Getting Started Guide

WAN Acceleration

WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance v1.3 Getting Started Guide

SonicOS

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Requirements ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Activating the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance ............................................................................................................... 2
Choosing a Network Deployment Mode ..................................................................................................................... 5
Installing the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance using VMware vSphere .......................................................................... 8
Adding a Virtual Hard Disk to the WXA 5000 ........................................................................................................... 15

Introduction
The Dell SonicWALL WXA 5000 is a Virtual Appliance that is installed and run using a VMware platform. This
getting started guide details how to activate and install the WXA 5000 in your virtual environment.

Requirements
The Dell SonicWALL WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance requires:
A Dell SonicWALL E-class NSA, NSA, or TZ series appliance running SonicOS 5.8.1.0 or higher
firmware.
Note: Some WXA features are not supported unless running SonicOS 5.8.1.11 or higher firmware.

An unused interface on the Dell SonicWALL NSA/TZ series appliance configured with a LAN Static IP
address and a DHCP lease scope. Please refer to the WXA Quick Start Guide for more information.

A server running VMware ESX or ESXi version 5.0 or higher is recommended.

250 GB hard disk

4GB RAM

A layer 2 network between the ESX Server and the NSA/TZ series appliance. This is required for
communication between the WXA 5000 on your ESX Server and the NSA/TZ series appliance.
Customers with current service/software support contracts can obtain updated versions of Dell SonicWALL
firmware from the MySonicWALL customer portal at www.mysonicwall.com. Updated firmware is also available
for free within 90 days of registering the Dell SonicWALL device on MySonicWALL.

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Activating the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance
You must activate your Dell SonicWALL WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance before first use. Activation is performed
using the NSA/TZ series appliance management interface. When activation is complete, the Dell SonicWALL
WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance will be ready to use.
A MySonicWALL account is required for product activation.

If you already have an account, continue to the Activating the License section to activate your WXA 6000
license.

If you do not have an account, refer to the Creating a MySonicWALL Account section to create a
MySonicWALL account.

Creating a MySonicWALL Account

Perform the following steps to create a MySonicWALL account:
1. In your web browser, navigate to www.mysonicwall.com.

2. In the login screen, click the Not a registered user? Register Now link.
3. Complete the registration form, then click the Register button.
4. Verify the information you entered is correct, then click the Submit button.
5. In the confirmation screen, click the Continue button.
6. Now that your MySonicWALL account is created, continue to the Activating the License section to activate
your WXA 5000 license.

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Activating the License
To activate your WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance license, perform the following steps:
1. Log in to your NSA/TZ series appliance.
2. Navigate to the System > License page.

3. Click the click here link to activate, upgrade, or renew services.

The License Management page displays:

4. Enter your MySonicWALL account Email Address or Username and Password in the appropriate fields, then
click the Submit button.

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The Manage Services Online list displays:

5. In the WAN Acceleration Software row, click the Activate link.

The License Management page displays:

6. Enter the Activation Key in the text-field, then click the Submit button. You have successfully activated your
WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance.
7. Before accessing the WAN Acceleration page, navigate to the System > Licenses page and click the
Synchronize button. This synchronizes the licenses between the License Manager and NSA/TZ appliance.

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Choosing a Network Deployment Mode

Choose a network deployment mode for communication between the Dell SonicWALL WXA 5000 Virtual
Appliance on your ESX Server and the Dell SonicWALL NSA or TZ security appliance. The following is a list of
the possible modes:

Direct Access Mode

VLAN Trunks Mode

NSA/TZ Trunking Mode

Please click here for more information on how to configure your virtual network on your ESX Server.

Direct Access Mode

1. Dedicate a spare NIC port on your ESX Server.
2. Create a virtual switch for the dedicated NIC port. Then, create a network label for this switch.
3. Map this network label to the sample network on the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance.
4. Connect an ethernet cable between the spare NIC port of the ESX Server and a dedicated interface on
NSA/TZ series appliance.

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VLAN Trunks Mode
1. Assign a VLAN ID to a virtual switch on the ESX Server.
2. Give it a network label for the virtual switch.
3. Map this network label to the sample network on the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance.
4. Allocate an unused interface on the NSA/TZ series appliance.
5. Connect an Ethernet cable between the unused interface on the NSA/TZ series appliance and a port on
the physical switch connected to your ESX Server.
6. Configure access mode for the VLAN ID on the port of the physical switch where the NSA/TZ series
appliance is connected.

To isolate and segment virtual machine traffic, refer to the VMware Knowledge Base.

