1 Introduction

The Kemp Virtual LoadMaster is a version of the Kemp LoadMaster that runs as a virtual machine within a hypervisor and can provide all the features and functions of a hardware-based LoadMaster.

This document describes the installation of the Virtual LoadMaster (VLM) within a VMware hypervisor environment.

The Virtual LoadMaster is VMware ready. Starting with LoadMaster Operating System (LMOS) version 7.2.50:

• The VMware VLM is delivered as a hardware version 10 virtual machine. You can upgrade to a higher virtual machine number as needed. For further details, refer to the Upgrading Your Virtual Machine section.
• Virtual LoadMaster is supported with:
  • VMware ESXi 5.5 and above
  • vCenter Server 5.5 and above

 

There are several different versions of the VLM available. Full details of the currently supported versions are available on our website: www.kemptechnologies.com.

The VMware virtual machine guest environment for the VLM, at minimum, must include:

• 2 x virtual CPUs (reserve 2 GHz)
• 2 GB RAM
• 16 GB disk space (sparse where possible)

There may be maximum configuration limits imposed by VMware such as maximum RAM per VM, Virtual NICs per VM and so on. For further details regarding the configuration limits imposed by VMware, please refer to the relevant VMware documentation.

1.1 Upgrading Your Virtual Machine

The VMware VLM is delivered as a hardware version 10 virtual machine. You can upgrade to a higher virtual machine number as needed. Before upgrading, first take a backup or snapshot of the virtual machine. If you do this, you can reverse the upgrade if needed.

For further details on upgrading a virtual machine, refer to this VMware article: Upgrade Virtual Hardware.

There is a significant difference when updating your LoadMaster virtual machine to the instructions provided for Windows virtual machines in the linked VMware article. You must upgrade the virtual hardware machine version for the LoadMaster before you upgrade VMware Tools.

2 Best Practices

Some best practices to be aware of before deploying a LoadMaster on VMware are below:

• Configure an existing or new load balancing port group for the relevant VLAN to avoid port flooding
• Use the VMXNET3 network adapter type when deploying the VLM

Reordering happens only when using 4 or more VMNET3 network adapters. This issue does not occur if using e1000 network adapters. Refer to the following Knowledge Base article for further information: When adding 4 or more VMXNET3 NICs to a VLM in VMware, the order is incorrect.

• When using High Availability (HA), ensure that MAC Address Changes and Forged Transmits are both selected and set to Accept. Ensure this is forced (hard coded) on the port group as any changes to the vSwitch will affect all port groups by default.

• When using HA and the LoadMasters are on different hosts: To prevent the transmission of RARP packets from being sent every time a Virtual Machine is powered on, set the Notify Switches option to No.

3 Installing Virtual LoadMaster (VLM) using vSphere

The following instructions describe how to install a Virtual LoadMaster on a VMware ESXi environment using the VMware vSphere client.

3.1 Static MAC Addresses Must Be Configured

If you move a VLM system to a different Virtual Machine, ensure that the MAC addresses of the Virtual Machine's NICs stay the same. Static MAC addresses must be configured for all NICs within Virtual Machines.

For further information on configuring static MAC addresses, please refer to the relevant VMware documentation.

A static MAC address is needed due to the Kemp license being tied to the MAC address. If the MAC address changes, the license can break and you must contact Kemp Support to restore your license.

3.2 Download the OVF File

The VLM is packaged with an .ovf file for ease of deployment. This file can be freely downloaded from Kemp for a 30 day evaluation period. To download the VLM please follow the following instructions.

1. Go to http://www.Kemptechnologies.com/try.

2. Click the Download Now button.

3. Within the Select your hypervisor section, select the option for VMware (OVF).

4. Select your country from the drop-down list provided.

5. Read the End User License Agreement.

6. To proceed with the download, ensure the I agree to the End User License Agreement terms check box is ticked.

7. Click the Download button.

8. Unzip the contents of the file to an accessible location.

3.3 Deploy the OVF File

To deploy the VLM we initiate a Deploy OVF Template wizard which gathers all the information required to correctly deploy the VLM. Ensure to extract the file you download to ensure you can select the OVF and VMDK files.

