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Launch RKE2 + vSphere #4083

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6 changes: 3 additions & 3 deletions .../rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/_index.md
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---
title: Creating a vSphere Cluster
shortTitle: vSphere
description: Use Rancher to create a vSphere cluster. It may consist of groups of VMs with distinct properties which allow for fine-grained control over the sizing of nodes.
metaDescription: Use Rancher to create a vSphere cluster. It may consist of groups of VMs with distinct properties which allow for fine-grained control over the sizing of nodes.
description: Use Rancher to create a vSphere cluster. It may consist of groups of VMs with distinct properties which allow for fine-grained control over the sizing of nodes.
metaDescription: Use Rancher to create a vSphere cluster. It may consist of groups of VMs with distinct properties which allow for fine-grained control over the sizing of nodes.
weight: 2225
---

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ In this YouTube video, we demonstrate how to set up a node template with the new

# Creating a vSphere Cluster

In [this section,](./provisioning-vsphere-clusters) you'll learn how to use Rancher to install an [RKE]({{<baseurl>}}/rke/latest/en/) Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.
In [this section,](./provisioning-vsphere-clusters) you'll learn how to use Rancher to install an [RKE]({{<baseurl>}}/rke/latest/en/) or [RKE2](https://docs.rke2.io/) Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.

# Provisioning Storage

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Expand Up @@ -3,15 +3,15 @@ title: Provisioning Kubernetes Clusters in vSphere
weight: 1
---

In this section, you'll learn how to use Rancher to install an [RKE]({{<baseurl>}}/rke/latest/en/) Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.
In this section, you'll learn how to use Rancher to install an [RKE]({{<baseurl>}}/rke/latest/en/) or [RKE2](https://docs.rke2.io/) Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.

First, you will set up your vSphere cloud credentials in Rancher. Then you will use your cloud credentials to create a node template, which Rancher will use to provision nodes in vSphere.
First, you will set up your vSphere cloud credentials in Rancher. Then you will use your cloud credentials to create a node template, which Rancher will use to provision nodes in vSphere.

Then you will create a vSphere cluster in Rancher, and when configuring the new cluster, you will define node pools for it. Each node pool will have a Kubernetes role of etcd, controlplane, or worker. Rancher will install RKE Kubernetes on the new nodes, and it will set up each node with the Kubernetes role defined by the node pool.
Then you will create a vSphere cluster in Rancher, and when configuring the new cluster, you will define node pools for it. Each node pool will have a Kubernetes role of etcd, controlplane, or worker. Rancher will install RKE or RKE2 Kubernetes on the new nodes, and it will set up each node with the Kubernetes role defined by the node pool.

For details on configuring the vSphere node template, refer to the [vSphere node template configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-node-template-config/)
For details on configuring the vSphere node template for RKE, refer to the [vSphere node template configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-node-template-config/). For details on configuring vSphere machines for RKE2, refer to the [vSphere Machine Configuration](../vsphere-machine-config/).

For details on configuring RKE Kubernetes clusters in Rancher, refer to the [cluster configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/options)
For details on configuring RKE Kubernetes clusters in Rancher, refer to the [cluster configuration reference]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/options). For details on configuring RKE2 Kubernetes Clusters in Rancher, refer to the [RKE2 configuration reference](../../../../../../en/cluster-admin/editing-clusters/rke2-config-reference/).

- [Preparation in vSphere](#preparation-in-vsphere)
- [Creating a vSphere Cluster](#creating-a-vsphere-cluster)
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ If you have a cluster with DRS enabled, setting up [VM-VM Affinity Rules](https:

# Creating a vSphere Cluster

{{% tabs %}}
{{% tab "RKE" %}}

The a vSphere cluster is created in Rancher depends on the Rancher version.

1. [Create your cloud credentials](#1-create-your-cloud-credentials)
Expand All @@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ The a vSphere cluster is created in Rancher depends on the Rancher version.
1. Enter your vSphere credentials. For help, refer to **Account Access** in the [node template configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-node-template-config/)
1. Click **Create**.

