Installation and configuration

Installation

Deployment of the OVA file

First, download the OVA file of the DCNetScope from the official website easyvirt.fr.

Once the OVA image is downloaded, start the deployment from the vCenter interface by right-clicking on a vCenter resource:

Select the option Local fileand then click on the Upload Files A file selection window will appear. You must select the OVA file you downloaded earlier.

Once the OVA file is selected, you can click on the Next to go to the next step.

On the screen below, enter a name for your future VM DCNetScopeand then enter the logical location that the future VM will take.

Once you are satisfied with what has been chosen, click on the Next to continue the deployment.

Now choose the physical resource that will host the VM. Click on Next to continue the deployment.

As shown in the screenshot below, the vCenter displays a summary of the future deployment, check that what is proposed is correct.

If this is the case, you can continue with the deployment.

The next step is to choose the type of storage that will be used for the future VM.

If you want to limit the impact that DcNetScope on the storage of your infrastructure vCenterYou can choose the option Thin Provision as shown in the following screenshot.

Once the storage is selected, you can continue the deployment by clicking on the Next.

Now you have to choose the network configuration of the virtual machine.

Be careful to choose a network option that allows the future virtual machine to receive communications from the ESXi servers to the virtual machine's port 9000 (udp).

Once you have chosen the network option, you can continue the deployment by clicking on the Next.

Before deployment, the vCenter displays a summary of all the options that have been selected. Please check that they are correct.

To start the deployment, click on the Finish

The deployment of the virtual machine will start. Once the deployment is complete, the virtual machine will be available on the physical resource that has been chosen to host the virtual machine.

Netscope configuration

When logging into the VMware console of the Netscope virtual machine, you will be greeted by a command line wizard that allows you to set up the Netscope VM.

When you first log in, you will be asked to choose a password that will be used later to access this console.

Once the password has been chosen and entered, you will be taken to the next screen which offers :

  • Services: configuration of the services comprising Netscope. It is possible to stop, start and view the status of a service.
  • Network: allows you to configure the network interface (including static IP addressing), domain name resolution and the DNS server. This section also allows you to make a DHCP request and to restart the network interfaces.
  • Vcenter: configuration of the vCenter IP and the username and password associated with the vCenter account that Netscope will use. It is strongly recommended that you provide an account with read-only rights.

vCenter configuration

The "vCenter" section allows you to configure the IP address of the vCenter service and the username and password of the vCenter account that Netscope will use. It is strongly recommended to provide an account with read-only rights.

Configuration

Configuration of DCscope

In the Settings section (accessible by clicking on the icon in the top right-hand corner), a new tab entitled "Netscope" has been added, which allows the Netscope agent URL to be configured.

This URL is the one displayed in the VMware console on the main screen of the Netscope command line tool. It is of the form: "http://:5000 ".

Configuring vSwitch distributions

In order for Netscope to analyse the network flows within a vSphere infrastructure, the Distributed vSwitches must provide traffic information to Netscope. To do this, go to the "Networking" section of the vCenter web interface (globe icon), and configure the Distributed vSwitches whose traffic you want to analyse via Netflow.

Distributed vSwitches are configured as follows: right-click on a Distributed vSwitch, select "Settings" and then "Edit Netflow".

A sub-screen appears, allowing you to configure where the Netflow traces will be exported. Configure the address and port of the Netflow collector integrated in Netscope: these two pieces of information are present in the URL displayed on the main screen of the Netscope command line tool (typically in the form: "http://:9000 ").

Then, for each port group of the Distributed vSwitch, right-click on the port group, and click on "Edit Settings", a subscreen will appear.

On this subscreen, click on the "Monitoring" label in the left margin, and check that the "Netflow" option is "Enabled".

Various

Setting up a static IP address in DC Netscope

It is possible to configure DC Netscope to use static IP addressing. To do this, go to the network:

Then select the *edit_networks_file" option to edit the network configuration of the DC Netscope virtual machine:

Configure the interface ens192 with the following configuration:

auto ens192
iface ens192 inet static
    address 192.168.3.209
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.3.1

The configuration file should look like the following screenshot:

Finally, select the *restart_ifaces" option to restart the network interfaces and take into account the configuration change:

The configured static IP address should then appear in the DC Netscope home screen: