Setting up DHCP on an NSX Edge Services appliance
Assign IPs to your VMs through DHCP
Last Updated on 22nd November 2021
Objective
DHCP allows automatic assignment of private IPs to VMs behind your NSX Edge Services Gateway.
This guide explains how to setup the DHCP service.
Requirements
- being an administrative contact of your Hosted Private Cloud infrastructure to receive login credentials
- a user account with access to vSphere as well as the specific rights for NSX (created in the OVHcloud Control Panel)
- a deployed NSX Edge Services Gateway
Instructions
Interface access
In the vSphere interface menu, go to the Networking and Security dashboard.
On the left side, navigate to the NSX Edges section then click on the appliance you're setting up.
In the DHCP tab, you'll see 3 options:
- Pools
- Bindings
- Relay
We'll set up those 3 services in this guide.
Let's start with Pools. Click on it.
Pools menu
The Pools menu allows the traditional setup of the DHCP service.
We'll set up a scope for it and will start the service.
Click on + Add.
In the New DHCP Pool window, fill in the informations you need:
- Start IP is the first usable IP for the DHCP service
- End IP is the first usable IP for the DHCP service
- Domain Name is optional but can be useful for your DNS
- Primary and Secondary Name Server are your personalized DNS settings (can be auto configured if the slider above is turned on)
- Default Gateway is optional
- Subnet Mask is self explanatory
- You can set never ending leases or mofify lease times if that's a requirement
- You have more advanced options in the
DHCP Optionstab but those are outside of the scope of this guide
Click on Add when done.
The DHCP pool is ready but you need to click Start and then Publish to start the service and register the changes.
The DHCP is now operational. You can see the service status and the basic information on the pool.
Bindings menu
Now on the left side, click on Bindings.
Bindings will always assign the same DHCP address to a specific network interface, depending on a specific information.
Click on + Add when ready.
There are 2 ways to create bindings:
- VM NIC Binding: the IP address will be set for a specific VM network interface
- MAC Binding: the IP address will be set for a specific MAC address
For VM NIC Binding, type in the information as follows:
- Interface: Edge Services Gateway interface that will be distributing the address
- VM Name: VM that will receive the address
- VM vNIC Index: Which network adapter on the VM will be assigned the address
- Host Name: DNS name of the VM (optional)
- IP Address: Address reserved for the NIC
- Subnet Mask: Subnet mask
- Domain Name: Domain name (optional)
- Default Gateway: Default Gateway
- You can set never ending leases or mofify lease times if that's a requirement
Don't forget your DNS Settings.
They can be put manually or configured automatically.
Click on Save when done.
Now click on + Add again and choose Use MAC Binding.
- MAC Address: Target NIC MAC address
- Host Name: DNS name of the VM (optional)
- IP Address: Address reserved for the NIC
- Subnet Mask: Subnet mask
- Domain Name: Domain name (optional)
- Default Gateway: Default Gateway
- You can set never ending leases or mofify lease times if that's a requirement
Again, do not forget your DNS Settings.
Click on Save when done.
You can now Publish our changes.
The DHCP Bindings and their basic settings are now visible.
Relay menu
Click on Relay.
The set up of a DCHP relay implies the existence of routes to the target DHCP servers.
First, create the Global Configuration by clicking Edit.
You can add:
- Pre-existing IP sets set up in your NSX Edge Services Gateway
- IP adresses of DHCP servers
- Domain Names
Click Save when ready.
Now click + Add to set up an agent.
The vNIC will be the Edge Services Gateway interface that will forward the DHCP requests.
The Gateway Address is the address that will forward the requests.
Click Add.
You can now Publish the changes.
Your DHCP Relay will be functional after a short wait.
Go further
Join our community of users on https://community.ovh.com/en/.
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