Virtual Edge Hypervisor Deployment Guide

This article walks through the steps to onboard, configure, and manage a Hypervisor Hosted Virtual Edge (Virtual Machine). The Elisity Virtual Edge VM can be deployed on VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisors, providing flexibility for environments with different virtualization platforms.

The deployment process consists of three main phases:

1. Deploy the Virtual Edge VM on your hypervisor (VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V)
2. Configure the Virtual Edge with network settings (IP, DNS, NTP)
3. Register the Virtual Edge with Cloud Control Center

For VMware ESXi deployments, the Virtual Edge is distributed as an OVA file that can be deployed through ESXi or vCenter. For Microsoft Hyper-V deployments, the Virtual Edge is distributed as a VHDX file.

For information on how to use the Virtual Edge dashboard, see our VE/VEN management article.

Prerequisites

Be sure to review Virtual Edge Connectivity Requirements article before moving forward with deploying a Virtual Edge.

Minimum VM Configuration

Terminology

The following chart describes the terminology used in this document:

Architecture Overview

The Elisity Virtual Edge VM has a single virtual interface used to communicate with Cloud Control Center as well as with Virtual Edge Nodes. In more detail, the Virtual Edge VM virtual interface is used to maintain a persistent control plane connection to Cloud Control Center in order to receive identity based policies as well as to send identity metadata and analytics to Cloud Control Center. This same interface is used to glean identity metadata, traffic analytics and other switch information from the Virtual Edge Nodes and to read the Catalyst configuration and configure security policies, traffic filters and other switch functions.

Elisity Virtual Edge VM allows you to onboard any type of switch on the compatibility matrix as Virtual Edge Nodes for policy enforcement. The Virtual Edge VM model is depicted below:

Downloading the Virtual Edge Package

VMware ESXi (OVA)

Download the Virtual Edge OVA by going to the Virtual Edge dashboard in Cloud Control Center and clicking the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE button in the top right of the Virtual Edges pane.

Select the appropriate version of the Virtual Edge package from the list, typically the latest available release that has been deployed in your environment.

Microsoft Hyper-V (VHDX)

The VHDX file for Hyper-V deployments is available via direct download from the CCC repository. Use the following URL format:

https://<your-ccc-hostname>/repository/releases/x86_64/virtual-edge-<version>.vhdx

For example, to download version 16.15.2:

https://your-tenant.elisity.io/repository/releases/x86_64/virtual-edge-16.15.2.vhdx

VMware ESXi Deployment

The following steps walk through deploying the Virtual Edge VM on VMware ESXi. The steps are identical for VMware vCenter.

Step 1. To deploy Elisity Virtual Edge VM on a hypervisor you will need to first download the OVA or acquire the Virtual Edge VM OVA file from your Elisity SE. In this example we will be using VMware ESXi but the steps are identical for VMware vCenter. Once you have the OVA log into your ESXi instance and select Create / Register VM.

Step 2. Select Deploy a Virtual Machine from an OVF or OVA file and then select Next.

Step 3. Enter the name for the virtual machine and upload the OVA and select Next.

Step 4. Select the VM Datastore you wish to use as persistent storage for the VM and select Next.

Step 5. Select the Uplink Port Group that provides the correct access for the Virtual Edge VM to reach the internet as well as the access switches to be onboarded as Virtual Edge Nodes for policy enforcement. Select the Disk Provisioning option of your choice and ensure Power on automatically is enabled.

Step 6. Optionally configure a static IP Address, Netmask, Gateway and DNS server. If left blank, DHCP will be used instead and you must create a static DHCP entry for this appliance in your DHCP server configuration. Set the NTP server and root password then click Next.

Step 7. If everything looks good select Finish and wait for the OVA to complete the deployment.

Make sure to enable Autostart so that the Virtual Edge VM starts up automatically after ESXi boots up.

Step 8. Select Console and then select Open Console in new window.

After completing these steps, proceed to the Configuring the Virtual Edge VM section below.

Microsoft Hyper-V Deployment

The Virtual Edge can be deployed on Microsoft Hyper-V using either the automated PowerShell script (recommended) or manual deployment through Hyper-V Manager.

Option 1: Automated Deployment Script (Recommended)

The Elisity user community has developed a PowerShell automation script that streamlines Hyper-V deployments. This script automates the entire deployment process including:

• Downloading the VHDX image from Cloud Control Center
• Creating and configuring the Hyper-V VM
• Configuring network settings (IP, DNS, NTP) via console automation
• Registering the Virtual Edge with Cloud Control Center

Download the script from GitHub: https://github.com/mikekorenbaum/hyperV-VE-deployment

Script Prerequisites:

• Windows Server 2019 or later with Hyper-V role enabled, or Windows 10/11 Pro with Hyper-V feature
• PowerShell 5.1 or later
• Administrator privileges
• Network connectivity to Cloud Control Center
• A configured Hyper-V virtual switch

Example Usage with CCC API Integration:

.\deploy-ve.ps1 -VMName "VE-Site-01" `
    -VEVersion "16.15.2" `
    -SwitchName "Your-Hyper-V-Switch" `
    -IPAddress "192.168.1.100" `
    -SubnetMask "255.255.255.0" `
    -DefaultGateway "192.168.1.1" `
    -DNSServers @("8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4") `
    -NTPServers @("time.google.com") `
    -CCCURL "https://your-tenant.elisity.io" `
    -CCCClientId "your-client-id" `
    -CCCClientSecret "your-client-secret" `
    -VEGroupName "Production-VEs"

Example Usage with Manual OTP (VE already created in CCC):

.\deploy-ve.ps1 -VMName "VE-Site-01" `
    -VHDXPath "C:\Images\virtual-edge-16.15.2.vhdx" `
    -SwitchName "Your-Hyper-V-Switch" `
    -IPAddress "192.168.1.100" `
    -SubnetMask "255.255.255.0" `
    -DefaultGateway "192.168.1.1" `
    -DNSServers @("8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4") `
    -NTPServers @("time.google.com") `
    -CCCURL "https://your-tenant.elisity.io" `
    -OTP "your-otp-from-ccc"

Script Parameters:

*Either VEVersion or VHDXPath is required
**Either CCC API credentials (ClientId, ClientSecret, VEGroupName) or OTP is required

After the script completes, the Virtual Edge will be registered with Cloud Control Center and show a status of Online.