**Result:** You have created the cloud credentials that will be used to provision nodes in your cluster. You can reuse these credentials for other node templates, or in other clusters.
**Result:** You have created the cloud credentials that will be used to provision nodes in your cluster. You can reuse these credentials for other node templates, or in other clusters.

### 2. Create a node template with your cloud credentials

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -91,22 +94,81 @@ Use Rancher to create a Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.
1. Add one or more node pools to your cluster. Each node pool uses a node template to provision new nodes. For more information about node pools, including best practices for assigning Kubernetes roles to the nodes, see [this section.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/#node-pools)
1. Review your options to confirm they're correct. Then click **Create**.

**Result:**
{{% /tab %}}
{{% tab "RKE2" %}}

### 1. Create your cloud credentials

1. Click **☰ > Cluster Management**.
1. Click **Cloud Credentials**.
1. Click **Create**.
1. Click **VMware vSphere**.
1. Enter your vSphere credentials. For help, refer to **Account Access** in the [node template configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-node-template-config/)
1. Click **Create**.

**Result:** You have created the cloud credentials that will be used to provision nodes in your cluster. You can reuse these credentials for other node templates, or in other clusters.

### 2. Create your cluster

Use Rancher to create a Kubernetes cluster in vSphere.

1. Click **☰ > Cluster Management**.
1. On the **Clusters** page, click **Create**.
1. Toggle the switch to **RKE2/K3s**.
1. Click **VMware vSphere**.
1. Enter a **Cluster Name**.
1. Create a machine pool for each Kubernetes role. Refer to the [best practices]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools#node-roles-in-rke2) for recommendations on role assignments and counts.
1. For each machine pool, define the machine configuration. Refer to the [vSphere machine configuration reference]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-machine-config/) for information on configuration options.
1. Use the **Cluster Configuration** to choose the version of Kubernetes that will be installed, what network provider will be used and if you want to enable project network isolation. For help configuring the cluster, refer to the [RKE2 cluster configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-admin/editing-clusters/rke2-config-reference/)
1. Use **Member Roles** to configure user authorization for the cluster. Click **Add Member** to add users that can access the cluster. Use the **Role** drop-down to set permissions for each user.
1. Click **Create**.

{{% /tab %}}
{{% tab "RKE2 - Cluster Template" %}}
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### 1. Create your cloud credentials

1. Click **☰ > Cluster Management**.
1. Click **Cloud Credentials**.
1. Click **Create**.
1. Click **VMware vSphere**.
1. Enter your vSphere credentials. For help, refer to **Account Access** in the [node template configuration reference.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/node-pools/vsphere/vsphere-node-template-config/)
1. Click **Create**.

**Result:** You have created the cloud credentials that will be used to provision nodes in your cluster. You can reuse these credentials for other node templates, or in other clusters.

### 2. Add your cluster template

1. Follow these [instructions]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/admin-settings/cluster-templates/#adding-a-cluster-template-to-rancher) to add a cluster template to Rancher.

### 3. Create your cluster using a cluster template

1. Click **☰ > Cluster Management**.
1. Under the **Use a Catalog Template to create a cluster** section, click **catalog-template**.
1. Enter a name for the cluster.
1. Select cloud credentials to use.
1. Select the **Infrastructure Provider**. If you are using Rancher's [example cluster templates](https://github.com/rancher/cluster-template-examples), select `vsphere`.
1. Choose a **Kubernetes Version**.
1. Configure your nodepools. For help with configurations, refer to [vSphere Node Template Configuration.](./vsphere-node-template-config)
1. Click **Install**.

{{% /tabs %}}

**Result:**

Your cluster is created and assigned a state of **Provisioning**. Rancher is standing up your cluster.

You can access your cluster after its state is updated to **Active**.

