vRA 6.2.1 Remote Console with Load Balancer

I was working with a client today to troubleshoot and resolve issues with vRA (vCAC) 6.2.1 Remote Console through a F5 load balancer.  Here are the key takeaways for getting it to work:

  • You will need a new pool or port service for Port 8444.  This is the port used from the client system to the vRA Web Appliance.
  • vRA Web must have connectivity to the vCenter on port 443 and to the ESXi server where the VM resides on port 902.
  • IF using F5 BIG IP with a version earlier than 11.4.0. there is a bug where the Load Balancer drops WebSocket traffic.  WebSocket traffic is used for remote console in vRA 6.2.1.  Here is the kbase article

https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/14000/800/sol14814.html

The workaround is documented in the article, but is essentially to not use an HTTP profile for the 8444 load balancing pool and to configure it to pass raw TCP traffic.  I’ve included a screenshot below:

F5 Web Sockets workaround

F5 Web Sockets workaround

 

Hope this helps! -Justin