10. Installing an additional vCloud cell

This is actually straight forward. To start, create an identical server which reflects OS and patch level of your first cell.

You could technically clone the first one – but you will have to remove vCloud Director once you did, making sure your VM does not boot up with network attached to avoid it trying to connect to the database server.

Once you got your second server up and running, copy the following file from your first cell to the second cell:

responses.properties – which can be found in /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/etc/

Another requirement for a second cell is an NFS share

The following folder needs to be located on a NFS share : /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer

This is basically a staging area. Uploaded templates / isos etc. will first be copied to the staging area before written to the vCloud storage area.

Let’s get started.

With the response file transferred to your new “to be” cell, start the installer, specifying the response file above.

[[email protected] home]# ./vmware-vcloud-director-5.5.1-1881717.bin -r responses.properties

It will go through the installer you have seen on your first cell, but will only ask you which IPs it should use for HTTP and Proxy

Please enter your choice for the HTTP service IP address:
        1. 172.16.0.39
        2. 172.16.0.44
        3. [fe80:0:0:0:250:56ff:fe86:7ec]
        4. [fe80:0:0:0:250:56ff:fe86:b2ea]
Choice [default=1]: 1

Please enter your choice for the remote console proxy IP address:
        1. 172.16.0.44
        2. [fe80:0:0:0:250:56ff:fe86:7ec]
        3. [fe80:0:0:0:250:56ff:fe86:b2ea]
Choice [default=1]: 1
Connecting to the database: jdbc:jtds:sqlserver://172.16.0.4:1433/vcloud55;socketTimeout=90;prepareSQL=2
Database configuration complete.

vCloud Director configuration is now complete.

Once the vCloud Director server has been started you will be able to
access the first-time setup wizard at this URL:
        https://vcd-02vcrucialcom.vcrucial.com

Would you like to start the vCloud Director service now? If you choose not
to start it now, you can manually start it at any time using this command:
service vmware-vcd start

Start it now? [y/n]

Here I will say n

As mentioned – we need to mount the NFS transfer storage area first.

Stop your cell on the first server. Now edit your fstab file to reflect your NFS server details. Example:

nfs.vcrucial.com:/mnt/NFS-Pool /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer/ nfs rw,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192 0 0

Then mount the NFS folder and verify it

[[email protected] home]# mount /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer/
[[email protected] home]# df -h
Filesystem            Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/vg_vcd01-lv_root
                       36G 4.4G   29G 14% /
tmpfs                 1.9G     0 1.9G   0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1             485M   54M 407M 12% /boot
nfs.vcrucial.com:/mnt/NFS-Pool
                      235G   11G 224G   5% /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer

Then make sure the transfer area as the right persmissions

[[email protected] home]# chmod 750 /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer

Now start the service. In your logfile /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/logs/vcloud-container-info.log you should see that the storage area is valid / verified

2014-08-28 09:50:40,947 | INFO | Cell Application | StartupVerifierRunnerStartupAction | Successfully verified transfer spooling area: /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/data/transfer |

Now repeat the process on your newly created cell.

Mount NFS
Start service (vmware-vcd start)
Config transfer area in log

Once both cells are up, go to Manage & Monitor > Cloud Resources > Cloud Cells and verify that the second cell is up and running

You can now connect to either cell individually or use a loadbalancer for both cells.

Installation of vCD 5.5 content

1. Installation
2. vShield Manager
3. VXLAN Config
4. Initial vCD Config
5. Create a Provider vDC
6. External Network
7. Create an Organization vDC
8. vShield Edge / Org Network
9. Final Testing
10. Install a second vCloud Cell