Configuring an NSX Advanced Basic Edition Loadbalancer for VDI UseCases (Horizon, AppVolumes)
Update: 2023/01/22: Added the general NSX ALB deployment tasks. I will also create more blog posts around the Basic Edition as there are some gaps in the documentation.
Since NSX for vSphere is end-of-life and the NSX-T integrated load balancer based on nginx will not be available in a future NSX(-T) release, there is a need to install Horizon load balancers for connection servers, unified access gateways or AppVolumes in NSX environments based on NSX Advanced Loadbalancer in Basic Edition.
Licensing is done using a points based scoring system for the AVI service cores of the load balancer.
An NSX for Desktop license allows the usage depending on the licensed CCU quantities. The exact guidelines can be found here: https://avinetworks.com/docs/latest/nsx-alb-basic-edition/.
In this post a basic edition One-Arm loadbalancer will be deployed from scratch.
Deployment
1. At first the Appliance needs to be Downloaded and deployed as an ova rollout of the AVI Connector. NSX based variables are not required.
After the ova rollout the first start configuration will be performed. Enter system settings like DNS and choose a multi-tenant mode.As a general start choose the Share IP route domain and the provider mode. Both options can be changed later by demand.
Add the Cross for Setup Cloud after.
3. Optional: As the AVI Controller is existing as a standalone VM now, it is recommended to deploy two additional controller, as the controllers are necessary for important operations decisions for example failover in the Basic Edition.
The additional nodes has to be deployed by ova initially like before. After ova deployment they can be added to the cluster
4. After the deployment of the Connector, the license edition will be changed from Enterprise to Basic
Edit Service Engine Default Group -> Edit Default Group
a. Turn on Legacy HA
b. Set Memory Caching MB to 0
c. Disable Health Monitoring Standby Engines
a. Adding a NSX license
b. Check if the number of service cores has been increased
4. Adding NSX-T managers
This step is required in Basic Edition. A vCenter can be added directly only in Enterprise Edition.
5. Adding vCenter and NSX-T Manager:
It is necessary to attach vCenter and NSX-T Manager to the AVI controllers. This is done using a service account
6. Create a NSX-T Cloud. In this step, the Advanced Loadbalancer is integrated into NSX-T. The configuration is done under Infrastructure --> Clouds
The AVI Serviceengine MGMT network as well as the NSX-T client and the network in which the load balancer is to be rolled out later are defined.
7. As a pre requisite before installing the Loadbalancer it is recommended to create an IP-Pool. Infrastructure --> Networks
This is required for the MGMT-network and all networks which require load balancing.
8. Create Virtual Service
In this example a Connectionserver loadbalancer will be deployed with default settings. For settings specialisied for the connectionserver and other Horizon components, please refer to the other blogposts.
a. Create Virtual Service
b. Cloud „Cloud name"
c.
VRF
Context: Tenant where the ServiceEngines should run
d. For https based Services https will be used as Type using port 443 hinterlegt. The certificate selected should be one that covers the FQDN of the "connection server" service etc.
e. The pool members are defined in the lower third. These can be e.g. the connection servers. The Basic Edition only supports the addition of pool members via IP address. DNS resolution is reserved for the Enterprise Edition
Create VIP. This is the IP-Address used by the clients to connect to the Loadbalancer.
Click Save to finish configuration.
9. In addition to the step above an IPAM profile is optional to automatically assign IP-Adresses, Routes and DNS servers.
In summary, a simple Active Standby Loadbalancer based on the NSX Advanced Loadbalancer is now in operation. This post does not focus on health checks to detect the actual state of a web service.
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