The book was written using vSphere version 6.5 and NSX-v version 6.3. vSphere 5.5 and later can be used, but you should independently validate all software components are compatible with the version of NSX you are deploying via the VMware Product Interoperability Matrices (https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php), and all hardware should be checked via the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide (HCL) (http://www.vmware.com/go/hcl).

To install VMware for vSphere you will need to obtain the appropriate software; unfortunately, without a valid contract you will need contact the VMware sales team (http://www.vmware.com/company/contact_sales.html) to obtain it.

All recipes require a supported guest operating system, web browser, and Adobe Flash Player to access the vSphere Web Client. The minimum supported requirements are vSphere version-dependent; for example, the requirements for vSphere 6.5 are documented at the following URL: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-F6D456D7-C559-439D-8F34-4FCF533B7B42.html. Additionally, you will need an SSH client to access ESXi hosts and/or NSX components.

Two of the recipes in Chapter 4, Configuring VMware NSX Layer 2 Bridging, are based on hardware VTEP bridging, which requires compatible hardware. Unless you have a compatible piece of hardware, you may not be able to test this recipe. In this case, you can visit an online interactive simulation provided by VMware Hands-on Labs to walk through configuration steps in detail: http://docs.hol.vmware.com/hol-isim/HOL-2017/hol-1703-arista.htm.

The NSX Identity Firewall in Chapter 6, Configuring VMware NSX Distributed Firewall (DFW) and SpoofGuard, and Endpoint Monitoring in Chapter 11, Managing and Monitoring VMware NSX Platform, require a compatible desktop operating system. The specific list of compatible operating systems are covered in the respective chapters, and at the time of writing this book, was limited to Microsoft Windows operating systems only.

Chapter 7, Configuring Cross-vCenter NSX, is a multi-vCenter setup that requires additional compute infrastructure and virtual components for complete configuration. This includes a minimum of two vCenter servers, two NSX managers, and the relevant infrastructure components for each.

Chapter 8, Backing up and Restoring VMware NSX Components, covers backup and software of NSX components and requires deployment of either a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server.

VMware vRealize Log Insight (vRLI) is covered in Chapter 11, Managing and Monitoring VMware NSX Platform; deployment and configuration for vRLI is not within the scope of this book. However, VMware NSX customers are entitled for VMware vRealize Log Insight, see VMware KB 2145800 vRealize Log Insight for NSX FAQ https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2145800.

Chapter 12, Leveraging the VMware NSX REST API for Management and Automation, covers the NSX REST API and requires the following software installed on your administrative machine for testing:

• Postman: https://www.getpostman.com/
• Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core: https://microsoft.com/powershell
• Python 2.7 or Python 3: https://www.python.org/downloads/
• vRealize Orchestrator: https://www.vmware.com/products/vrealize-orchestrator.html
• NSX-vRO plugin

If you do not have an environment to work with NSX, you can still test-drive NSX on VMware Hands-on Lab (HOL): https://www.vmware.com/products/nsx/nsx-hol.html.

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

1. Log in or register at www.packtpub.com.
2. Select the SUPPORT tab.
3. Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
4. Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

• WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
• Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
• 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/VMware-NSX-Cookbook. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/VMwareNSXCookbook_ColorImages.pdf.

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "To check whether cURL is available in the operating system, use the curl ---version command."

A block of code is set as follows:

# NSX Variables 
$NSXUsername = "admin" 
$NSXPassword = "VMware1!" 
$NSXManager = "https://nsxmgr-01a.corp.local" 
$NSXURI = "/api/2.0/services/usermgmt/user/admin"

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

curl -k -X GET -H "Accept: application/xml" -H "Content-Type: application/xml" -u admin:VMware1! 'https://nsxmgr-01a.corp.local/api/2.0/services/usermgmt/user/admin' 

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Select All Downloads, scroll down to the Networking & Security menu item, and click Drivers & Tools."