I'm currently in the process of deploying VMware Integrated OpenStack for a testing installation which will move into production later.
In the current stage we have three ESXi hosts, more will be added later. I configured all three hosts into a single cluster, because I (apparently mis-)read the installation documentation that it is recommended to use three clusters, but possible to use a single cluster.
The cluster is currently running a vCenter instance and the VIO management vApp.
While deploying the OpenStack instance I am unable to select the cluster as a compute cluster, apparently because it is already in use as the management cluster.
So, it seems that I need:
- a management cluster with at least three hosts
- a compute cluster with at least one host
Is it possible to override these requirements for a testing environment?
I couldn't find any way to override these requirements. I did however find a way to circumvent it.
I created two virtual ESXi hosts and added them to the management cluster like normal physical hosts:
Of course this will have a performance impact and I wouldn't even think about using this in production, but it allows me to set up and configure the deployment. Since the nested ESXi hosts use the CPUs of the actual hosts I can later, when the final hardware is delivered, just add the real hosts to the cluster and delete the virtual ESXi hosts.