Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Creating an SDDC

Create a multi host SDDC with 3 to 64 ESXi hosts or a single-host SDDC on supported Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) bare metal Compute instances by using the VMware Solution service.

Available SDDC types include multi-host and single-host. A single-host SDDC is typically used for testing and short-term development. For more information about SDDC types, see SDDCs.

Before You Begin

  • You need an existing VCN with an IP address CIDR of /24 or larger available for running the cluster. The following list shows the allowed CIDR sizes and the number of nodes you can create in each:
    • CIDR block size /24, segment size /28, number of nodes in cluster 3-12.
    • CIDR block size /23, segment size /27, number of nodes in cluster 3-28.
    • CIDR block size /22, segment size /26, number of nodes in cluster 3-60.
    • CIDR block size /21, segment size /25, number of nodes in cluster 3-64.
    Note

    If you're adding several clusters, be sure to plan the required CIDR blocks for each that fit your needs.
  • We recommend that you set up connectivity between the VCN and the on-premises network before provisioning an SDDC. See Access to Your On-Premises Network.
  • You can quickly create a VCN for an SDDC and set up an IPSec connection between an on-premises network and the VCN by using the Site-to-Site VPN workflow. To learn how, see Site-to-Site VPN Quickstart.
  • The Create SDDC workflow can automatically create and configure the SDDC's networking resources for you. Or, you can use existing networking resources that you created manually before you create the SDDC. SDDC provisioning requires the following resources:
    Note

    If you're adding many clusters, be sure to plan for several subnets and VLANs dedicated to each cluster.

  • Information in the Console might be shown in a different order than is presented in this topic. Regardless of the order presented, all required and optional fields are the same.

    On the Software-Defined Data Centers list page, select Create SDDC. If you need help finding the list page or the SDDC, see Listing SDDCs.

    The Create SDDC page opens.

    1. Basic information

    Specify the VMware software version, HCX license type, and other basic information for the new SDDC.

    • SDDC name: Enter a descriptive name for the SDDC. This name must be unique among all SDDCs in the creating, active, or updating state across all compartments in the region. The SDDC name must be 1 to 16 characters, start with a letter, and contain only non-accented letters, numbers, and hyphens (-). Hyphens can't be next to each other. The name is not case-sensitive. For example, test and Test are treated as the same name. Avoid entering confidential information.

    • SDDC compartment: Select the compartment in which to create the SDDC. All ESXi hosts for this SDDC are placed in this compartment.
    • VMware software version: Select the version of VMware software to install on the ESXi hosts. Although the VMware software bundle includes vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and vCenter components, the version you specify here is the version of vSphere. Compatible versions of the other components are installed with the version of vSphere that you select. For details about the vSAN, NSX, or vCenter component versions installed, see About the VMware Software. You can change this software version after provisioning.
    • HCX license type: To use HCX, you must enable it during SDDC creation. You can't install this plugin later. When installed, the HCX Manager plugin is integrated with vCenter in the SDDC. HCX Advanced and HCX Enterprise license types are free for standard shapes. You're charged if you use HCX Enterprise licenses with dense shapes.
      • Don't enable HCX: Don't install the HCX Manager plugin. You can't install this plugin later.
      • Advanced license: Install the Advanced license of the HCX Manager plugin. You can change the license type after provisioning if you're using dense shapes.
      • Enterprise license: Install the Enterprise license of the HCX Manager plugin. You can change the license type after provisioning if you're using dense shapes.
    • SSH Key: Provide the public key part of the SSH key. This key is required for remote connections to the ESXi hosts.

    Select Add management cluster or Add workload cluster to open the Clusters page.

    2. Clusters

    When creating a new SDDC, you must define at least one management cluster and one or more workload clusters.

    2a. Hosts

    Configure the cluster's ESXi hosts.

    • Cluster name: Enter a descriptive name for the cluster. The cluster name must be 1 to 22 characters, start with a letter, and contain only non-accented letters, numbers, and hyphens (-). Hyphens can't be next to each other. Avoid entering confidential information.
    • Availability domain: Select the availability domain in which to create the SDDC. You can deploy dense shape ESXi hosts across many availability domains. Standard shape ESXi hosts can be deployed only in a single availability domain. To ensure high availability, ESXi hosts in the SDDC are distributed across the fault domains in the availability domain. The management subnet and VLANs for this SDDC must be in this same availability domain.
    • Host Type: For a detailed feature description, see SDDCs.
      • Multi host SDDC: Select for 3 to 64 hosts.
      • Single host SDDC: Select for only one host, with more limited functionality.
    • Number of ESXi hosts: (Multi host SDDC only) Enter the initial number of ESXi hosts to create in a multi host SDDC. Specify at least 3 hosts and at most 64 hosts.
    • Prefix for ESXi hosts: (Optional) Enter a prefix to use for the names of the ESXi hosts to help identify them. The ESXi host prefix must be 1 to 22 characters, start with a letter, and contain only non-accented letters, numbers, and hyphens (-). Hyphens can't be next to each other. The prefix can't end with a hyphen. Avoid entering confidential information.
      Important

