Prepare for Installation

Before installing Zerto IT Resilience Platform, you need to create a compute instance in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, create a MyZerto account and download the Zerto installer, create a dedicated vSphere account, and create static IP addresses for your VRAs.

Create a Compute Instance in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

You should install the software on a dedicated machine that can communicate with vCenter Server and the ESXi hosts. We recommend deploying a new Oracle Cloud Infrastructure native Compute instance with appropriate security lists and route table entries.

1. In the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console navigation menu, go to Compute and select Instances.
2. Click Create Instance.
3. Provide values as required. For the following fields, select the following values:
   • Image or operating system: Select Windows Server (for example, Windows Server 2016 Standard)
   • Instance Shape: Select VM.Standard2.4 or larger. Size the instance to meet your requirements.
4. Select the compartment, VCN, and appropriate subnet that can communicate with both vCenter Server and ESXi hosts.

   Note:

   For this example, we use the VMware SDDC private subnet to launch the instance. You can create a separate subnet. You must add an appropriate route table and security lists as required.
5. Click Create.

When the instance is in the Running state, you can connect to it by using Remote Desktop from the bastion server.

Create a MyZerto Account and Download the Zerto Installer

Because Oracle Cloud VMware Solution functions the same as an on-premises installation of VMware, you can use the same VMware installers provided by partners to install in Oracle Cloud. To download the Zerto Installation Package for VMware, follow these steps:

1. If you aren’t already connected, log in to the ZVM server that you created by using Remote Desktop from the bastion server.
2. Launch a browser and go to the MyZerto website.
3. Create or log in to your MyZerto account with the appropriate subscription associated with the account.

   Note:

   Contact Zerto Support with any questions about subscription or product-related issues.
4. From the top-right menu, select Support & Downloads.
5. Click Software Downloads.
6. Navigate to Zerto Virtual Replication Package for VMware and click Download.

Create a Dedicated vSphere Account

To install product software, we recommend that you create a dedicated vSphere account. This task is beyond the scope of this Playbook, so we recommend that you refer to the VMware documentation cited in the "Before You Begin" topic, above.

Create Static IP Addresses

Because Zerto IT Resilience Platform must be able to communicate with ESXi hosts and VMs, we’re using the vSphere management VLAN to deploy the VRA. You can create separate VLANs with appropriate rules to achieve the same goal.

To deploy the appliances in vSphere VLAN, first create a static IP address for each VRA by using an external access IP address.

1. In the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, navigate to the VCN in which the ESXi hosts reside.
2. In the VLAN section, select the vSphere VLAN.
3. Click Add External Access to create an IP address.
4. Because we don’t want any public IP provisioned for the VRA appliances, leave the default access type as Route Target Only. Then, enter a name and the next available private IP address in the VLAN that you want to create.
5. Click Add External Access to create the IP address.
6. Note the subnet mask and default gateway values for the IP address. You need those values when you install VRA on ESXi hosts, in the following topic.
7. Repeat these steps to create static IP addresses for each VRA, as recommended by Zerto.