---
title: "NIOS-X on VMware vCenter using vCenter UI"
canonical: "https://docs.infoblox.com/space/BloxOneInfrastructure/204538819/NIOS-X%20on%20VMware%20vCenter%20using%20vCenter%20UI"
format: markdown
---
> ⚠️ <span style="color: #000000">Depending on the version of your vCenter, the available options and their locations described below could vary. The following procedure is served as a guideline for the options that you must enter when deploying NIOS-X servers in vCenter. For details about vCenter, refer to the VMware documentation.</span>

## Deploying NIOS-X servers on VMware vCenter

1. <span style="color: #000000">Launch vCenter on your Linux or Windows server.</span>
2. <span style="color: #000000">Navigate to </span><span style="color: #000000">**File**</span><span style="color: #000000"> > </span><span style="color: #000000">**Deploy OVF Template**</span><span style="color: #000000"> to start the </span><span style="color: #000000">*Deploy OVF Template*</span><span style="color: #000000"> wizard.</span>
3. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Select template**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Deploy from a file or URL**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the path of the OVA file for the NIOS-X server, and then click </span><span style="color: #000000">**Next**</span><span style="color: #000000">, as illustrated below.</span>
4. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Select name and location**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Name**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter a unique name for the NIOS-X server. This name must be unique within the location you select.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Inventory Location**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select the location in the inventory folder in which the NIOS-X server will reside.</span>
5. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Select a resource**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, select the NIOS-X server or cluster on which you want to deploy the OVF template.</span>
6. <span style="color: #000000">Select a specific NIOS-X server within the cluster, and then click </span><span style="color: #000000">**Next**</span><span style="color: #000000">, as illustrated below.</span>
7. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Review details**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, verify the OVF template details, and then click </span><span style="color: #000000">**Next**</span><span style="color: #000000">, as illustrated below.</span>
8. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Select storage**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Select virtual disk format**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select the disk format type. </span><span style="color: #000000">**Thick Provisioned**</span><span style="color: #000000"> = Allocate all storage immediately. </span><span style="color: #000000">**Thin Provisioned**</span><span style="color: #000000"> = Allocate the storage on demand as data is written to the virtual disks. </span>For production deployments, you must select **Thick Provisioned**.
  - <span style="color: #000000">**VM storage policy**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select the VM datastore you want to store the NIOS-X server. Ensure that you select a datastore that is large enough to accommodate the VM and all of its virtual disk files.</span>
9. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Select Networks**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Source Network**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select the source network from the table.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Destination Network**</span><span style="color: #000000">: From the drop-down menu, select the destination network.</span>
10. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Customize template**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Join Token (required)**</span><span style="color: #000000">: This is the join token that you created and copied from the Infoblox Portal. You must log in to the Infoblox Portal to create the join token. In the Infoblox Portal, go to </span>**System > Administration > Join Tokens**<span style="color: #000000">**. **</span><span style="color: #000000">After you create a new join token, you will see the token string in the </span><span style="color: #000000">*Copy Token *</span><span style="color: #000000">dialog. Copy the token string and enter it here (note that the token appears only once). If you already have an existing join token you want to use for this deployment, enter the token string here.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**HTTPS Proxy**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the URL for the HTTPS proxy in this format: </span><span style="color: #000000">***http://[user:passwd@]<Proxy>:<Proxy_Port>.***</span>

> 📝 https:// (TLS) proxies are not supported. http:// (non-TLS) proxies are supported using the environment variable HTTPS_PROXY or HTTP_PROXY. Do not confuse the proxy’s protocol (http:// or https://) with the proxied protocol (HTTPS_PROXY or HTTP_PROXY).

11. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**IPv4 Network Settings**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv4 Mode: **</span><span style="color: #000000">Select one of the following for your IPv4 network:</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**DHCP**</span><span style="color: #000000">: If your network contains a DHCP server, select </span><span style="color: #000000">**DHCP**</span><span style="color: #000000"> to automatically receive a dynamic IPv4 address for the NIOS-X server.</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**Static**</span><span style="color: #000000">: If you want to assign a specific IPv4 address to your NIOS-X server, select </span><span style="color: #000000">**Static**</span><span style="color: #000000"> to manually configure the IPv4 address, netmask or CIDR, and the default gateway for the server.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv4 address, IPv4 Netmask, IPv4 Gateway**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the IPv4 address, netmask, and gateway for the network to which the NIOS-X server connects.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Disable Path MTU Discovery**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select this check box if you want to disable path MTU discovery in your network path. This check box is deselected by default, which means path MTU discovery is enabled by default. Path MTU discovery is used to determine the MTU size to avoid IP fragmentation.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv4 MTU**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the maximum transmission unit, which is the size of the largest protocol data unit that can be communicated in a single network layer transaction. Valid values are from 576 to 9000. The default value is 1500.</span>
12. <span style="color: #000000">Optionally, in the </span><span style="color: #000000">**IPv6 Network Settings**</span><span style="color: #000000">, complete the following if you are not using the DHCP service:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv6 Mode**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select one of the following for your IPv6 network:</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**DHCP**</span><span style="color: #000000">:  If your network contains a DHCP server, select </span><span style="color: #000000">**DHCP**</span><span style="color: #000000"> to automatically receive a dynamic IPv6 address for the NIOS-X server.</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**RA**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select this to use router advertisements in your IPv6 network. The NIOS-X server auto-generates a link-local address to communicate with other NIOS-X servers or neighbors on the same network.</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**Auto Select**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Select this to allow the system to select the best way to obtain an IPv6 address for the NIOS-X server.</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">**Static**</span><span style="color: #000000">: If you want to assign a specific IPv6 address to your NIOS-X server, select </span><span style="color: #000000">**Static**</span><span style="color: #000000"> to manually configure the IPv6 address, CIDR, and the default gateway for the server.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv6 address, CIDR, IPv6 Gateway**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Optionally, you can enter the IPv6 address, CIDR, and gateway for the network to which the NIOS-X server connects.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**IPv6 MTU**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the maximum transmission unit, which is the size of the largest protocol data unit that can be communicated in a single network layer transaction. Valid values are from 1280 to 9000. The default value is 1500.</span>
13. <span style="color: #000000">In the</span><span style="color: #000000">** DNS resolver and NTP configuration**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**NameServer(s) (required)**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the IP addresses of the DNS resolvers here.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**NTP server(s)**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Enter the FQDN, IPv4 or IPv6 address of the NTP servers with which you plan to synchronize time.</span>
14. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Docker daemon configuration**</span><span style="color: #000000"> section, complete the following:</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">**Bridge IP address and netmask**</span><span style="color: #000000">: Specify the IP address and netmask for the docker0 interface. You can use the standard CIDR notation if desired.</span>
15. <span style="color: #000000">In the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Ready to complete**</span><span style="color: #000000"> screen, review and verify the configuration, and then click </span><span style="color: #000000">**Finish**</span><span style="color: #000000">. The following is an example with sample data:</span>

![image](media://5b3d7a5d-09a8-4720-8a5d-aa030568a55b)

- <span style="color: #000000">To configure multiple network interfaces for your NIOS-X server, select the VM from </span><span style="color: #000000">**Inventory**</span><span style="color: #000000">, and then right-click the VM and select </span><span style="color: #000000">**Edit Settings**</span><span style="color: #000000">. For information about multiple interfaces, see </span><span style="color: #000000">*[Multiple Network Interfaces for Servers](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/BloxOneInfrastructure/pages/184582963)*</span><span style="color: #000000">*.*</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">On the </span><span style="color: #000000">**Edit Settings**</span><span style="color: #000000"> screen, click</span><span style="color: #000000">** Add New Device**</span><span style="color: #000000"> > </span><span style="color: #000000">**Network Adapter**</span><span style="color: #000000">, as illustrated below:</span>
  - Use the **Browse** function to locate the new network, as illustrated below:
  - Click **OK** to save the new network interface.
- <span style="color: #000000">You have now successfully deployed the NIOS-X server. It might take a few minutes for the server to connect. </span>Once connected, the host is managed by the Infoblox Portal.

17. For DNS to function properly in OVA deployments on ESXi servers, ensure that you enable the **Synchronize guest time with host** option during the deployment and that your NIOS-X server is synchronized with the NTP server. If you do not select the **Synchronize guest time with host** option (or if this option is disabled), the NIOS-X server synchronizes with the Ubuntu NTP servers: ntp.ubuntu.com, time.google.com, and time.windows.com. When you disable this option, ensure that you open the UDP 123 port for time synchronization with the Ubuntu NTP servers. For more information, see <u>*[Synchronizing Time on the ESXi Servers](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/BloxOneThreatDefense/pages/35437920)*</u>.
18. To check the current status of the proxy, you can go to **Network > Services & Servers > Servers** in the Infoblox Portal. For more information about the server status, see <u>*[Viewing Host Status](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/BloxOneInfrastructure/pages/119210967)*</u>.