Requirements:

• Auto deploy infrastructure
• VXLAN infrastructure (NSX Manager and a DHCP server)
• Windows host has PowerCLI installed
• Copy of the ESXi offline depot. For example, VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-depot.zip
• Copy of an additional vxlan offline depot. For example, vxlan.zip.
  
  You can download this by connecting to the NSX Manager at:
  
  https://vsm-ip/bin/vdn/vibs/5.5/vxlan.zip
  
  Notes:
   
  • Prior to NSX 6.2.0, the vxlan.zip contains 3 VIBs, esx-vxlan, esx-vsip and esx-dvfilter-switch-security. In NSX 6.2.x and 6.3.x, the vxlan.zip contains only 2 VIBs, esx-vxlan and esx-vsip. The contents of the esx-dvfilter-switch-security and the new traceflow VIBs were folded into the esx-vxlan VIB.
  • Also prior to NSX 6.2.0, there was a single URL on NSX Manager from which VIBs for a certain version of the ESXi Host could be found. In other words, the administrator only needed to know a single URL, regardless of NSX version.
  • Starting in NSX 6.2.4, a third VIB, esx-vdpi, is provided along with the esx-vsip and esx-vxlan NSX VIBs.
  • In NSX 6.4.x, the vxlan.zip file contains a single VIB file "VMware_bootbank_esx-nsxv.vib".
    Example: For ESXi 6.5, the name of the VIB file is "VMware_bootbank_esx-nsxv_6.5.0-0.0.13168956.vib".
  • In NSX 6.2.x, 6.3.x, and 6.4.x, the NSX VIBs are available at different URLs. To find the correct VIBs, find the new VIB URL from https://NSX_Manager_IPaddress/bin/vdn/nwfabric.properties.The nwfabric.properties returns the correct download paths based on versions:

  For NSX for vSphere 6.2.x

  # 5.1 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.1=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.2.0/5.1-2107743/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.1=2107743
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.1=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.1=5.1.*
  
  # 5.5 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.2=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.2.0/5.5-2983935/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.2=2983935
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.2=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.2=5.5.*
  
  # 6.0 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.3=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.2.0/6.0-2984108/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.3=2984108
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.3=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.3=6.0.*

  For NSX for vSphere 6.3.x

  # 5.5 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.1=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.3.0/5.5-4744075/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.1=4744075
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.1=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.1=5.5.*
  
  # 6.0 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.2=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.3.0/6.0-4744062/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.2=4744062
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.2=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.2=6.0.*
  
  # 6.5 VDN EAM Info
  VDN_VIB_PATH.3=/bin/vdn/vibs-6.3.0/6.5-4744074/vxlan.zip
  VDN_VIB_VERSION.3=4744074
  VDN_HOST_PRODUCT_LINE.3=embeddedEsx
  VDN_HOST_VERSION.3=6.5.*
  
  For more information, see Troubleshooting vSphere ESX Agent Manager (EAM) with NSX (2122392).

Steps to prepare ESXi hosts for NSX as part of Auto Deploy

1. Create a new image profile
2. Update Auto Deploy rules
3. Configure VXLAN
4. Update the host profiles

1. Start PowerCLI and connect to vCenter Server by running this command:
   
   Connect-VIServer x.x.x.x –User user -Password password
    
2. Import offline depots by running these commands:
   
   C:\Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\path\VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-depot.zip
   C:\Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\path\vxlan.zip
   
   Note: Repeat these commands for all depots
    
3. Run this command to list the default Image Profiles and note the name of profile to be cloned, such as ESXi-5.1.0-799733-no-tools:
   
   C:\Get-EsxImageProfile
    
4. Run this command to create new Image Profile by cloning an existing image profile, such as ESXi-5.1.0-799733-no-tools:
   
   C:\New-EsxImageProfile -Name NewImageProfile -CloneProfile ESXi-5.1.0-799733-no-tools VMware –AcceptanceLevel PartnerSupported
    
5. For NSX 6.3.x, run this command to add the two required NSX for vSphere VIBS to the new Image Profile. Ensure that the Image Profile includes both VIBs, or you may experience unexpected results.
   