**Active** clusters are assigned two Projects:
**Active** clusters are assigned two Projects:

- `Default`, containing the `default` namespace
- `System`, containing the `cattle-system`, `ingress-nginx`, `kube-public`, and `kube-system` namespaces


# Optional Next Steps

After creating your cluster, you can access it through the Rancher UI. As a best practice, we recommend setting up these alternate ways of accessing your cluster:

- **Access your cluster with the kubectl CLI:** Follow [these steps]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-admin/cluster-access/kubectl/#accessing-clusters-with-kubectl-on-your-workstation) to access clusters with kubectl on your workstation. In this case, you will be authenticated through the Rancher server’s authentication proxy, then Rancher will connect you to the downstream cluster. This method lets you manage the cluster without the Rancher UI.
- **Access your cluster with the kubectl CLI, using the authorized cluster endpoint:** Follow [these steps]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-admin/cluster-access/kubectl/#authenticating-directly-with-a-downstream-cluster) to access your cluster with kubectl directly, without authenticating through Rancher. We recommend setting up this alternative method to access your cluster so that in case you can’t connect to Rancher, you can still access the cluster.
- **Provision Storage:** For an example of how to provision storage in vSphere using Rancher, refer to [this section.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-admin/volumes-and-storage/examples/vsphere) In order to dynamically provision storage in vSphere, the vSphere provider must be [enabled.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/cloud-providers/vsphere)
- **Provision Storage:** For an example of how to provision storage in vSphere using Rancher, refer to [this section.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-admin/volumes-and-storage/examples/vsphere) In order to dynamically provision storage in vSphere, the vSphere provider must be [enabled.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/rke-clusters/cloud-providers/vsphere)
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I would emphasize and explicitly mention that you must add the cloud provider (for vsphere, or any other provider for that matter) when creating the rke2 cluster and configure the same credential information (vcenter server, username and password, etc.) for the charts in the addon config section when provisioning the cluster.

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---
title: vSphere Machine Configuration
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Not familiar with vSphere configuration, so looking for someone with more expertise to review this page.
@slickwarren , hopefully you can help.

weight: 5
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For more information about Azure, refer to the official [vSphere documentation.](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/index.html)
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why does this say Azure?


# Account Access

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|:----------------------|:--------:|:-----|
| Cloud Credentials | * | Your vSphere account access information, stored in a [cloud credential.]({{<baseurl>}}/rancher/v2.6/en/user-settings/cloud-credentials/) |

Your cloud credential has these fields:

| Credential Field | Description |
|-----------------|--------------|
| vCenter or ESXi Server | Enter the vCenter or ESXi hostname/IP. ESXi is the virtualization platform where you create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is the service through which you manage multiple hosts connected in a network and pool host resources. |
| Port | Optional: configure configure the port of the vCenter or ESXi server. |
| Username and password | Enter your vSphere login username and password. |

# Scheduling

Choose what hypervisor the virtual machine will be scheduled to.

The fields in the **Scheduling** section should auto-populate with the data center and other scheduling options that are available to you in vSphere.

| Field | Required | Explanation |
|---------|---------------|-----------|
| Data Center | * | Choose the name/path of the data center where the VM will be scheduled. |
| Resource Pool | | Name of the resource pool to schedule the VMs in. Resource pools can be used to partition available CPU and memory resources of a standalone host or cluster, and they can also be nested. Leave blank for standalone ESXi. If not specified, the default resource pool is used. |
| Data Store | * | If you have a data store cluster, you can toggle the **Data Store** field. This lets you select a data store cluster where your VM will be scheduled to. If the field is not toggled, you can select an individual disk. |
| Folder | | Name of a folder in the datacenter to create the VMs in. Must already exist. The VM folders in this dropdown menu directly correspond to your VM folders in vSphere. The folder name should be prefaced with `vm/` in your vSphere config file. |
| Host | | The IP of the host system to schedule VMs in. Leave this field blank for a standalone ESXi or for a cluster with DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler). If specified, the host system's pool will be used and the **Resource Pool** parameter will be ignored. |

# Instance Options

In the **Instance Options** section, configure the number of vCPUs, memory, and disk size for the VMs created by this template.