      ESXi host names can have a maximum of 25 characters including the prefix. Host FQDNs can have a maximum of 64 characters total.
    • Capacity type:
      • On-demand capacity: Provisions the compute capacity when the host is created.
      • Capacity reservation: Uses capacity that's counted against a reservation. Select a compartment and the name of a reservation. For more information, see Capacity Reservations.
        Note

        Capacity reservation isn't supported for an SDDC that uses many availability domains.
    • Cluster hardware type: Select Change shape to select a shape to use for ESXi hosts in the SDDC. A shape is a template that decides the number of CPUs, amount of memory, and other resources allocated to a newly created instance. Some shapes let you select the number of cores. Standard shapes require block volume storage. A management datastore is automatically created for you. If you want more storage, you can create it later in this workflow. For more information, see Supported Shapes.
    • Shielded instance: Select this checkbox to enable shielded instances for all ESXi hosts created in the SDDC. You can enable this option only when you create the SDDC. You can't enable this option later, or only for specific ESXi hosts.
    • Pricing interval commitment: Select the pricing interval to apply to the ESXi hosts. For more information about available pricing intervals, see Billing Options.
    • Pricing interval must be confirmed to continue: Select to confirm.

    Select Next.

    2b. Networking

    Select a VCN and specify a subnet and VLANs for the cluster's ESXi hosts.

    1. Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) : Select a VCN for the cluster. The VCN can be in a different compartment than the cluster and its ESXi hosts.
      If you enabled HCX, the selected VCN must have a NAT gateway attached to it.
      • If a NAT gateway already exists for the VCN, the name, compartment, and public IP address information is displayed.
      • If no NAT gateway is attached to the selected VCN, the workflow creates one for you. Enter a name and select a compartment for the NAT gateway.
    2. To create the network resources for this cluster (recommended):
      1. Select Create new subnet and VLANs.
      2. Enter an available CIDR block in the selected VCN for the cluster management CIDR. The workflow divides this CIDR into equal segments to use for the provisioning subnet and the required VLANs. The workflow creates 1 subnet and 7 VLANs for version 6.x and 1 subnet and 9 VLANs for version 7.x of the VMware software. If you enable HCX, one extra VLAN is created.
      3. (Optional) To view information about the subnet and VLANs that the workflow creates, select Show network details. Details include the route table and security list for the subnet, and the route table and NSG for each VLAN.
        • To update the information for the subnet: From the Actions menu (three dots) for the subnet, select Edit subnet.
        • To update the information for a VLAN: From the Actions menu (three dots) for a VLAN, select Edit VLAN.

        If you have enabled HCX, another route rule is created to allow traffic from the vSphere VLAN to the NAT gateway.

        If you enabled HCX, the selected VCN must have a NAT gateway attached to it.
        • If a NAT gateway already exists for the VCN, the name, compartment, and public IP address information is displayed.
        • If no NAT gateway is attached to the selected VCN, the workflow creates one for you. Enter a name and select a compartment for the NAT gateway.
    3. To use existing network resources for this cluster, select Select existing subnet and VLANs, and then provide the following values:
      • Select the compartment and provisioning subnet for the cluster management network. You can't change the subnet after provisioning.

        The CIDR value shown is the private address space for the chosen subnet.

      • Select the compartment and VLAN for each function of the management network.

        The VLAN gateway CIDRs shown are the CIDR blocks from which to derive IP addresses for each VLAN's layer 3 traffic. These CIDR blocks also provide the private IP addresses that Oracle uses as attachment objects for public IP addresses when ESXi hosts require internet access.

        • NSX Edge Uplink 1: Uplink used for communication between the VMware SDDC and OCI.
        • NSX Edge Uplink 2: Reserved for future use to deploy public-facing applications on the VMware SDDC.
        • NSX Edge VTEP: Used for data plane traffic between the ESXi host and NSX Edge.
        • NSX VTEP: Used for data plane traffic between ESXi hosts.
        • vMotion: Used for vMotion (VMware migration tool) management and workload.
        • vSAN: Used for vSAN (VMware storage) data traffic.
        • vSphere: Used for management of the SDDC components (ESXi, vCenter, NSX-T, and NSX Edge). If you selected the Enable HCX checkbox in step 3, verify that the VLAN selected for vSphere contains a route table rule that allows traffic to the NAT gateway. For more information, see VLANs
        • HCX: Used for HCX traffic. This VLAN appears only if you selected the Enable HCX checkbox.
        • Replication Net: Used for the vSphere Replication engine. (VMware version 7.x only)
        • Provisioning Net: Used for virtual machine cold migration, cloning, and snapshot migration.
    4. (Optional) Cluster Workload Network: Provide a cluster workload CIDR block for the workflow to create an initial logical segment for the VMs. The value must be /30 or larger and must not overlap with the VCN or the cluster network CIDRs. Note that you can add network segments for the cluster in NSX Manager after the SDDC is provisioned.
    Select Next.

