Configuring NSX-T Data Center v3 Transport Zones and Edge Node Switches for Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition
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This topic provides instructions for configuring NSX-T Data Center v3 Transport Zones and N-VDS switches on NSX Edge Nodes for use with VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (TKGI) on vSphere.
Prerequisites
Before completing this section, make sure you have completed the following sections:
- NSX-T Installation Prerequisites
- Install and Configure the NSX-T Manager Hosts
- Generate and Register the NSX-T TLS Certificate and Private Key
- Create an IP Pool for VTEP
Overview of Transport Zones for NSX-T
TKGI requires two Transport Zones for TKGI: an Overlay Transport Zone for the ESXi Transport Nodes and a VLAN Transport Zone for Edge Nodes.
TKGI requires that the host switch name associated with the Transport Zones match exactly the Edge Switch Name value that you specify when you configure an NSX Edge Node for use with TKGI.
You can configure your Transport Zones in three ways. The three configuration options require different levels of customization to complete:
Configuration | Transport Zone | Host Switch Name |
---|---|---|
Option 1: Use the Default Transport Zones | No customization | No customization |
Option 2: Create Custom Transport Zones | Yes customization | No customization |
Option 3: Use the NSX API | Yes customization | Yes customization |
Note: In NSX-T 3.1 and later, the Transport Zone Host Switch Name has been deprecated and removed from the NSX-T configuration UI. For more information, see TKGI NSX Edge Switch and Transport Zone Host Switch Name Requirements.
Configure Your NSX Transport Zones for TKGI
TKGI requires the NSX Edge Switch Name and the Transport Zone host switch name to be identical. You can configure identical Edge Switch and Transport Zone host switch names using the following methods:
- Option 1: Use the Default Transport Zones with a Single N-VDS Switch (recommended)
- Option 2: Create Custom Transport Zones and Use the NSX API to Get the Host Switch Names
- Option 3: Use the NSX API to Create Custom Transport Zones and NSX Switches
Option 1: Use the Default Transport Zones with a Single N-VDS Switch
By default NSX-T v3.x creates two transport zones for you: nsx-overlay-transportzone
and nsx-vlan-transportzone
. Both default Transport Zones use a single N-VDS host switch that is named nsxHostSwitch
. The advantage of using the default Transport Zones is twofold. First, it simplifies the Edge Node configuration process. Second, you need only a single N-VDS for the Edge Nodes.
To use this option:
- Do not create a Transport Zone.
- Deploy the Edge Nodes and configure NSX.
- Specify
nsxHostSwitch
as the Edge Switch Name. Select both default transport zones,
nsx-overlay-transportzone
andnsx-vlan-transportzone
.
For example:
Field Description Edge Switch Name nsxHostSwitch
(must match exactly)Transport Zone nsx-overlay-transportzone
andnsx-vlan-transportzone
(select both default transport zones)Uplink Profile nsx-edge-single-nic-uplink-profile
IP Assignment Use IP Pool IP Pool TEP-IP-POOL Uplinks uplink-1 / EDGE-VTEP-PG Note: If you use the default Transport Zones, but do not use the exact name
nsxHostSwitch
when configuring NSX on the Edge Node, you will receive thepks-nsx-t-osb-proxy
BOSH error when you try to deploy TKGI.
Option 2: Create Custom Transport Zones and Use the NSX API to Get the Host Switch Names
If you want to create a custom Transport Zone, you can do so using the NSX user interface. In this case, because the host switch name is deprecated from the NSX user interface, you have to make an NSX API call to get the host switch name so that you can configure the Edge Nodes with the correct switch.
When you create a custom Transport Zone using the NSX web interface, NSX will generate the associated switch name for you.
To create custom Transport Zones using the Host Switch names:
Create a custom Overlay Transport Zone:
- In the NSX-T Management Console, navigate to System > Fabric > Transport Zone.
- Click Add.
- Enter a Name, such as
tz-overlay
. - For the Traffic Type, select
Overlay
. - Click Add.
- Verify that you see the newly created Transport Zone named
tz-overlay
in the list.
Create a custom VLAN Transport Zone:
- In the NSX-T Management Console, navigate to System > Fabric > Transport Zone.
- Click Add.
- Enter a name, such as
tz-vlan
. - For the Traffic Type, select
VLAN
. - Click Add.
- Verify that you see the newly created Transport Zone named
tz-vlan
in the list.
To retrieve the host switch name:
Make a call to the NSX API:
curl -k -u USER:PASSWORD -X GET "https://${NSX_MANAGER}/api/v1/transport-zones"
Retrieve the host switch name from the
host_switch_name
property in the return.