Option 2: Manual Deployment via Hyper-V Manager

Step 1. Open Hyper-V Manager and select New > Virtual Machine from the Actions pane.

Step 2. In the New Virtual Machine Wizard, click Next on the Before You Begin page.

Step 3. Enter a name for the virtual machine (e.g., "Elisity-VE-01") and optionally specify a different storage location. Click Next.

Step 4. Select Generation 1 and click Next.

Step 5. Assign 8192 MB (8 GB) of startup memory. Uncheck "Use Dynamic Memory for this virtual machine" for appliance stability. Click Next.

Step 6. Select the virtual switch that provides network access to Cloud Control Center and to the switches to be onboarded as Virtual Edge Nodes. Click Next.

Step 7. Select Use an existing virtual hard disk and browse to the downloaded VHDX file. Click Next.

Step 8. Review the summary and click Finish to create the VM.

Step 9. Before starting the VM, right-click the VM and select Settings:

• Under Processor, set the number of virtual processors to 8
• Under Automatic Start Action, select Always start this virtual machine automatically

Step 10. Start the VM and connect to the console by double-clicking the VM name.

After completing these steps, proceed to the Configuring the Virtual Edge VM section below.

Configuring the Virtual Edge VM

After deploying the Virtual Edge VM on your hypervisor, connect to the VM console to configure network settings.

Step 1. Log into the Virtual Edge VM using the following credentials:

• VMware ESXi: Username elisity and the password you set during OVA deployment
• Hyper-V (manual deployment): Username elisity and password El1sity@1234

Step 2. Confirm the IP address and other network configurations on the VM by typing show config. Ensure the appliance has access to the internet using the ping command. You can also change the ntp and domain name servers after deployment using the config command. A full list of commands and uses is found in this article.

» ?
commands:
show Show virtual edge commands
config Configure virtual edge commands
quit Exit the shell
help Show this help message
register Initialize the application
restart Restart the virtual edge service
stop Stop the virtual edge service
reboot Reboot the virtual machine
ping Check ICMP or TCP connectivity to an IP address.
» show config
IP Address: 10.100.102.34
DHCP Enabled: false
DNS Servers: 10.100.102.20, 8.8.8.8
NTP Servers: us.pool.ntp.org
CCC URL: https://<yourdomain>.elisity.io
»

Step 3. If you need to configure or change network settings after deployment, use the following commands:

Adding the Virtual Edge in Cloud Control Center

In Cloud Control Center 16.3 with Virtual Edge Groups enabled, the process of deploying Virtual Edges has been updated.

See this article for more information on Virtual Edge Groups.

Step 1. Log into Cloud Control Center and navigate to Virtual Edges > Add Virtual Edge. To onboard a new VE to a VE Group, select the appropriate VE Group in the left menu pane and click +Add Virtual Edge.

Step 2. Select the Virtual Edge Type of Hypervisor Hosted (16.x if present).

NOTE: For the purposes of graceful migration to Virtual Edge 16.0+, only existing customers will have the option to deploy older Virtual Edge versions.

Step 3. Fill out all the required fields. Importantly, select a previously created Virtual Edge Group, which contains important Site Label and Distribution Zone assignments. If deploying a Standalone-VE, you can assign a Site Label and Distribution Zone.

Double check your selections in the summary page, make any necessary changes by clicking EDIT, and click Submit.

Field Descriptions:

Step 4. After clicking Add, the Virtual Edge will be provisioned in Cloud Control Center and credentials will be generated.

Select the newly provisioned Virtual Edge and copy the credentials under the Additional Information section. You must first click SHOW CREDENTIALS to view the following information:

• Cloud Control Center URL - The CCC URL for your tenant
• Client Secret - The authentication secret (OTP) for the Virtual Edge

The final step of the onboarding wizard displays all these credentials together for easy reference:

Step 5. Return to the Virtual Edge VM console and initiate the bootstrap process by issuing the following command:

register

Enter the URL of Cloud Control Center, provide the OTP, and select "Y" to all prompts that follow.

Within a couple seconds, the Virtual Edge will register with Cloud Control Center and show a status of Online.

Now you can onboard your existing access switches as Elisity Virtual Edge Nodes for policy enforcement by following this guide.

Deleting a Virtual Edge

Step 1. In Cloud Control Center, select the more options icon to the right of the Virtual Edge and then select Delete Virtual Edge.

The delete action for the Virtual Edge will appear in the Cloud Control Center audit logs.

Step 2. After the Virtual Edge has been deleted in Cloud Control Center, delete the VM on your hypervisor:

• VMware ESXi: Right-click the VM in the ESXi or vCenter console and select Delete from Disk
• Hyper-V: In Hyper-V Manager, right-click the VM, select Delete, then manually delete the VHDX file from the storage location