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vSphere Client Installation

About this Document

This manual is intended for system administrators. It explains how to install the AXS Guard virtual appliance using a vSphere Client. We used version 5.0.0 (build 623373) at the time of writing.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • A VMware ESX Server with an AXS Guard ISO image. Refer to your server documentation for information about adding installation sources to your ESX environment.

  • A vSphere client. Refer to your vSphere documentation for installation and configuration instructions.

VM Requirements

  • The virtual machine must be configured for a 64-bit guest operating system.

  • System memory: assign the amount of memory allowed by your license. At least 1 GB is required if you are using an evaluation license.

  • Only 1 HDD is allowed with a capacity of at least 100 GB. For appliances in a High Availability configuration, a minimum of 200 GB is required.

  • The SCSI adapter must be configured as VMware Paravirtual.

  • Disk provisioning: Thick provisioned, eagerly zeroed.

  • SCSI Bus Sharing: Physical

  • The number of NICs is determined by your system license. A maximum of 10 NICs is supported.

Creating a new VM

  1. Start your vSphere client and log in.

  2. Go to File > New > Virtual Machine or press Ctrl-N

    Creating a new VM

  3. Select Typical and click next.

  4. Enter a name for the new VM and click next.

  5. Select the appropriate target datastore and click next. Your VM will be installed on the selected datastore. Keep in mind that the VM requires at least 100 GB to install.

  6. Select the 32-bit Linux version as shown below.

    Guest OS Selection

    Important

    Do not select another Linux version. Only this Linux version supports a VMXNET 3 network device.

  7. Configure the disk size of the new VM (100 GB is the required minimum). Select "Thick provisioned, eagerly zeroed".

    Setting the VM disk size

  8. Select the approprate network settings and click next. Check your vSphere documentation if necessary.

  9. Click on Finish to create the VM.

Virtual Machine Settings

SCSI Configuration

  1. Customize the SCSI controller settings as shown below.

  2. Set SCSI Bus Sharing type to Physical.

    SCSI Configuration

Network Settings

By default, a new virtual machine has its network adapter set to flexible. Although this will work fine, we recommend that you use the VMXNET 3 adapter for better network performance.

Important

  • The following adapter types are supported: E1000, Flexible and VMXNET 3.

  • You can only select the VMXNET 3 type if the correct 32-bit Linux version has been configured.

Network Adapter Settings

Selecting the Installation Source

  1. In the left pane, click on CD/DVD drive to select the installation source.

  2. In the right pane, click on Datastore ISO file and browse to locate the AXS Guard installation image.

  3. After selecting the installation source, make sure the Connect at power on option is checked.

    Installation Source Settings

Installing your Virtual Appliance

First Boot

When booting the ISO file for the first time, you will be prompted to install the AXS Guard OS.

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Partitioning the Hard Drive

  1. When starting up for the first time, the system will ask you to partition your hard drive. Simply enter yes.

  2. After partitioning the appliance’s hard drive, the software packages will be installed automatically.

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Important

Please be patient. Do not turn off your virtual appliance while the hard drive is being partitioned. The installation of the packages takes a while. The machine will halt when the installation is finished.

Booting the AXS Guard OS

  1. In the left pane, select your VM.

  2. In the right pane, select the Console tab, so you can see what’s going on.

  3. Click on the play button to boot your VM.

Booting your VM

Boot Options

  1. Unmount the AXS Guard ISO file before rebooting your virtual machine.

  2. Make sure the default ag-X.X-axs-virtual option is selected in the boot menu and press enter to boot up the virtual appliance. The other boot options are not relevant for virtual appliances.

    Kernel Boot Options

Initial Configuration

Network Configuration

After booting up, you must configure the AXS Guard’s network devices via the console tool in order to be able to access its web-based administrator tool. The factory default LAN IP of the AXS Guard appliance is 192.168.250.254/24.

  1. After booting up, press Alt + F2 to go to a console.

  2. Log in with the following credentials:

    • Username: sysadmin

    • Password: sysadmin

  3. Select Network > Configuration.

  4. Configure your network devices.

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  5. Reboot the virtual appliance to apply the network configuration changes.

  6. Log in to the web-based administrator tool of the virtual appliance to complete its configuration.

Logging in to the Configuration Tool

  1. Start your favorite browser

  2. Enter the following in the URL field: https://appliance_LAN_IP:82

  3. Accept the self-signed certificate.

  4. Log in with the following credentials:

    • Username: sysadmin

    • Password: sysadmin

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  5. Follow the instructions in the getting started guide and other feature manuals to further configure your appliance.

Extending AXS Guard Disk Partitions

For instructions on how to extend the partitions on your host OS, consult the documentation of your virtualization software.

To extend the partitions of your virtual AXS Guard appliance, please contact our customer service team.

Support

If you encounter a problem

If you encounter a problem with AXS Guard, follow the steps below:

  1. Check the troubleshooting section of the feature-specific manual.

  2. Check the knowledge base on this site for information about special configurations.

  3. If no solution is available in any of the above sources, contact your AXS Guard vendor.

Contact Information

(+32) 15-504-400
support@axsguard.com

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