Sometimes you run into a situation in which you have to install a VMware ESXi VIB on one or more hosts within your Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform. The process is the same as on a non-Nutanix platform apart from managing the maintenance mode on Nutanix Controller VM’s.
The complete process is captured in the below screenshot, which I will elaborate on further down below.
Uploading the VIB file to the ESXi host
As part of your preparation, you need to upload the VIB file to the VMware ESXi host using tooling such as WinSCP. It’s ok to place the VIB in the root folder of the host.
Placing the Controller VM in Maintenance Mode
Following best practices, place the Nutanix Controller VM, which resides on the particular ESXi host, in maintenance mode before continuing. This ensures that Controller VM services throughout the cluster are not impacted by this maintenance activity.
ncli host edit id=<CVM_Id> enable-maintenance-mode=true
When you have performed this step, you will notice that the Data Resiliency status of the particular Nutanix cluster will have changed to Critical (in case your cluster settings are RF2).
Shutting down the Controller VM
When the Nutanix Controller VM is placed in maintenance mode it is safe to shut it down before continuing on with the next steps on the ESXi host.
cvm_shutdown -P now
Placing the ESXi host in Maintenance Mode
Using VMware vCenter Server, right-click on the ESXi host and select the option to place the host in Maintenance Mode. This to ensure that your Production workload VM’s are not impacted by the maintenance on this ESXi host.
Install the VIB on the ESXi host & reboot
Now you are ready to install the VIB on the VMware ESXi host that will require a reboot at the end of the installation.
esxcli software vib install -d <VIB_File>
Exiting Maintenance Mode on the ESXi host & Controller VM
When you see the VMware ESXi host coming back online fro within VMware vCenter Server you need to first proceed by exiting Maintenance Mode on the ESXi host. This easily done by right-clicking on the host and selecting Exit Maintenance Mode. Thereafter you need Power On the Nutanix Controller VM via vCenter Server. When it is back online, proceed by exiting Maintenance Mode on the Controller VM.
ncli host edit id=<CVM_Id> enable-maintenance-mode=false
Confirm Data Resiliency Status in Nutanix Prism
The last step, before moving on to another ESXi host to perform the same steps, is to confirm that the Data Resiliency status on the Nutanix cluster is back to “OK”. You can monitor this using the Nutanix Prism Elements dashboard.
