Running Celona Edge on VMware ESXi - Beta Support

This document provides Celona customers with system and sizing requirements to run Celona Edge VM node on ESXi hypervisor. It also gives detailed Instructions to create the Celona Edge Cluster, setup Edge VM nodes using VMware vCenter and assign Edge VM nodes to the cluster. Celona Edge on VMware ESXi is currently supported in Beta.

System Requirements

ESXi Version 6.0 or higher
VMWare vCenter or ESXi CLI to deploy a VM
Preferably single 10Gbps copper or fiber NIC for high-speed connectivity to enterprise access network

Sizing Requirements

By default Edge VM will be deployed with 8 virtual processor cores (vCPUs), 32GB RAM, 128GB of storage
System can scale horizontally by adding more nodes to the cluster. Customer should monitor performance metrics and spin up additional VMs, as required.
Hardware system requirements for running Celona Edge as a VM is dependent on the number of users or access points that must be supported.
Guideline for number of supported APs for the above specification depends on the host CPU type and host networking. For instance, on a Celona Express Appliance with 6 cores, 1.9 GHz processor speed, 128GB RAM, 960GB of storage, 10GbE LAN, recommended number of APs is 40.

Setup Instructions

Step 1 - Configuring & Provisioning your Celona Edge Cluster

Assuming you are already logged in to the Celona Orchestrator, go to the Edge Clusters page and click the Create Edge Cluster button.

Give the Edge Cluster a name. We suggest creating a naming convention that will help you understand what it is and where it is information required for ongoing operations. For example, for a virtualized Edge instance, locally hosted in the Denver office, you might use EDGE-VM-DENV-1. You can include additional clusters as specified in your network design.

Save your Edge Cluster name, and then click on the newly created cluster to add Edge Nodes from your assigned assets. Click Assign to complete.

The screenshot above shows Edge Cluster Details page in the Celona Orchestrator without any Edge nodes in the Edge Cluster.

Important: Please capture the Cluster ID from the Edge Cluster Details, and email it to the Celona support team to complete the provisioning. If you do not have the access to the OVA file, please highlight that in the same email message to receive the download link. And in the same email message, please request the serial number needed to successfully register the VM Edge node.

Note: Best practice recommendation is to have a minimum of one Edge Cluster with three nodes for a production Celona network. Pilot networks can easily be supported via a single Edge cluster with one node. In the future, Celona Orchestrator Admins will be able to download the OVA file and retrieve the associated serial number from the Celona Orchestrator user interface.

Step 2 - Setup Edge Node Flow using vCenter

Provision the OVA provided by Celona Support using vCenter or equivalent, from local file system or hosted Web access. If customized, the virtual machine and hostname must be lower case.

Next, follow standard ESXi deployment steps:

Pick a name and folder to house the VM,
Select the host on which to host the VM,
Review details of the OVA (OVA size & disk size requirement),
Select the data store for the VM,
Select the Virtual Network.

Review your VM configuration parameters and click Finish to launch the VM creation process.

After the Celona Edge VM has been provisioned and is accessible over the network, configure the Celona Edge serial number via the web user interface or via a curl command.

Method 1: Configure the Celona Edge serial number via web user interface

Configure Celona Edge with its serial number. This process will require a reboot of the virtual Celona Edge.

Method 2: Configure the Celona Edge serial number via a curl command

Use the following curl command to configure the serial number on the Edge node:

curl --location --request PUT 'http://<CELONA-EDGE-IP>:8080/serial' \

--header 'Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46Q2Vsb25hMTIz' \

--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

--data-raw '{"serial_number":"<SERIAL_NUM>"}'

Replace <CELONA-EDGE-IP> with the IP address of the Celona Edge VM
Replace <SERIAL_NUM> with the serial number received from the Celona support team

After you have configured the serial number via curl, reboot the Celona Edge VM via the ESXi interface.

Step 3 – Assign the Edge VM Node to Edge Cluster using Celona Orchestrator

Hover over the left-hand menu to expand, then choose Edge Clusters. You should now see a list of available Celona VM Edge instances. These will be in Unassigned category and show up as New.

The screenshot below shows a single cluster with one node that has been configured and connected to the network while remaining un-assigned to a specific site.

At this stage, ensure your network policies allow communication between the Celona Orchestrator and any locally deployed Edge instances. This article provides detailed information on what ports and protocols must be allowed.

On Celona Orchestrator, click on the Edge Cluster and drill down into Edge Cluster details page. Click on Add Edge Node button to add VM Edge Node to the Cluster.