Dante Domain Manager (DDM) is supplied as an ISO file that contains both the DDM application and its Linux operating system. To run DDM on VMware ESXi, you upload the ISO to ESXi, create a new virtual machine (VM) and install DDM from the ISO.
Before you start
- Download the DDM ISO from Software Downloads.
- AVX support (DDM 1.9 and later): the ESXi host CPU must support the AVX instruction set, and ESXi must pass it through to the VM. See The AVX instruction requirements for DDM.
- Upgrading from DDM 1.6 or earlier? You need a fresh install and a configuration restore. See the DDM 1.7+ Install Guide before you begin.
VM requirements
Size the VM for your DDM edition and the number of devices in your system:
| DDM edition | CPUs | RAM | Disk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2 | 4 GB | 20 GB |
| Platinum | 2 | 8 GB | 20 GB |
| More than 200 devices | 3 | 16 GB recommended | 30 GB |
The physical ESXi host must meet these requirements as well as VMware's own ESXi hardware requirements, with extra capacity for any other VMs it runs.
Step 1: Upload the DDM ISO to ESXi
- Log in to the VMware ESXi web interface.
- Go to Storage and click Datastore browser.
- Click Upload and select the DDM ISO file.
- When the upload finishes, close the Datastore browser.
Step 2: Create the virtual machine
- Go to Virtual Machines and click Create / Register VM.
- Select Create a new virtual machine and click Next.
-
Enter a name for the VM and set the guest operating system:
- Guest OS family: Linux
- Guest OS version: for DDM 1.7 and later, choose Rocky Linux (64-bit). If your ESXi version doesn't list Rocky Linux, choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (64-bit). For DDM 1.6 and earlier, choose CentOS 7 (64-bit).
Click Next.
- Select the datastore to store the VM (for example, datastore1) and click Next.
- On Customize settings, set the CPU, memory and hard disk to match the VM requirements above.
- If the VM doesn't already have a CD/DVD drive, click Add other device and add one. Set the CD/DVD drive to Datastore ISO file, select the DDM ISO you uploaded, and make sure Connect is ticked. Click Next.
- Review your settings and click Finish. Stay on the page while the VM is created.
Step 3: Install DDM
- Power on the VM and open its console.
- On the DDM installation screen, make sure Install Dante Domain Manager is highlighted and press Enter. This erases all data on the VM's disk.
- Wait for the Installation Complete message, then press Enter to reboot.
- After the reboot, the DDM appliance menu shows the Dante network interface and the VM's IP address. Make any network changes you need in the menu.
- In a web browser, go to the IP address shown and follow the steps to set up and license DDM.
For more on the appliance menu and licensing, see the Dante Domain Manager User Guide.