Step 1a. Create Virtual Machine - VMware

Complete the following steps to deploy the OVA file on the vCenter Server or ESX Server using the vSphere client.

Prerequisites

Make sure that you have:

  • Network IP addresses, netmask, and gateway IP addresses for the virtual host.
  • Network names for all virtual hosts, if you are creating a cluster.
  • DNS or host information.
  • Password for virtual host access. The default username is root and the default password is netwitness.
  • The NetWitness virtual host package file for example, rsanw-11.7.0.0.xxxx.el7-x86_64.ova. (You download this package from Download Central (https://community.netwitness.com/t5/netwitness-platform-downloads/tkb-p/netwitness-downloads).)

Procedure

Note: The following instructions illustrate an example of deploying an OVA host in the ESXi environment. The screens you see may be different from this example.

To deploy the OVA host:

  1. Log on to the ESXi environment.
  2. In the File drop-down, select Deploy OVF Template.

    3. netwitness_deployovf1.png

  3. The Deploy OVF Template dialog is displayed. In the Deploy OVF Template dialog, select the OVF for the host that you want to deploy in the virtual environment (for example, V11.7 GOLD\\rsanw-11.7.0.0.xxxx.el7-x86_64.ova), and click Next.
    netwitness_deployova112.png
  4. The Name and Location dialog is displayed. The designated name does not reflect the server hostname. The name displayed is useful for inventory reference from within ESXi.

  5. Make a note of the name, and click Next.

    Storage Options are displayed.

    netwitness_v2.png

  6. For Storage options, designate the datastore location for the virtual host and click Next.

    netwitness_stoopt.png

    7. Note: This location is for the host operating system (OS) exclusively. It does not have to be the same datastore needed to set up and configure additional volumes for the NetWitness databases on certain hosts (covered in the following sections).

  7. Click Next.

    The Network Mapping options are displayed.

    netwitness_v3.png

  8. Select the Network label based on your requirement (For example, VM Network), and click Next.

    Note: If you want to configure Network Mapping now, you can select options, but NetWitness recommends that you keep the default values and configure network mapping after you configure the OVA. You configure the OVA in Step 4: Configure Host-Specific Parameters.

    A status window showing deployment status is displayed.

    netwitness_deployovasuccess111_blur.png

    After the process is complete, the new OVA is presented in the designated resource pool visible on ESXi from within vSphere. At this point, the core virtual host is installed, but is still not configured.