Deploy SRM Appliance using OVFTool

[msikscurloc]

I've seen some articles and documentation on how to deploy the Site Recovery Manager appliance using the ovftool, but they've been very basic.  I was hoping there was a way to customize the deployment even further .... such as setting an IP address, mask, gateway, etc.

From the SRM 8.3 Installation Manual:

ovftool
--acceptAllEulas
--ipAllocationPolicy=dhcpPolicy --ipProtocol=IPv4
--deploymentOption=light | standard
--name=SRM-VA-NAME
--datastore=DATASTORE-NAME
--network=NETWORK-NAME
--net:"Network 1"=NETWORK-NAME
--prop:varoot-password=ROOT-PASSWORD
--prop:vaadmin-password=ADMIN-PASSWORD
--prop:dbpassword=DB-PASSWORD
--prop:ntpserver=NTP-SERVER
http://HOST/PATH/srm-va_OVF10.ovf vi://VC_USERNAME:VC_PASSWORD@VC_ADDRESS/DATACENTER-NAME/host/CLUSTER-NAME/Resources/RESOURCE-

POOL-NAME

I've opened up the srm-va_OVF10.ovf file itself to try and pick it apart, but not having any luck.  Is it possible to add additional prop values?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[ashilkrishnan]

Hi

You can try adding some of these:

--prop:"vami.gateway..VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x"

--prop:"vami.netmask0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x"

--prop:"vami.ip0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x"

Ensure changing  '--ipAllocationPolicy=dhcpPolicy' when using static IP. Run ovftool.exe  --help to get available options for ipallocation policy

Any reason why OVF tool and not the Web client to deploy ?

[msikscurloc]

Thanks for the quick feedback.

Yeah, unfortunatley that did not work.  It deploys the appliance just fine (without the added prop value, of course), but this comes up:

Warning:

- OVF property with key: 'vami.ip0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance' does not exists.

Completed successfully

Here's my full ovftool command (just as a test):

ovftool --acceptAllEulas --noSSLVerify --ipAllocationPolicy=fixedPolicy  --ipProtocol=IPv4 --deploymentOption=standard --name=PINFSRM01 --datastore=OS01 --network=SVR --net:"Network 1"=SVR --prop:varoot-password=abc123 --prop:vaadmin-password=abc123 --prop:dbpassword=abc123 --prop:ntpserver=1.2.3.4 --prop:vami.hostname=pinfsrm01 --prop:enable_sshd=True --prop:enableFileIntegrity=False --prop:"vami.ip0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=192.168.1.50" "srm-va_OVF10.ovf" vi://user:pass@vcenter"

I work in a staging department and deploy a lot of vsphere systems.  Thus, we rely on automation and scripting to make things go faster.  We just starting to get involved with SRM and VRA and need an easy way to work this into our PowerShell/PowerCLI scripts. 

[msikscurloc · Accepted solution]

I figured it out...

ovftool

  --acceptAllEulas

  --noSSLVerify

  --ipAllocationPolicy=fixedPolicy

  --ipProtocol=IPv4

  --deploymentOption=standard

  --name=VMNAME

  --datastore=dsNAME

  --diskMode=thin

  --network="VM Network"

  --net:"Network 1"="VM Network"

  --prop:varoot-password=password

  --prop:vaadmin-password=password

  --prop:dbpassword=password

  --prop:ntpserver=x.x.x.x

  --prop:vami.hostname=hostname.domain.local

  --prop:"network.addrfamily.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=ipv4"

  --prop:"network.netmode.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=static"

  --prop:"network.ip0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x"

  --prop:"network.netprefix0.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=24"

  --prop:"network.gateway.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x"

  --prop:"network.DNS.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=x.x.x.x,x.x.x.x"

  --prop:"network.domain.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=domain.local"

  --prop:"network.searchpath.VMware_Site_Recovery_Manager_Appliance=domain.local"

  "C:\srm-va_OVF10.ovf"

  vi://VC_USERNAME:VC_PASSWORD@VC_ADDRESS/DATACENTER-NAME/host/CLUSTER-NAME/Resources/RESOURCE-POOL-NAME

[ashilkrishnan]

Great work there. I was testing these options in my lab

Thank you for sharing these details