For example,nsxHostSwitch
is the host switch name in the following return:$ curl -k -u user:password -X GET "https://10.20.30.40/api/v1/transport-zones" { "results" : [ { "transport_type" : "OVERLAY", "host_switch_name" : "nsxHostSwitch", "host_switch_id" : "5bfdbfc4-c2ab-4ca7-a021-bb1fc1b45ceb", "transport_zone_profile_ids" : [ { "resource_type" : "BfdHealthMonitoringProfile", "profile_id" : "52035bb3-ab02-4a08-9884-18631312e50a" } ], "host_switch_mode" : "STANDARD", "nested_nsx" : false, "is_default" : true, "resource_type" : "TransportZone", "id" : "1b3a2f36-bfd1-443e-a0f6-4de01abc963e", "display_name" : "nsx-overlay-transportzone", "_create_user" : "system", "_create_time" : 1594850884969, "_last_modified_user" : "system", "_last_modified_time" : 1594850884969, "_system_owned" : false, "_protection" : "NOT_PROTECTED", "_revision" : 0, "_schema" : "/v1/schema/TransportZone" }, { "transport_type" : "VLAN", "host_switch_name" : "nsxHostSwitch", "host_switch_id" : "5bfdbfc4-c2ab-4ca7-a021-bb1fc1b45ceb", "transport_zone_profile_ids" : [ { "resource_type" : "BfdHealthMonitoringProfile", "profile_id" : "52035bb3-ab02-4a08-9884-18631312e50a" } ], "host_switch_mode" : "STANDARD", "nested_nsx" : false, "is_default" : true, "resource_type" : "TransportZone", "id" : "a95c914d-748d-497c-94ab-10d4647daeba", "display_name" : "nsx-vlan-transportzone", "_create_user" : "system", "_create_time" : 1594850885002, "_last_modified_user" : "system", "_last_modified_time" : 1594850885002, "_system_owned" : false, "_protection" : "NOT_PROTECTED", "_revision" : 0, "_schema" : "/v1/schema/TransportZone" } ], "result_count" : 2, "sort_by" : "display_name", "sort_ascending" : true
Configure NSX for the Edge Nodes:
- Deploy each Edge Node, configuring NSX with the custom Transport Zones and generated switch names as follows:
- Switch 1 for Overlay TZ
Field Description Edge Switch Name Enter the exact switch name for the custom Overlay Transport Zone retrieved from the API call Transport Zone tz-overlay
, for example (use the exact name you specified for the custom Overlay Transport ZoneUplink Profile nsx-edge-single-nic-uplink-profile
IP Assignment Use IP Pool IP Pool TEP-IP-POOL Uplinks uplink-1 / EDGE-VTEP-PG
- Switch 1 for Overlay TZ
Select Add Switch at the top of the dialog. Configure the VLAN Transport Zone switch as follows:
Switch 2 for VLAN TZ
Field Description Edge Switch Name Enter the exact switch name for the custom VLAN Transport Zone retrieved from the API call Transport Zone tz-vlan
, for example (use the exact name you specified for the custom VLAN Transport Zone)Uplink Profile nsx-edge-single-nic-uplink-profile
Uplinks uplink-1 / EDGE-UPLINK-PG
- Deploy each Edge Node, configuring NSX with the custom Transport Zones and generated switch names as follows:
Option 3: Use the NSX API to Create Custom Transport Zones and NSX Switches
If you want to customize the NSX host switch name, you must do so using the NSX API. The required parameters are host_switch_name
and transport_type
(OVERLAY or VLAN). The optional parameters are description
and display_name
.
To create custom Transport Zones and NSX Switches:
Create a custom Overlay Transport Zone and associated custom NSX switch:
POST https://NSX-MGR/api/v1/transport-zones/
Where
NSX-MGR
is the FQDN for your NSX Manager.
For example:POST https://myNSX/api/v1/transport-zones/ { "display_name":"tz-overlay", "host_switch_name":"switch-overlay", "description":"Overlay Transport Zone", "transport_type":"OVERLAY" }
Retrieve the property values from the returned responses.
For example:{ "_revision": 0, "id": "c6626083-1a86-4370-85c0-791cf9f947e9", "display_name": "tz-overlay", "description": "Overlay Transport Zone", "resource_type": "TransportZone", "transport_type": "OVERLAY", "host_switch_name": "switch-overlay", "_last_modified_user": "admin", "_last_modified_time": 1414179082458, "_create_time": 1414179082458, "_create_user": "admin", "_schema": "/v1/schema/TransportZone" }
Create a custom VLAN Transport Zone and associated custom NSX switch:
POST https://<nsx-mgr>/api/v1/transport-zones/
Where
NSX-MGR
is the FQDN for your NSX Manager.
For example:POST https://myNSX/api/v1/transport-zones/ { "display_name":"tz-vlan", "host_switch_name":"switch-vlan", "description":"VLAN Transport Zone", "transport_type":"VLAN" }
Retrieve the property values from the returned responses.
For example:{ "_revision": 0, "id": "c6626083-1a86-4370-85c0-791cf9f947e9", "display_name": "tz-vlan", "description": "VLAN Transport Zone", "resource_type": "TransportZone", "transport_type": "VLAN", "host_switch_name": "switch-vlan", "_last_modified_user": "admin", "_last_modified_time": 1414179082458, "_create_time": 1414179082458, "_create_user": "admin", "_schema": "/v1/schema/TransportZone" }
Use the retrieved values to configure NSX as described in the Configure NSX for the Edge Node step in Option 2: Create Custom Transport Zones and Use the NSX API to Get the Host Switch Names above.
TKGI NSX Edge Switch and Transport Zone Host Switch Name Requirements
In NSX-T 3.1 and later, the Transport Zone Host Switch Name has been deprecated and removed from the NSX-T configuration UI.
For TKGI, the NSX Edge Switch Name and the Transport Zone host switch name must be identical. When configuring NSX-T, configure the Edge Switch Name to be the same as the Transport Zone host switch name.
Note: The NSX 3.x Edge Node configuration displays the following message beside the Edge Switch Name field: “The switch name value need not be identical to host switch name associated with the Transport Zone.” This message does not apply to TKGI.
If there is a mismatch between the the host switch name associated with the Transport Zone and the Edge Switch Name, TKGI installation fails with the following error:
Failed to get NSX provisioning properties: No transport zone with overlay type found in transport node as switch name is not same across the TZ and ESXI TN
Please send any feedback you have to pks-feedback@pivotal.io.