ESXi

The ESXi Cloud type enables managing and provisioning to ESXi hosts, even without the ESXi API enabled.

Important

The VMware ESXi integration is for adding a single ESXi / vSphere Hypervisor host. If you have vCenter please use the VMWare vCenter cloud type for full vSphere integraiton features.

To get started with VMware ESXi, simply add a VMware ESXi Cloud in either the Infrastructure > Clouds or Infrastructure > Groups section.

  1. Select + Create Cloud Button

  2. Select ESXi from the Add Cloud modal

  3. Select NEXT

  4. Provide the following information.

    Cloud Configuration

    NAME

    Name of the Cloud in Morpheus

    CODE

    Unique code used for api/cli, automation and policies.

    LOCATION

    Description field for adding notes on the cloud, such as location.

    VISIBILITY

    For setting cloud permissions in a multi-tenant environment. Not applicable in single tenant environments.

    TENANT

    If Visibility is set to Private, select the Tenant the Cloud resources will assigned to.

    ENABLED

    When disabled, automatic Cloud sync is paused and the Cloud will not be selectable for provisioning.

    AUTOMATICALLY POWER ON VMS

    When enabled, Morpheus will maintain the expected power state of managed VMs. Morpheus will power on any managed VMs in the Cloud that have been shut down for unknown reasons (not powered off by Morpheus) to ensure availability of services.

    Note

    When “AUTOMATICALLY POWER ON VMS” is enabled, the power state of managed VMs should be maintained in Morpheus. This setting is not applicable to discovered/unmanaged resources.

    Details

    • ESXi Host name or IP address

    • Username ( This is normally root )

    • Password

Note

If you receive the message “Error! Invalid cloud config” Please ensure you have ssh enabled on the ESXi host.

Advanced Options

DOMAIN

Specify a default domain for instances provisioned to this Cloud.

SCALE PRIORITY

Only affects Docker Provisioning. Specifies the priority with which an instance will scale into the cloud. A lower priority number means this cloud integration will take scale precedence over other cloud integrations in the group.

APPLIANCE URL

Alternate Appliance url for scenarios when the default Appliance URL (configured in admin > settings) is not reachable or resolvable for Instances provisioned in this cloud. The Appliance URL is used for Agent install and reporting.

TIME ZONE

Configures the time zone on provisioned VM’s if necessary.

DATACENTER ID

Used for differentiating pricing among multiple datacenters. Leave blank unless prices are properly configured.

NETWORK MODE

Unmanaged or select a Network Integration (NSX, ACI etc)

LOCAL FIREWALL

On or Off. Enable to managed Host and VM firewall/IP Table rules (linux only)

SECURITY SERVER

Security Server setting is for Security Service Integrations such as ACI

TRUST PROVIDER

Select Internal (Morpheus) or an existing Trust Provider Integration

STORAGE MODE

Single Disk, LVM or Clustered

BACKUP PROVIDER

Select a backup provider. Depending on the Cloud type and any currently-configured backup plugins you may select Internal Backups (Morpheus) or another configured backup solution

REPLICATION PROVIDER

Sets the default Replication Provider for the Cloud. Select an existing Replication Provider Integration

GUIDANCE

Enable Guidance recommendations on cloud resources.

COSTING

Enable for Morpheus to sync Costing data from the Cloud provider, when available. For on-prem Clouds, enabling costing activates a costing service designed to mirror the live costing experience of public clouds, including invoicing with line items and real-time cost data (Operations > Costing > Invoices). If your organization utilizes reserved instances and you want to pull in related pricing data, some Cloud integrations include the option to select Costing and Reservations. If this is not relevant, select Costing to save money on additional calls to the Cloud provider’s costing API.

DNS INTEGRATION

Records for instances provisioned in this cloud will be added to selected DNS integration.

SERVICE REGISTRY

Services for instances provisioned in this cloud will be added to selected Service Registry integration.

CONFIG MANAGEMENT

Select a Chef, Ansible or Puppet integration to be used with this Cloud.

CMDB

Select CMDB Integration to automatically update selected CMDB.

CMDB DISCOVERY

When checked, any automatically discovered (unmanaged) servers onboarded into Morpheus from this Cloud will also have CMDB records created for them.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Select an existing Change Management Integration to set on the Cloud. ex: Cherwell

AGENT INSTALL MODE

  • SSH / WINRM / Guest Execution: Morpheus will attempt to use SSH, WINRM or Guest Execution for Agent install.

  • Cloud Init / Unattend (when available): (DEFAULT) Morpheus will utilize Cloud-Init or Cloudbase-Init for agent install when provisioning images with Cloud-Init/Cloudbase-Init installed. Morpheus will fall back on SSH or WINRM if cloud-init is not installed on the provisioned image. Morpheus will also add Agent installation to Windows unattend.xml data when performing Guest Customizations or utilizing syspreped images.

VDI GATEWAY

Set a VDI Gateway for outbound communication from the Morpheus Appliance to the vdi endpoints. VDI Gateways can be added in /tools/vdi/gateways

CUSTOM LOGOS

When integrating a Cloud, it will appear by default throughout the UI with its standard logo (VMware logo for VMware Clouds, etc.). If desired, you may upload a custom logo that should appear instead. This might be useful for MSPs which might not want to reveal the Cloud type underlying its services. A dark mode version of the logo may also be uploaded if the standard logo doesn’t look right against the Morpheus dark mode theme. Checking USE DEFAULT CLOUD LOGOS allows the user to return to the standard logo for the Cloud type without deleting the custom uploaded logo.

INVENTORY OPTIONS

Inventory options allow you to set a default active or inactive state for certain discovered resources. The list of available resources to configure will vary based on the Cloud type and its supported resources. By default, all possible resources for the Cloud type will be discovered in an active state. Uncheck the box for some or all resources to discover them in an inactive state. The list of potential resources that may appear include:

  • Service Plans

  • Resource Pools

  • Networks

  • Security Groups

  • Datastores

  • Folders

Provisioning Command

PROXY

Set a proxy for inbound communication from Instances to the Morpheus Appliance. Proxies can be added in the Infrastructure > Networks > Proxies tab.

Bypass Proxy for Appliance URL

Enable to bypass proxy settings (if added) for Morpheus Agent communication to the Appliance URL.

NO PROXY

Include a list of IP addresses or name servers to exclude from proxy traversal

USER DATA (LINUX)

Add cloud-init user data. Morpheus 4.1.0 and earlier assumes bash syntax. Morpheus 4.1.1 and later supports all User Data formats. Refer to https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/topics/format.html for more information.

Important

ESXi provisioning require a vmx file, which is not included in an OVF/OVA export from vCenter. A proper vmx file must be included when adding a vmdk/ovf/ova image to Virtual Images in Morpheus for successful provisioning.