In VxRail 7.0, you will use a new deployment wizard for VxRail initial configuration. Let’s begin with a walk-through of the VxRail installation process, click the “Get Started” button.
Click “Accept” to agree to the End-User License Agreement, then click “Next” to continue.
Specify the type of VxRail cluster that is being configured
Standard Cluster can be deployed with as few as three nodes and as many as six, and can scale out for larger data center environments.
vSAN 2-Node Cluster can contain two nodes only, and works well for smaller environments, including remote or branch offices.
Let’s deploy a standard cluster. Click “Next” to scan the network for available VxRail nodes to configure.
Three nodes have been discovered. One of the nodes will be tagged with a blue house icon, indicating it has won the election process to run the VxRail Manager VM and facilitate the installation.
Click “Next” to continue.
Confirm that you have configured the TOR switches and VxRail management VLAN and ESXi hosts according to best practices, select all then click “Next” to continue.
You can choose either “Step-by-step user input” or “Upload a configuration file” Dell EMC provides a pre-installation Excel spreadsheet which, upon completion, generates a JSON-formatted configuration file.
In this demonstration, we will import an existing JSON configuration file, and review the imported values step by step. Click “Upload” to continue.
The “Global Setting” tab is used to configure system settings such as the NIC configuration, vCenter type, and DNS and NTP servers. Click “Next” to continue.
The “vCenter Server Settings” tab allows configuration of the internally hosted vCenter host names, affiliated IP addresses and administrative credentials. Click “Next” to continue.
The “Host Settings” tab is where the individual host names and IP addresses are specified.
Physical location details like Rack Name and Rack Position can also be configured for each host. Click “Next” to continue.
The “VxRail Manager Settings” tab allows configuration of the VxRail Manager host name, IP addresses and administrative credentials. Click “Next” to continue.
The “Virtual Network Settings” tab allows configuration of the VxRail Management Network, vSAN, vMotion and additional Guest VMs.
Remark: Before taking this step you should have already configured your top of rack switch.
Specify a starting IP range for the vSAN network, or assign individual addresses to each host if desired.
vCenter NIC Teaming and NIC-level and port-level network redundancy policies (including active/active) will be applied if present in the configuration file.
The next step is to validate these configuration details. The appliance will stand up a small network and test the configuration of the top of rack switch. VxRail Manager will ensure that no IP addresses are being reused, that it can reach the DNS and NTP servers, and that all nodes can talk to each other.
Click “Validate Configuration” to ensure everything is properly configured.
Since everything passed validation, we now have the option to build the cluster. Before doing so, let’s download the JSON file and perform one final review of the configuration. Click “Download Configuration File“, then click “Next” to continue.
We are ready to begin the VxRail installation. The VxRail installation automation process is efficient, consistent, and repeatable. It combines vCenter, ESXi hosts, HA, and VxRail Manager, ensuring a properly configured VxRail cluster as an outcome.
Click “Apply Configuration” to deploy your environment.
After a few minutes, VxRail Cluster successfully configured and you are ready to begin using VxRail. Click “Launch vCenter” to configure the VxRail Manager.
You can see there are three nodes are running the VxRail cluster, VxRail Manager and VCSA VM are ready.
Categories: Dell EMC Dell Technologies VMware vSAN
Victor Wu
Chief Architect, Blogger, Author at Dell EMC Knowledge Sharing & Packt
Victor Virtualization 
Does this new deployment wizard use the same default VxRail Manager landing page – https://192.168.10.200 ?
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Yes. The default IP of VxRail Manager VM still is 192.168.10.200.
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Do you plan to write an article about the upgrade from version 4.7 to 7.0?
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I will prepare an article about this topic.
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Hello. Any news from version 4.7 to 7, or was it just due to the launch of vSphere 7?
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Hi. The Dell do Brasil team has always had a hard time implementing vxRail and in recent months they are demanding that NTP be a linux server. Previously we used the Windows domain controller NTP. Is there any explanation for why it is mandatory to be a native NTP?
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Please check below
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We often used the Windows domain controller as NTP. It does not mention the NTP must be a Linux server.
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Hi Victor
for the initial configuration, what port it is use? idrac or the 10gb ports? thanks
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The port on network daughter card, not iDRAC port. It is the management port (10Gb) for VxRail node.
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Thanks Victor
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Hi Victor, did you ever have some issue with the Vxrail manager VM who can not boot, will start and stop after starting booting ;(
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Please create the Dell service request to troubleshoot this problem.
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Hi Victor, would you have any advice for Vxrail 7.0 that does not detect any nodes upon pre-deployment vxrailmanager?
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There are many factors to trigger this problem, e.g. the network settings on TOR, the VxRail software version, etc. Please make sure all requirements for VxRail deployment is passed.
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