   C:\Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile NewImageProfile -SoftwarePackage esx-vxlan
   C:\Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile NewImageProfile -SoftwarePackage esx-vsip
   
   Note: Starting in NSX for vSphere 6.2.4, a third VIB, esx-vdpi, is provided along with the esx-vsip and esx-vxlan NSX VIBs. Also note that this does not apply to NSX for vSphere 6.3.x.
   
   C:\Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile NewImageProfile -SoftwarePackage esx-vdpi
    
6. Run this command to list all VIBs in the new Image Profile:
   
   C:\Get-EsxImageProfile NewImageProfile | Select -ExpandProperty VibList | sort
    
7. (Optional) Run this command to save the new Image Profile as an offline depot:
   
   C:\ESXi-Depots> Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile NewImageProfile -ExportToBundle -FilePath C:\path\FileName.zip
    

Updating Auto Deploy rules

To update the Auto Deploy rules:

1. Run this command to list the current rules:
   
   C:\> Get-DeployRuleSet
    
2. Run this command to remove the old rule:
   
   C:\> Remove-DeployRule old_rule
   
   Note: This command removes the rule, but does not delete it.
    
3. Create a new rule for the new Image Profile.
   
   For example, run this command to create the rule CustomImageRule using the NewImageProfile created earlier and to assign it to all hosts that boot using Auto Deploy.
   
   C:\> New-DeployRule CustomImageRule -Item NewImageProfile –AllHosts
    
4. Run this command to activate the new rule:
   
   C:\> Add-DeployRule CustomImageRule
    
5. Run these commands to update the existing hosts to use the new rule:
   
   C:\> foreach ($esx in Get-VMHost) {$esx | test-deployrulesetcompliance | Repair-DeployRuleSetCompliance}
   C:\> foreach ($esx in Get-VMHost) {$esx | test-deployrulesetcompliance}
   
   Note: The changes take affect after the next reboot.

Configuring VXLAN
Note: This step is not required if there is no need for VXLAN overlay services in the environment.

If this is a new NSX cluster, open NSX Manager and install the Network Virtualization Components on all hosts in the NSX cluster, see the Install Network Virtualization Components section in the NSX Installation and Upgrade Guide.

To prepare the hosts for VXLAN, configure these parameters in the preparation workflow:

• Choose the cluster and the vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS)
• Assign the VLAN for VXLAN transport traffic
• Select the Teaming policy and MTU

Updating the host profiles
Note: This step is always required, even if the hosts will not be prepared for VXLAN.

1. Right-click the host profile and click Enable/Disable Profile Configuration.
2. Under Networking configuration > Host Virtual NIC, deselect the VXLAN vmkernel interface to ensure that NSX Manager always creates the VTEP on boot.
   
   Note: if your reference profile contains multiple VTEPs, ensure that all such VTEPs are removed.
    
3. Under Networking configuration > NetStack Instance > VXLAN, deselect the ipRouteConfig option. (If vSphere 6.5 version)
   Under Networking configuration > NetStack Instance > VXLAN, ensure the ipRouteConfig option is selected. (if vSphere 6.7 version)
    
4. Under Advanced configuration option, deselect all UserVars.Rmq* variables. These variables are host-specific.
   
   # grep Rmq /etc/vmware/esx.conf
   /advUserOptions/options[0030]/name = "RmqClientPeerName"
   /advUserOptions/options[0031]/name = "RmqHostId"
   /advUserOptions/options[0036]/name = "RmqClientResponseQueue"
   /advUserOptions/options[0037]/name = "RmqClientExchange"

<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>.650 GMT WARN http-443-exec-22 DefaultExceptionLogger:35 - The following exception occurred during request processing by the BlazeDS MessageBroker and will be serialized back to the client: </time>

flex.messaging.MessageException: Invalid LACP version selected. Distributed Virtual Switch vDS01 is configured with different LACP version.