1. Open the VMware vSphere client.

2. Right-click the Resource Pool that you want to install the VLM within and click Deploy OVF Template.

3. Click Browse and select the downloaded files. Ensure to select both the OVF and VMDK files.

4. Click Next.

5. Enter a name for the VLM into the Name field.

The name can be up to 80 characters long. It should be unique within the Virtual Machine folder. Names are case sensitive.

6. If required, select the folder location within the inventory where the VLM will reside.

7. Click Next.

8. Select the resource pool where the VLM will run.

This screen is only displayed if the cluster contains a resource pool and if you had not selected a resource pool within the inventory tree before initiating the deployment wizard.

9. Click Next.

10. Select whether you wish to use Thin provisioned format or Thick provisioned format.

Kemp recommends you using the Thick provisioned format option. The estimated disk usage is approximately 32 GB.

11. Click Next.

12. Select which networks in the inventory should be used for the VLM.

Select the network mapping for Network and Farm by right-clicking the Destination Network column and choosing the relevant pre-configured network from the drop-down list.Network is the eth0 network and Farm is the eth1 network on initial deployment.

13. Click Next.

14. Ensure that all the details are correct.

 

15. Click Finish.

Once Finish is clicked, the VLM starts to deploy.

3.4 Check the Virtual Machine Settings

Please verify that the Virtual Machine settings are configured with the recommended values:

2 x virtual processors

2 GB RAM

16 GB virtual hard disk capacity (sparse where possible)

3.5 Power On the LoadMaster

To power on the Virtual LoadMaster, follow the steps below:

1. In the left panel of the client, select the LoadMaster Virtual Machine.

2. Click the Power on the virtual machine link.

3. Select the Console tab and wait for the Virtual Machine to finish booting.

4. When the Virtual Machine finishes booting, a screen similar to the one above appears which shows the IP address. If your LoadMaster is DHCP-enabled, refer to the Obtain the LoadMaster IP Address if Using DHCP section. If your LoadMaster is not DHCP-enabled, refer to the Configuring the LoadMaster Using the Console section.

To change the IP address using the console view, follow the steps in the Configuring the LoadMaster Using the Console section.

4 Configure the LoadMaster

After you power on the Virtual Machine, you must either obtain or set the IP address of the LoadMaster to access the WUI. You must then license the LoadMaster. Refer to the sections below for instructions on how to do this.

4.1 Obtain/Set the LoadMaster IP Address

You need to know the IP address of the LoadMaster to access the WUI. The IP address can be manually set using the console if you are not using DHCP. If you are using DHCP, the IP address is automatically assigned to the LoadMaster. Depending on your configuration, refer to the following sections for further details.

4.1.1 Configuring the LoadMaster Using the Console

If the LoadMaster does not automatically obtain an IP address using DHCP, or if you would prefer to configure the LoadMaster using the console, then the following configuration steps must be completed before starting the LoadMaster.

1. Login into the LoadMaster using the console with the following settings:

- lb100 login: bal

- Password: 1fourall

2. Enter the IP address of the eth0 interface, the network facing interface of the LoadMaster, in the input field within the Network Side Interface Address dialog box.

3. Press OK.

4. Enter the IP address of the default gateway in the input field of the Default Gateway dialog box.

5. Press OK.

6. Once these are set, a prompt will appear asking to connect to the web interface at the newly configured IP address. In an internet browser enter the IP address of the eth0 entered in Step 2.

Ensure to enter https:// before the IP address.

7. A warning may appear regarding website security certificates. Please click the continue/ignore option.

8. The LoadMaster End User License Agreement screen appears.

9. Please read the license agreement and, if willing to accept the conditions therein, click on the Agree button to proceed.

10. If the machine has shipped with a temporary license, a warning will appear informing that a temporary license has been installed on the machine and for how long the license is valid.

11. Click OK.

12. The home screen of the LoadMaster should appear.

 

The LoadMaster is now fully installed and ready to be used. For further information on how to configure and implement the Virtual LoadMaster, please refer to the LoadMaster documentation which can be found here: https://kemptechnologies.com/documentation.

4.1.2 Obtain the LoadMaster IP Address if Using DHCP

On initial deployment, DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 both run to attempt to obtain an IP address. If the LoadMaster obtains an IP address using DHCP, take note of it because this is how you will access the LoadMaster.