    2c. Datastores

    The workflow automatically creates a management datastore with 8 TB capacity and VPUs/GB 10 (Balanced).

    If you want more storage for the cluster, you can create more block volumes here.

    Note

    Datastores are relevant to standard shapes (typically related to clusters and ESXi hosts).
    1. Select Create block volume.
      The Create block volume panel opens.
    2. Enter the required information for the block volume. For information about block volume configuration, see Creating a Block Volume.
    3. Select Save Changes.
    Select Next.

    2d. Notifications

    Optionally enable monitoring and provide information about alarms and notifications. For more information, see Configuring Notifications.
    1. Enable monitoring: Select to get notifications of selected events.
    2. Instance alarms: (Optional) Enable instance alarms and provide information about the alarm.
      • Alarm name prefix: Each bare metal ESXi host has a separate alarm created for it. Enter a prefix to appear at the beginning of the alarm names for this SDDC.
      • Alarm severity: Select a severity for the alarm: Info, Warning, Error, or Critical. All nonzero health issues for a bare metal instance triggers an alarm with the selected severity.
      • Show default alarm values: View and edit the interval and trigger delay for each alarm.
        • Interval: Select the interval at which the metric is emitted. The default is 1 minute.
        • Trigger delay: Select the number of minutes that the condition must be maintained before the alarm is in firing state. The default is 1 minute.
    3. Topic source: Select an existing notification topic, or create a new one. If you select Create new, enter the following information:
      • Topic name: Enter a friendly name for the notification topic.
      • Subscription protocol: Select the protocol that you want to use to receive notifications. The default is email.
      • Email address: Enter the email address or address list that you want to send notifications to.
      • URL: If you select the Pager Duty protocol, enter a URL to send notifications to.
      • Notification compartment: Select a compartment for the notification.
    4. Events: Select events that you want to receive notifications for. By default, all available notifications are selected.
    Select Next.

    2e. Review and Tag

    Review the cluster configuration summary and optionally tag the SDDC. If you need to review or update an item, such as a VLAN or datastore, select the appropriate option from the Actions menu (three dots).

    • Select Submit.

      The Create SDDC window opens, showing the new clusters and the previously entered basic information for the SDDC.

    • (Optional) Tagging: To tag the SDDC, select one of the following options, depending on what you see:

      • Advanced options
      • Show advanced options

      If you have permissions to create a resource, then you also have permissions to apply free-form tags to that resource. To apply a defined tag, you must have permissions to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you're not sure whether to apply tags, skip this option or ask an administrator. You can apply tags later. Any tags that you specify are applied to all the resources in the SDDC.

    3. Finish Creating the SDDC

    Review the SDDC configuration summary. If you need to review or update an item, such as a cluster, select the appropriate option from the Actions menu (three dots).

    Select Create SDDC.

    The page shows the provisioning status of each resource.

    When provisioning is complete, the SDDC's details page includes a username and an initial password that lets you access the vCenter management utility for the SDDC.

    Note

    The password value displayed in the Console isn't updated after you change it.

  • Use the sddc-create command and required parameters to create an SDDC.

    oci ocvs sddc create --compartment-id compartment_id --hcx-mode DISABLED, ADVANCED, or ENTERPRISE
 --initial-configuration  configuration_OCID --ssh-authorized-keys ssh_file --vmware-software-version version_number ...[OPTIONS]

    For a complete list of parameters and values for CLI commands, see the CLI Command Reference.

    Important

    An SDDC or ESXi host which has failed provisioning doesn't get billed until provisioning succeeds.

  • Run the CreateSddc operation to create a new SDDC and ESXi hosts.

    Important

    An SDDC or ESXi host which has failed provisioning doesn't get billed until provisioning succeeds.

Next Steps

After provisioning your SDDC, you might want to perform some of the following tasks:

  • Configure network connectivity between the SDDC and resources in your on-premises network, the Oracle Services Network, the internet through a NAT gateway, or other resources in the VCN. For information and instructions, see Configuring SDDC Network Connectivity.
  • Modify resources or properties of your SDDC. For example, add ESXi hosts. See SDDCs.
  • Create VMs in your SDDC or perform other VMware tasks. To do so, you can log into vCenter by using the vSphere Client link from the details page of the SDDC.