Bulk Deploy GigaVUE-VM Nodes in Standalone or Cluster

You can deploy a single GigaVUE-VM node or multiple GigaVUE-VM nodes simultaneously using the Bulk Deploy feature. All nodes added using this feature are automatically added to the GigaVUE-VM’s list of managed nodes available for review in the Management page for VMware vCenter.

Nodes deployed using the Bulk Deploy feature can either be assigned a static IP address or use DHCP to obtain an IP address. GigaVUE‑FM automatically discovers the IP address assigned to the GigaVUE-VM node and displays it with the node’s entry in the Virtual Nodes page.

Note:  If for some reason the DHCP server is unable to allocate an IP address for a GigaVUE-VM node, the node will be listed in the Virtual Nodes page with an Unconfigured entry in the GigaVUE-VM IP column. If this occurs, make sure the DHCP server is up and accessible, and then go to Virtual Nodes page and click Rediscover.

Important: Before you use the Bulk Deploy feature, make sure you have already added a Virtual Center server to GigaVUE‑FM by selecting Inventory > VIRTUAL > VMware > vCenter > Management > Virtual Centers and adding the Virtual Center.

The following procedure explains how to use the Bulk Deploy feature:

1.   From the left navigation pane, select Inventory > VIRTUAL > VMware > vCenter > Management > Virtual Nodes.
2. Click Deploy Virtual Nodes.
3. Open the OVA control plane and select the OVA image file to be used for the Bulk Deployment. Use the Browse and Upload to Server buttons to upload an image file from your local client computer to GigaVUE‑FM, or use an Existing File that has already been uploaded to GigaVUE‑FM.

If you upload a new OVA file, make sure that you do not exit the upload page until the file has completely uploaded. Leaving the page will cancel an upload in progress.

Existing File does not appear in the File Name field until after an image file has been uploaded to GigaVUE‑FM.

4. End User License Agreement—after careful review of the EULA, select I accept the End user License (“EULA”).
5. Disk Provisioning—select the provisioning policy to be used by the virtual disk for GigaVUE-VM nodes.
6. Open the Hosts Properties control plane, and then click Select Hosts to select the host where you want to deploy GigaVUE-VM nodes.

The wizard that appears automatically displays all available ESXi hosts associated with the selected data center or cluster (ESXi hosts with existing GigaVUE-VM nodes installed are not listed).

A cluster is defined in the data center as a group of hosts. GigaVUE-VM does not manage creation or modification of the cluster or clusters. It only reads the cluster information. If the Datacenter does not have any cluster, the option in the drop down for the cluster will state None while all the hosts are still available.

o   Select each host where you would like to deploy a GigaVUE-VM node. You can select all hosts by selecting the Host Name checkbox.
o   Select the virtual center, Datacenter, and cluster with the ESXi hosts to be provisioned with GigaVUE-VM nodes. The drop-down lists all Datacenters and clusters in the Datacenter, available on the virtual center server specified in the Virtual Centers page.
o   Once you have selected the hosts where you want to deploy GigaVUE-VM nodes, click OK to continue.
7. Next configure settings for the GigaVUE-VM nodes to be deployed, supplying a name and password and selecting the port groups for management, tunnel, and network ports.

Important: Make sure you have configured port groups using the instructions in Configure Port Groups/Port-Profiles before assigning IP addresses to the Mgmt and IP interfaces using DHCP. This ensures that GigaVUE-VM nodes are deployed with a desired IP address.