If the LoadMaster does not obtain an IP address using DHCP the static IP address of 192.168.1.101 is assigned and the LoadMaster must be manually configured using the console. Refer to the Configuring the LoadMaster Using the Console section for instructions on how to manually set the IP address.

4.2 License and Configure the LoadMaster

The LoadMaster must now be configured to operate within the network configuration.

1. In an internet browser, enter the IP address that was previously noted.

Ensure to enter https:// before the IP address.

2. A warning may appear regarding website security certificates. Please click the continue/ignore option.

3. The LoadMaster End User License Agreement screen appears.

Please read the license agreement and, if you are willing to accept the conditions therein, click on the Agree button to proceed.

4. If using the Online licensing method, fill out the fields and click License Now.

5. If you entered an Order ID, a screen appears that provides a list of available licenses for that order ID, in addition to any licenses registered for the Kemp ID based on the LoadMaster platform type. Select the license type you want to apply to this LoadMaster.

If the license type you want is not displayed, please contact your Kemp representative.

6. Click Continue.

7. The login screen appears, enter the bal user name and the password.

8. In the screen informing you that the password has changed, press the Continue button.

9. If your machine has shipped with a temporary license you should get a warning informing you that a temporary license has been installed on your machine and for how long the license is valid.

10. Click OK .

11. You should now connect to the Home screen of the LoadMaster.

 

12. Go to System Configuration > Network Setup in the main menu.

13. Click the eth0 menu option within the Interfaces section.

14. In the Network Interface 0 screen, enter the IP address of the eth0 interface, the network facing interface of the LoadMaster, in the Interface Address input field.

15. Click the Set Address button.

16. Click the eth1 menu option within the Interfaces section.

17. In the Network Interface 1 screen, enter the IP address of the eth1 interface, the farm-side interface of the LoadMaster, in the Interface Address input field.

18. Click on the Set Address button.

This interface is optional, depending on the network configuration.

19. Click on the Local DNS Configuration > Hostname Configuration menu option.

20. In the Hostname configuration screen, enter the hostname into the Current Hostname input field.

21. Click the Set Hostname button.

22. Click the Local DNS Configuration > DNS Configuration menu option.

23. In the DNS configuration screen, enter the IP address(es) of the DNS Server(s)  which is used to resolve names locally on the LoadMaster into the DNS NameServer input field.

24. Click the Add button.

25. Enter the domain name that is to be prepended to requests to the DNS nameserver into the DNS NameServer input field.

26. Click the Add button.

27. Click the System Configuration > Network Setup > Default Gateway menu option.

28. In the DNS configuration screen, enter the IP address of the default gateway into the IPv4 Default Gateway Address input field.

If you have an IPv6 Default Gateway, please enter the value in the IPv6 Default Gateway Address input field.

29. Click the Set IPv4 Default Gateway button.

The LoadMaster is now fully installed and ready to be used. For further information on how to configure and implement the Virtual LoadMaster, please refer to the LoadMaster documentation which can be downloaded from the http://kemptechnologies.com/documentation page.

5 Troubleshooting

5.1 Factory Reset

If you perform a factory reset on your VLM, all configuration data, including the VLM's IP address is deleted. During the subsequent reboot the VLM attempts to obtain an IP address using DHCP. If the VLM is on a different subnet to the DHCP server then an IP address will not be obtained and the IP address is set to the default 192.168.1.101.

The VLM may not be accessible using this address. If this is the case then you must run through the quick setup using the console as described in the Configuring the LoadMaster Using the Console section.

5.2 VMware Tools

The VLM supports integration with VMware Tools. For more information, please refer to the VMware Tools Add-On Package, Feature Description.

5.3 Working with VMware Virtual Switches

When working with VMware Virtual Switches within your configuration, please ensure that the value of the Forged Transmit Blocking option is Accept. If this option's value is Reject, the LoadMaster is prevented from sending traffic as it appears to come from nodes on the network other than the LoadMaster.

Please refer to your VMware documentation for further details on how to configure the VMware Virtual Switch.

References

Unless otherwise specified, the below documents can be found at http://kemptechnologies.com/documentation.

VMware Tools Add-On Package, Feature Description

Licensing, Feature Description

Last Updated Date

This document was last updated on 03 March 2022.