSX-T Data Center couldn’t be easier. Yes, there are some disruptive elements, however, if your NSX-T design has redundancy built-in, we aren’t talking much. Upgrading the edge and transport nodes is as simple as you can imagine, as is the process of upgrading the NSX Managers themselves and, in this article, I cover the process from start to finish.
Continue reading → Upgrading VMware NSX-T Data Center to 3.1
VMware confirmed general availability of NSX-T Data Center 3.1.0 on Friday 30th October and saw many great new features and functionality. Continue reading to review the details around the latest enhancements, etc., or jump over to the upgrade procedure available in a separate article – Upgrading NSX-T Data Center to 3.1.0.
In this article, we take a look at VMware NSX-T Data Center Multisite and, more specifically, the failover/recovery procedure for an NSX-T environment spanning two sites in an active/standby deployment. This is also known as the NSX-T Multisite disaster recovery use case.
Backing up NSX-T Data Center is a simple process; however, at time of writing, automating the retention period for the backup files requires a few additional tasks and is not configurable via the NSX Manager UI. These additional steps are quick to implement and will ensure your SFTP server does not run out of storage.
By default, NSX-T transport nodes access NSX-T Manager nodes via their IP address, however, changing this behaviour so that the NSX-T Manager FQDN is used instead can be implemented easily via REST API call.
FQDN registration is an NSX-T Multisite requirement. As such, FQDN registration is not required for single-site deployments.
In the scenario whereby a customer needs to failover NSX-T operations to a secondary site (by deploying a new NSX-T Manager and restoring from backup), the NSX-T Manager(s) and Cluster VIP address will likely change unless they have implemented stretched-L2. As such, the NSX-T Manager(s)/Cluster FQDN needs to be registered with all NSX-T transport nodes, and once a new NSX-T Manager is deployed to the secondary site and restored from backup, DNS can be amended to point at the new NSX-T Manager(s)/Cluster FQDN, and management operations restored.
In NSX-T, the Admin and Audit user passwords for both the NSX Manager and NSX Edge appliances expire, by default, after 90 days. When these passwords expire, you will not be able to log in and manage your NSX-T components. This includes any API calls where administrative credentials are required.
In this article I detail the simple process of amending the expiration period or, if so required, removing the password expiration altogether (the latter being perfect for POC and/or lab environments).
Continue reading → VMware NSX-T – Modifying the Default Admin Password Expiration
Reading Time: 6 minutes
For those coming from an NSX-V background, you’ll remember how we enabled east-west traffic by deploying Distributed Logical Routers (DLR). This has changed ever so slightly in NSX-T, with earlier versions using Tier-1 Logical Routers, and in 2.4, Tier-1 Gateways.
Continue reading → VMware NSX-T Logical Routing: Part 1 – Tier-1 Gateway
Reading Time: 4 minutes
That didn’t disappoint! I’ve wanted to visit the North East England VMUG for sometime, so being asked to present at the user group made it all the more special. As I sit here in Newcastle International Airport waiting for my flight home, I thought I’d summarise the event for those who’ve never been to a VMUG event, are thinking of doing so in the future, or are thinking of speaking at a local VMUG.
Continue reading → North East England VMUG – 26th September 2019
Reading Time: < 1 minute
The On-Demand Library for this year’s VMworld in San Francisco is now live with all sessions available to stream. Simply visit the VMworld 2019 On-Demand Library and enjoy!