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|:----------------|:--------:|:-----------|
| CPUs | * | Number of vCPUS to assign to VMs. |
| Memory | * | Amount of memory to assign to VMs. |
| Disk | * | Size of the disk (in MB) to attach to the VMs. |
| Operating System | * | Operating system of the VMs. |
| Creation method | * | The method for setting up an operating system on the node. The operating system can be installed from an ISO or from a VM template. Depending on the creation method, you will also have to specify a VM template, content library, existing VM, or ISO. For more information on creation methods, refer to [About VM Creation Methods.](#about-vm-creation-methods) |
| Template | | The VM template to use. |
| Content library | | The content library to use. |
| Library template | | The library template to use. |
| Virtual machine | | The virtual machine to use. |
| OS ISO URL| | Default: Latest rancheros-vmware image. |
| Cloud Init | | URL of a `cloud-config.yml` file or URL to provision VMs with. This file allows further customization of the operating system, such as network configuration, DNS servers, or system daemons. The operating system must support `cloud-init`. |
| Networks | | Name(s) of the network to attach the VM to. |

# vApp Options

| Parameter | Description |
| Restore Type | The restore mode to use. |
| OVF environment transport | com.vmware.guestInfo or ISO |
| vApp IP protocol | Choose IPv4 or IPv6 as the selected protocol. |
| vApp IP allocation policy | The method to allocate IP addresses. Refer [here]() for information. |
| vApp properties | Add custom properties to configure virtual machines in the vApp|

### About VM Creation Methods

In the **Creation method** field, configure the method used to provision VMs in vSphere. Available options include creating VMs that boot from a RancherOS ISO or creating VMs by cloning from an existing virtual machine or [VM template](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-F7BF0E6B-7C4F-4E46-8BBF-76229AEA7220.html).

The existing VM or template may use any modern Linux operating system that is configured with support for [cloud-init](https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) using the [NoCloud datasource](https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/datasources/nocloud.html).

Choose the way that the VM will be created:

- **Deploy from template: Data Center:** Choose a VM template that exists in the data center that you selected.
- **Deploy from template: Content Library:** First, select the [Content Library](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-254B2CE8-20A8-43F0-90E8-3F6776C2C896.html) that contains your template, then select the template from the populated list **Library templates**.
- **Clone an existing virtual machine:** In the **Virtual machine** field, choose an existing VM that the new VM will be cloned from.
- **Install from boot2docker ISO:** Ensure that the **OS ISO URL** field contains the URL of a VMware ISO release for RancherOS (`rancheros-vmware.iso`). Note that this URL must be accessible from the nodes running your Rancher server installation.

# Networks

The node template now allows a VM to be provisioned with multiple networks. In the **Networks** field, you can now click **Add Network** to add any networks available to you in vSphere.
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I would add that you should add at least one network, as there is not one added by default for the user.


# Node Tags and Custom Attributes

Tags allow you to attach metadata to objects in the vSphere inventory to make it easier to sort and search for these objects.

For tags, all your vSphere tags will show up as options to select from in your node template.

In the custom attributes, Rancher will let you select all the custom attributes you have already set up in vSphere. The custom attributes are keys and you can enter values for each one.

> **Note:** Custom attributes are a legacy feature that will eventually be removed from vSphere.

# cloud-init

[Cloud-init](https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) allows you to initialize your nodes by applying configuration on the first boot. This may involve things such as creating users, authorizing SSH keys, or setting up the network.

To make use of cloud-init initialization, create a cloud config file using valid YAML syntax and paste the file content in the the **Cloud Init** field. Refer to the [cloud-init documentation](https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/examples.html) for a commented set of examples of supported cloud config directives.

Note that cloud-init is not supported when using the ISO creation method.

# Configuration Parameters used for guestinfo

Additional configuration parameters for the VMs. These correspond to the [Advanced Settings](https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1016098) in the vSphere console.

# vApp IP allocation policy

Choose the method IP addresses are allocated:

- **DHCP:** Use a DHCP server to allocate IP addresses.
- **Fixed:** Manually configure IP addresses.
- **Transient:** Automatically allocate IP addresses from a specified range using IP pools. IP addresses are released when the appliance is powered off.
- **Fixed (allocated):** Automatically allocate IP addresses from the managed IP network range of vCenter Server.

For details, see the [vSphere documentation](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-DE0AAE54-70AA-4EDA-B329-44A568620145.html).