Deploy Internal Pexip Transcoding Conferencing Nodes

Suggested completion time: 30 minutes

Use section #3 and section #4.1 of the lab sheet.

Go to Platform --> Conferencing Nodes and click Add Conferencing Node.

  1. On the Add Conferencing Node page, fill in the required fields using the details provided in (Lab sheet section #4.1).
    1. Name: Enter the name as the FQDN.
    2. Role: Transcoding Conferencing Node.
    3. Hostname, domain, and IP details.
    4. Note that these Conferencing Nodes should be in the Enterprise LAN location.
    5. Note the other information that can be assigned to a specific Conferencing Node, but you do not need to configure anything else.
    6. Save.
  2. On the Download Conferencing Node image page:
    1. Select Deployment type: Manual (ESXi 6.7 and above).
    2. You can leave the vCPU and vRAM settings at the default values. NOTE: in the real world, getting your VMs design correctly is critical, although these settings can be changed in OnPrem hypervisors after deployment, and cloud platforms, the selection is automatic as the compute instance types are pre-determined.
    3. Enter the SSH password, also Pexip123 to keep things simple (IMPORTANT NOTE: as of current Pexip software, we do not employ password input validation, so be careful with the password you type. You may need to redeploy the node if you lose, forget, or input the original password incorrectly).
    4. Click the Download button.
  3. When the download is complete, navigate back to the vCenter URL (Lab sheet section #3).
  4. Right Click on your host and select Deploy OVF template. The next steps are similar to those used when deploying the Management Node.
  5. Choose Local File, then select the OVA file you have just downloaded (likely to be in the downloads folder), then click Next.
  6. Ensure the Virtual Machine name is as specified in section #4.1 of the lab sheet. Ensure you are deploying to the correct vCenter and Data Center for your area, then click Next.
  7. Ensure you are deploying to the correct host (which should be correctly selected), then click Next.
  8. Review the details and if you are happy, click Next.
  9. You should always deploy the nodes with Thick Provisioned vHDDs, to avoid any undesirable storage issues later. The correct datastore should be shown (which will include the similar naming convention as your host), then click Next.
  10. Set the VM network as specified in your Lab Sheet (see section #4.1). Leave the IP allocation as static and IPv4 – the IP address is burnt into the node configuration), then click Next.
  11. Review the details and if you are happy, click Finish.
  12. When the Node has been deployed, you will need to power it on. You can see all the VMs on your host by clicking the VMs tab for the host. Right-click on the Node, then choose Power --> Power On. 
  13. Permanently delete the OVA file from the downloads folder as we can run out of space on the RDP server!
  14. Ensure the new Node communicates with the Management Node once it has fully booted. On the Pexip GUI, navigate to Status --> Conferencing Nodes, and ensure the Last Contacted, Last Updated and HD port count look OK. Also check Status --> Locations, which should report that some transcoding resource is available.
  15. Rinse and repeat for the second transcoding node in the LAN.