Quick Start Guide: VMware Player / Workstation / Server / Fusion

Introduction
Getting started with Sinefa on VMware is an easy 3 step process - Download, Deploy and Register. This guide describes how to download, deploy and register a Sinefa Probe on a VMware hypervisor running Player, Server, Workstation or Fusion.

Overview
Prerequisites
Step 1: Download
Step 2: Deploy
Step 3: Registration
Step 4: Subscription
Step 5: Direct SPAN traffic

Prerequisites
This Quick Start Guide assumes the following:

• You have registered for a Sinefa Account (if not, go to http://www.sinefa.com/ and click on the "Free Trial" button to register)
• A basic knowledge of VMware and virtualization
• A working VMware Player / Workstation / Server / Fusion hypervisor
• 8GB of HDD space
• A virtual network that has Internet access
• 1 NIC with Internet access and 1 dedicated NIC connected to your SPAN/Mirror Port (no other devices can be connected to this NIC as it's purely for traffic monitoring purposes)
• You need at least 2 Sinefa Probes deployed to receive Capacity and Quality results

For help and support with VMware, including downloading the free player, visit http://www.vmware.com/support/.

NOTE: This guide is for the VMware products listed above. If you are using VMware ESX, ESXi or vSphere, use this guide instead.

Step 1. Download
Locate the latest VMware Player / Workstation / Server / Fusion Sinefa Probe software from the "Settings - Probes - Add Probe - Software" section of the Sinefa User Interface. The software is packaged as a ZIP file. The ZIP file contains a VMX configuration file and a VMDK disk image. UNZIP these files and store them somewhere locally on your PC.

Step 2. Deploy
NOTE: This guide uses VMware Player as an example. The steps are almost the same for the other hypervisors.

Open VMware Player and select "Open a Virtual Machine..." from the "File" menu. Select the VMX file that was downloaded and click "Open".

Click "Play virtual machine" to start the Sinefa Probe. Once booted, VMware player will show the Sinefa Probe login prompt.

Step 3. Register
Automatic Registration
Sinefa Probes deployed using VMware will automatically register with your account soon after start-up, providing the Sinefa Probe can obtain its network configuration from DHCP.

NOTE: By default, the Sinefa Probe will obtain an IP Address from DHCP. If DHCP is not available, you will need to manually configure a static IP Address using the "Network" option in the menu. See the Configuring a Static IP Address on a Sinefa Probe article for more information. 

If Automatic Registration fails or is not available, follow the steps for Manual Probe Registration

Once the Sinefa Probe is registered, you can now manage it using the Sinefa UI by logging in at ui.sinefa.com. 

Step 4. Subscribe
Subscribe the probe to the Sinefa service by login into www.ui.sinefa.com.

NOTE: As there is a charge associated with the subscription of Probes, only the Administrator can subscribe Probes. If you are not the Administrator then please notify the Administrator to complete this step.

1. On the Account drop down box at the top right of the screen, make sure you are using the right Account. Under Account, select "<YOUR ACCOUNT>".
2. Assuming the Probe is turned on and can communicate via HTTPS to controller.sinefa.com, it will appear online (green) under Settings > Probes.
3. Click on 'Subscribe' button and follow the prompts to add a Subscription to the Probe. A valid credit card will be required during the Active or Trial period. 

Step 5. Direct SPAN traffic (for out-of-path deployment)
Once you have set-up the above successfully, you will need to set-up the SPAN port on your switch/router and set-up SPAN port monitoring through the Sinefa UI

What Next?
How to Setup Network Quality Scoring (NQS)  
How to Setup SPAN Port Monitoring
Probe Networking Setup
Sinefa Best Practice Guide