vGateway image installation on VMware ESXi

Overview

This article shows how to set up vGateway on ESXi to connect your network to Acreto Ecosystem.

Task 1: Create a new Gateway

To set up the vGateway on ESXi first it needed to configure the Gateway object. Please follow the steps in the Gateway creation guide with the vGateway as a gateway type.

Task 2: Generate VMware .vmdk type vGateway Image

To generate a VMware Gateway image, you need to:

  1. In the Elements > Objects > Gateways menu, click on the specified vGateway name - the details panel will appear.
  2. On the right side of th, click on VM and Cloud Images images to show a list of options to generate images.
  3. Click the play icon next to the VMware.vmdk vGateway Image entry.
  4. The generation of the image may take a while; please be patient.
  5. When the image is ready, download it and rename it to Acreto-vgw.vmdk. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7

Task 3: Installation of Virtual gateway in ESXi

To install the generated .vmdk image on VMware, we need to proceed with uploading the image to VMware.

1. Upload .vmdk file in ESXi

Once we have the .vmdk configuration image file downloaded from Wedge. Now we will upload this file to ESXi Database by following the steps below:

  1. Log in to VMware ESXi in the browser using your username and password. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  2. Goto Storage from the left Navigator panel.
  3. Click the Datastore browser. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  4. Click Create directory and create a temp directory. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  5. Upload the downloaded vmdk file. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  6. Once the file is uploaded, Close the screen. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7

2. Create a new Virtual Machine

We will create a new virtual machine and add two network interfaces connecting it with the inside and outside network.

  1. Click Virtual Machine from the left Navigator panel.
  2. Click Create / Register VM. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  3. Select Create a new Virtual machine in the Select creation type page on the wizard. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  4. On the Select a name and guest OS, specify the VM values for ESXi and click Next.
  • Name: Acreto gateway
  • Compatibility: ESXi 6.7 virtual machine
  • Guest OS family: Linux
  • Guest OS version: Ubuntu Linux (64-bit) VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  1. Click Next on Select Storage page. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  2. Review the hardware setting. Also add a new network adapter. One network adapter shall be in the LAN subnet and the other one in the WAN network. Click Next.
  • Network Adapter 1: wan_network
  • New Network Adapter: lan_network VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  1. Review the setting and click Finish. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  2. Please don’t start the VM at this stage.

3. Move the vmdk file new VM directory

We will move the preconfigured vmdk file from the temp directory to the VM Acreto gateway.

  1. Goto Storage from left Navigator pane.
  2. Click Datastore browser. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  3. Goto temp folder, select the vmdk file and click Copy. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  4. Copy it in the folder Acreto gateway folder. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  5. Close.

4. Add preconfigured vmdk file as a hard disk in the Virtual machine

Next, we will use the configured vmdk file as the hard disk in the VM.

  1. Select the Virtual Machine from the left Navigator pane.
  2. Select VM Acreto gateway and click Actions » Edit Settings. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  3. Select Add hard disk » Existing Hard disk. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  4. Select the vmdk file and click Select. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7
  5. Select Hard disk 1 and click the x button to delete. Make sure the checkbox Delete files from Datastore is unchecked. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7

5. Start the VM

  1. Start the VM machine. Upon Powering on the vmdk file installs the configuration, the connection should be established automatically. VGW on ESXi6.7 VGW on ESXi6.7

6. Verify the connection

To confirm the connection is successful and traffic is going through Acreto, follow the steps below

  1. Test the VPN.
    • Check the IPsec status showing the tunnel status. It should show UP. 
      sudo ipsec statusall

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  • Perform mtr command to check if the traffic goes through Acreto Ecosystem 
    mtr 8.8.8.8

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Summary

Once the VM is running, the traffic will start flowing through Acreto.