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NSA/TZ Trunking Mode
1. Assign a VLAN ID to a virtual switch on the ESX Server.
2. Give it a network label for the virtual switch.
3. Map this network label to the sample network on the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance.
4. Enable trunking on the physical switch port attached to the LAN interface of the NSA/TZ series appliance.
5. Configure a VLAN interface on top of the LAN interface.

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Installing the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance using VMware vSphere
This section details the installation of the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance using the VMware vSphere. Perform the
following steps to complete the WXA 5000 installation:
1. Download the WXA 5000 Open Virtual Appliance (OVA).
2. Login to your vSphere client.
3. Click File, then select Deploy OVF Template.

The Deploy OVF Template pop-up window displays:

4. Specify the location of WXA 5000 OVA file by clicking the Browse button.
5. Select the WXA 5000 OVA file. Then, click the Next button.
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The OVF Template Details display:

6. Verify the product name is wxa5000-1.3.X-X-X-x64, then click the Next button.
The Name and Location options display:

7. Specify a Name and Location for deploying the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance, then click the Next button.

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The Host / Cluster options display:

8. Choose a Host or Cluster for running the WXA 5000, then click the Next button.
The Resource Pool options display:

9. Select the Resource Pool, then click the Next button.

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The Disk Format options display:

10. Select the Thick Provisioned Format (recommended), then click the Next button.
The Network Mapping options display:

11. Select the network you created in the Choosing a Network Deployment Mode section, then click the Next
button.

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The Ready to Compete screen displays:

12. Verify the configuration before deploying the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance, then click the Finish button.
Please wait while your virtual appliance is being deployed, this may take several minutes.
The Deployment Completed Successfully pop-up window displays when the WXA 5000 deployment is
complete:

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13. Navigate to the chosen Host/Cluster for WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance and click Power on the virtual
machine.

14. Right click on the VM and select Open Console.

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After the WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance finishes booting up, the following screen displays:

15. Select Show Network Settings, then press the Enter key.
The DHCP IP address assigned by the NSA/TZ series appliance displays:

The WXA 5000 Virtual Appliance is now operational.

16. Login to the managing NSA/TZ series appliance, and then navigate to the WAN Acceleration screen. Refer
to the WXA Users Guide for detailed instructions on how to configure the WAN Acceleration service.

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Adding a Virtual Hard Disk to the WXA 5000
The Dell SonicWALL WXA 5000 is an Open Virtualization Appliance (OVA). The WXA 5000 has a 250 GB hard
disk. The hard disk is partitioned such that most of the space is allocated as a cache partition. The cache partition
holds the TCP and WAFS acceleration databases and the Web Cache objects.
The administrator can increase the size of the cache partition by simply adding a new virtual hard disk to the WXA
appliance. The new disk space is then automatically allocated to the cache partition.
The WXA 5000 supports adding only two additional hard disks. The WXA 5000 supports only IDE hard disks, and
the virtual machine ESX only allows up to four IDE devices to be part of the virtual machine. The WXA 5000 builtin hard disk and CD/DVD device account for two IDE devices. So, only two additional IDE devices can be added.
Once a hard disk is added to the WXA 5000, it becomes a permanent part of the WXA 5000. Removing a hard
disk that has become part of the partition will result in the WXA 5000 becoming unbootable.
Currently, WXA 5000 only supports the addition of virtual IDE hard disks. The WXA 5000 does not detect any
virtual SCSI hard disks.
To add a virtual hard disk to a WXA 5000 virtual appliance:
1. In your VM application, shutdown the WXA 5000.

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2. Under the VM menu, click Edit Settings.

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3. In the Hardware window, click the Add button.

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4. In the Device Type window, select Hard Disk.
5. Click the Next button.

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6. In the Select a Disk window, select the Create a new virtual disk option.
7. Click the Next button.

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8. In the Create a Disk window, in the Capacity panel, from the Disk Size menus, select the size and units
for the virtual disk.
9. In the Disk Provisioning panel, select the Allocate and commit space on demand (Thin
Provisioning) option.
10. Click the Next button.

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11. In the Advanced Options window, in the Virtual Device Node panel, select the IDE option.
If this is your first additional hard disk the Virtual Device Node will be IDE (0:1),
second one will be IDE (1:1), etc.
12. Click the Next button.

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13. In the Ready to Complete window, click Finish.

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14. In the Hardware window, click the OK button.

15. Power on the WXA 5000 virtual appliance.

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While the WXA 5000 is powering up, it adds the new hard disk to its cache partition. This may take a few minutes.
The amount of time it takes depends on the size of the hard disk and the number of hard disks added. While the
WXA 5000 is adding the new hard disk to its cache partition, it displays its progress in the following screens.

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When finished, the WXA 5000 displays the default console screen.
To continue using the WXA 5000 click on any of the options.

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Last updated: 11/21/2014

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