1. Deploy Zerto to protect your VMware SDDC in the cloud against disasters
  2. Install Zerto in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Install Zerto in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Perform the tasks in this section to install and configure Zerto IT Resilience Platform in your Oracle Cloud VMware Solution environment.

Install Zerto

To install Zerto IT Resilience Platform, log in to the ZVM server and use the installer that you downloaded in the last section to walk through the installation steps. Following are the high-level steps for express installation:

  1. Establish a Remote Desktop session to the Compute instance that you created to install the Zerto IT Resilience Platform.
  2. Verify that the vCenter Server is reachable (that is, perform a ping test) and use the installer to begin the installation.
  3. Provide the vCenter Server details, such as IP or FQDN, and a dedicated username and password that was created in the “Create a Dedicated vSphere Account” topic. As you proceed through the steps, the installer performs several validations and begins the installation. When the installation is complete, the Zerto Virtual Manager (ZVM) interface is available.
  4. Repeat these steps to install Zerto IT Resilience Platform in other environments as required before pairing sites.

Access the ZVM Interface

Next, you need to access the Zerto Virtual machine interface:

  1. Double-click the shortcut created on the desktop or use a browser to point to the IP address of the ZVM server on port 9669 (https://<ZVM_server_IP_address>:9669).
  2. Log in to ZVM using the vSphere credentials provided during the installation.
  3. If this is the first installation in your environment, provide a valid license key to start using the software.
  4. If you want to pair this server with an existing ZVM server, provide a pairing key to start using the interface. For details about how to pair a site that already has a license, see the “Pair Sites to Enable Replicating from One Site to Another” topic.

Install Virtual Replication Appliances

The Zerto IT Resilience Platform installation includes the OVF template for Virtual Replication Appliances (VRAs). A VRA is a Zerto VM that manages the replication of VMs across sites. Install a VRA on every host that manages protected VMs in the protected site and on every host that manages VMs in the recovery site.

A VRA compresses data that’s passed across the WAN from the protected site to the recovery site. A VRA automatically adjusts the compression level according to CPU usage, and disables it if necessary. A Virtual Replication Appliance (VRA) is a custom Linux-based VM with a small footprint and increased security. Zerto recommends installing a VRA on every hypervisor host in a cluster, in case protected VMs are moved between hosts. A VRA can manage 1500 volumes maximum.

Note:

Currently, the only know restriction for the Zerto IT Resilience Platform is its inability to use the root user. Installing a tweak, as described in the following topic, addresses that issue.

Install Zerto Tweak to Use OPC

When you install VRA, Zerto IT Resilience Platform defaults the username to root. Zerto provides a tweak that enables you to provide opc as the username. To download the tweak tool, contact Zerto support.

Using the Tweaks editor, install the t_VraInstallHostUserName tweak and enter opc as the tweak value. Install this tweak on each of the ZVM servers in the environment.

Enable Password-based SSH for OPC User

To harden the security, when VMware SDDC is deployed, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure disables password-based SSH into the ESXi hosts. Zerto currently supports only password-based SSH for ESXi hosts to install VRA and to perform other operations related to VRA.

To enable password-based login to ESXi host, do the following:
  1. SSH into the ESXi host by using the private key that's paired with the public key provided during SDDC creation.
  2. Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file.
  3. Change these parameters to Yes:
    • PasswordAuthentication: Yes
    • UsePAM: Yes
  4. Restart the SSH service: 
    /etc/init.d/SSH restart
  5. Repeat the preceding steps on each ESXi host in the environment on which you plan to install a VRA.
Now, you should be able to install VRA by following the steps provided in the next section.

Note:

While you could disable the password-based login after the VRA installation, Zerto requires the opc user password-based login for the following day-to-day operations. If you opt to disable password-based login, you need to enable it again when performing these operations:
  • Host maintenance
  • VRA reboots
  • If the VRA isn't communicating with the ZVM, a restart might be needed
  • If there is an issue with the VRA driver and needs to be restarted
  • Resolve PSODs
  • Upgrades

Install VRA on ESXi Hosts

As explained earlier in this article, you must install a VRA on every host that manages VMs that require protection. Following are the high-level steps to install a VRA on an ESXi host. Perform these steps on each ESXi host in all environments.

  1. In the Zerto IT Resilience Platform user interface, go to the Setup tab and click VRAs.
  2. Select a host that requires a VRA and click New VRA.
  3. In the Configure and Install VRA dialog box, enter the following values in the Host Details section:
    • Select Use credentials to connect to host.
    • Host root Password: Enter opc as the user password.
    • Datastore: Because VRA needs to reside on the ESXi host, choose the vSAN datastore.
    • Network: Select the vSphere network, as planned in the “Create Static IP Addresses for VRAs” topic.
    • Use the default values for VRA RAM and VRA Bandwidth Group.
  4. Enter the following values in the VRA Network Details section:
    • Configuration: Static
    • Address: The IP address for the VRA that you created in the “Create Static IP Addresses for VRAs” topic.
    • Subnet Mask: The subnet mask of that IP address.
    • Default Gateway: The default gateway of that IP address.
  5. Click Install.
    The VRA installation starts and the status is displayed in the Tasks dialog box in the status bar and in the Tasks field under Monitoring.

    After the first VRA is installed in a cluster, an alert is issued that tells you to install a VRA on the other hosts in the cluster.

  6. Add a VRA to every host that hosts VMs that you want to replicate.