Provisioning a Virtual Machine (VM) using the vGRID Customer Portal

Virtual Machines (VMs) can be deployed on vGRID in two ways: using the vGRID Customer Portal and using the Cloud Director Portal

This article will walk you through on how to deploy a VM using the vGRID Customer Portal.

Log into the vGRID Customer Porta- - https://customer.vgrid.nz

Navigate to Virtual Servers under Services

Click the Create VM button situated on the right hand side of the screen. This should then bring up a window that allows you to choose the location of your deployment. In this example, a VM will be deployed to the vGRID Data Center in Hamilton. Click Next Step.

Choose an OS for your new VM. In this example, we will be deploying a Windows Server 2019 Standard OS. click Next Step

This step shows the VMs base hardware configuration. Nothing needs changing here and we will address how to increase your hardware specifications at a later stage. For now, click Next Step

Give your VM a Machine Name (hostname) and a password. Note that when logging into the OS for the first time, the default username is administrator. Once you're done, Click Next Step

Select your preferred Storage Profile. Each profile will have a brief description, helping you make an informed decision about the best type of storage to fit your use case.

Confirm your selection and review your settings. VM deployments take roughly 4 minutes, however, if this is the first virtual machine you are deploying in this location, please allow a few extra minutes for the containers and networks to be created before this VM will begin deploying.

As part of the provisioning process, the VM goes through a customization process, which results in the VM restarting a few times. 

Once your VM has customised and ready to use, open the console by clicking the Options then Open Console. 

Increasing CPU and RAM for your Virtual Machine

In order increase your VM's CPU and ram, you will need to shutdown your VM first. Go to the Settings button, then click the Hardware Tab. Notice the Cost Overview panel as this information will change as you change values of your number of CPUs, number of disks and total RAM allocation. Once you are satisfied with your changes, click Save. Then power up your VM again and continue working.

Important Note: If you have firewall rules that were created or modified using VMware Cloud Director, then the above process WILL NOT work when trying to provision a new VM. You will need to continue using the Cloud Director Portal to deploy new VMs in your environment.