vSensor deployment in Proxmox

Review KVM requirements, networking guidance, VM operations, and vSensor deployment before pairing and updating.

Downloading the latest KVM vSensor OVA

The KVM vSensor image for use with Proxmox is available under Configuration → COVERAGE → Data Sources → Network → Sensors in your Vectra UI. Navigate to this area, click Download Virtual Image at the top right, and select the VMware vSensor (OVA) option.

Please Note:

The same VMware vSensor (OVA) image is compatible with both VMWare and Proxmox.

Prepare Proxmox storage

1. Sign in to the Proxmox web interface.
2. In the left navigation pane, select Datacenter.
3. Select Storage, choose the storage location that will hold the OVA, and click Edit.

1. In Content, enable Import, Disk image, and ISO image, then save the change.

1. Ensure there is sufficient temporary space on the import working storage. Proxmox extracts disks from the OVA during import.

Import and create the vSensor VM

1. In the left navigation pane, select the storage location prepared above.
2. Select Import.
3. Use Upload to select your locally available OVA
4. Wait for the import task to finish and report TASK OK.

1. Double-click the imported OVA to open Import Guest.

1. Set a VM name.
2. Set CPU Type to host.
3. Set the total core count and memory to one of the supported vSensor configurations in the sizing table.
4. Select thin-provisioned (lvmthin) storage for Default Storage.
5. Select the management bridge for Default Bridge.
6. Click Import and wait for the VM creation task to report TASK OK.

Configure the imported VM

Before starting the VM, select the newly created VM and make these changes:

1. Open Hardware, double-click SCSI Controller, select VirtIO SCSI single, and click OK.
2. If you are deploying a 16-core vSensor, open Hardware, single click Hard Disk (scsi0) and select Disk Action → Resize from the menu bar. Enter the difference between the correct size of the disk specified in KVM vSensor Requirements and Throughput and the current size of the disk. (For example, if the correct size is 500GB and the current size is 150GB, enter 350).
3. Open Hardware. Double-click to edit the management Network Device:

   • Select VirtIO (paravirtualized) as the model.
   • Set Multiqueue to the number of CPU cores of the vSensor. (If this is not visible, click on the "Advanced" checkbox.)
   • Click OK.
4. Edit the second network device for packet capture:

   • Attach it to the capture bridge.
   • Set the model to VirtIO (paravirtualized).
   • Set Multiqueue to the number of CPU cores of the vSensor. (If this is not visible, click on the Advanced checkbox.)
   • Click OK.
5. Open Options, double-click QEMU Guest Agent, enable Use QEMU Guest Agent, select Advanced, then VirtIO as the type, and click OK.

Start the VM

• In the sidebar, select the newly created VM.
• At the top of the screen, click Start.

Proxmox networking guidance

• Use distinct bridges for management and capture.
• The capture bridge must receive the traffic that the vSensor is intended to inspect, whether by a virtual-switch mirror, physical-switch mirror, or another supported traffic-delivery design.
• Do not attach unrelated VMs to an isolated capture bridge unless they are intended to receive the same mirrored traffic.
• If jumbo frames are required, configure an MTU of 9000 consistently on the relevant physical interface, Proxmox bridge, and vSensor capture network device. Verify the end-to-end capture path supports that MTU before starting production monitoring.

Modifying Proxmox vSensors after deployment

If you forget to do any of the steps in Configure the imported VM, simply shut down the VM, follow the instructions in Configure the imported VM again, and power on the VM.

You must shut down the VM and start it again separately to apply your changes. Do not choose "reboot."