BlockBox Virtual Appliance: Image Setup Guide

You can access the complete BlockBox Virtual Appliance deployment guide here, but you will first need to prepare the virtual image using the guide below.

Table of contents

Deployment on Azure

Deployment on VMware ESXi

Deployment on Microsoft Hyper-V

Deployment on Nutanix AHV

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Deployment on Azure

Requirements:

• A device with at least 35 GB of free disk space to download and extract the Azure-ready BlockBox VHD

  • Download size: ~1.5–2.6 GB (compressed)

  • Extracted size: ~32 GB

• An Azure Storage Account with a container (existing or new)

• An Azure Resource Group (existing or new)

Download our Azure-ready VHD

Download the Azure-ready BlockBox VHD here. 

The VHD must be fully extracted before uploading to Azure. Azure cannot decompress archives after upload.

Upload VHD to Azure

• Log in to the Azure Portal.

• Navigate to Storage Accounts.

• Create a new storage account or select an existing one.

• Create a new container or use an existing container.

• Upload the uncompressed BlockBox VHD to the container.

• Confirm the VHD appears as a storage blob after upload.

Create an Image on Azure

Before creating a virtual machine, an image must be created:

1. In the Azure Portal, navigate to Images.

2. Create a new image.

3. Select an existing resource group or create a new one.

4. Select the uploaded BlockBox VHD as the source.

5. Complete the remaining image configuration as needed.

Creating a Virtual Machine

You are now ready to create a virtual machine using the newly created BlockBox image:

1. Select the newly created BlockBox image and click Create VM.

2. If prompted, browse to My Items and select the BlockBox image.

3. Choose a VM size with at least:

   • Minimum: 4 vCPUs and 4 GB RAM

   • Recommended: 8 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM

4. For authentication:

   • Select Password or SSH public key

   • Use blockbox as the username

5. Configure inbound port rules as required (HTTPS access is needed).

Accessing the BlockBox

After the virtual machine is created:

1. Navigate to the VM’s IP address using HTTPS.

2. Follow the instructions in the Deployment Guide.

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Deployment on VMware ESXi

Download

Download the OVF/VMDK package here

System Requirements

• VMware host running ESXi 5.5 or newer

• Sufficient resources for the appliance:

  • Minimum: 4 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM (100–1,000 devices)

  • Recommended: 8 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM (1,000–10,000 devices)

  • Storage: 30 GB (uncompressed)

Network Requirements

• A network segment with access to enterprise assets

• A static IP address for the appliance (recommended)

Deployment

• Deploy the OVF template on the appropriate ESXi host.

• Power on the appliance.

• Open a remote console using the vSphere client.

• Follow the on-screen prompts to complete initial setup.

• When prompted, launch the web interface to continue configuration.

Accessing the BlockBox

After the virtual machine is running:

1. Navigate to the appliance IP address using HTTPS.

2. Follow the instructions in the Deployment Guide.

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Deployment on Microsoft Hyper-V

Download

Download the virtual hard disk (VHD) file here

System Requirements

• Hyper-V host running Windows Server 2008 R2 or newer

• Guest virtual machine resources:

  • Minimum: 4 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM

  • Recommended: 8 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM

Network Requirements

• A network segment with access to enterprise assets

• A static IP address for the appliance (recommended)

Deployment

• Extract the virtual disk on the Hyper-V host.

• Create a new virtual machine for the appliance.

• Assign resources based on environment size:

  • Minimum: 4 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM (100–1,000 devices)

  • Recommended: 8 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM (1,000–10,000 devices)

• Attach the extracted virtual disk to the VM.

• Power on the virtual machine.

• Access the VM through the Hyper-V console and follow the prompts.

• When prompted, launch the web interface to continue configuration.

Accessing the BlockBox

After the virtual machine is running:

1. Navigate to the appliance IP address using HTTPS.

2. Follow the instructions in the Deployment Guide.

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Deployment on Nutanix AHV

For Nutanix AHV environments, the BlockBox appliance is deployed by importing the provided VHD image and converting it using Nutanix Image Service. This is a standard and supported workflow in Nutanix deployments.

Download

Download the BlockBox Virtual Appliance image (VHD) here

System Requirements

• Nutanix AHV cluster with access to Prism

• Resources allocated according to the environment size (see below)

Network Requirements

• A network segment with access to the enterprise assets in scope

• A static IP address assigned to the appliance (recommended)

Deployment

1. Upload the BlockBox VHD image to Nutanix Prism using Image Service.

   • Nutanix will automatically convert the image to its native AHV format during the import process.

2. Create a new virtual machine using the converted image with the following resources:

   1. Minimum: 4 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM (100–1,000 devices)
   2. Recommended: 8 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM (1,000–10,000 devices)

3. Attach the converted disk image to the new virtual machine.

4. Power on the virtual machine and access it through the Nutanix console.

5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the initial setup.

6. When prompted, launch the web interface to continue with the configuration.

Accessing the BlockBox

After the virtual machine has been successfully created and powered on:

1. Navigate to the appliance IP address in a browser using HTTPS.

2. Follow the instructions in the Deployment Guide to complete the configuration.

Notes for Nutanix Environments

• Nutanix AHV natively supports importing and converting virtual machine images from other platforms using Image Service.

• Once imported, the BlockBox appliance runs as a standard AHV virtual machine.

• No functional differences or limitations exist after conversion.