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Account Creation

Frame Customer and Organization Administrators can create and manage multiple accounts from their Admin console. Each account is created:

  • With an AHV, AWS, Azure, or GCP (Infrastructure as a Service, IaaS) cloud account,
  • In an on-premises datacenter (if created with an AHV Cloud Account) or a public cloud region (if created with an IaaS Cloud Account),
  • In a virtual network (VLAN, VPC, or VNET),
  • Non-persistent or persistent, and
  • Having its own base image, unique set of applications, URLs, application and/or desktop Launchpads, and properties.
Attention

Before creating a Frame account, be sure to review and understand the network configuration requirements discussed in further detail in Network Configuration Requirements.

Infrastructure

Public Cloud

When creating a Frame account in public cloud, the Customer or Organization Administrator may choose from one of four different network deployments. Account creation instructions for each network deployment model are provided in the next section.

  • Frame-Managed Networking (Public network): all workload VMs have public IP addresses. Frame Platform creates the VNET or VPC.
  • Frame-Managed Networking (Private network): all workload VMs have private IP addresses. Frame Platform creates the VNET or VPC.
  • Frame-Managed Networking (Private network with Streaming Gateway Appliance (SGA)): all workload VMs have private IP addresses with one public IP address. Frame Platform creates the two VNETs or VPCs (one for the workload VMs and the second for up to 4 SGA VMs).
  • Customer-Managed Networking: all workload VMs have private IP addresses. The customer is solely responsible for configuring and managing the network containing the Frame account workload VMs, routing between end users and the workload VMs, and creation of the SGA (if required).
note

Administrators creating new accounts with Frame base images may find that account creation takes longer when a new base image is available since the updated image needs to be applied.

AHV Infrastructure

When creating a Frame account on AHV infrastructure, the Customer or Organization Administrator creates the Frame account in an existing VLAN in the registered AHV Cloud Account. If the customer requires the SGA to support users accessing the workload VMs from the Internet without a VPN, they will deploy the SGA VM(s) independently in a DMZ LAN.

Create a New Frame Account Entity

  1. Administrators with the appropriate role can create new accounts by selecting Accounts in the left-hand menu from the Customer or Organization Dashboard in their Admin Console.

  2. Click the Create Account link located on the upper right portion of the screen. The first set of parameters to specify will determine the infrastructure, location, and networking option for the Frame account.

Use the tabs below to find instructions for each network deployment configuration:

Customers who wish to rapidly create a Frame account on the public cloud infrastructure for users accessing the virtualized applications/desktops from the Internet can choose this option. This procedure will provision a Frame account with the network requirements and architecture as defined in Public Cloud (Default) Network Requirements. All workload VMs will have public IP addresses.

Public Public Networking Config Page

Field/ButtonDescription
OrganizationSelect or search for the the top level organization the account will reside under.
Account NameFrame automatically generates an account name for you, but you can edit this field if desired. The account name will be displayed in the account Dashboard and Launchpad.
Account URLThis editable field designates the unique identifier of the URL for users to access the login page. The format for the string referenced above would appear as:

https://console.nutanix.com/frame/customer/org/test-acct-sga
Cloud ProviderSelect the desired cloud or IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) provider for your account.
RegionSpecify the desired datacenter you would like the account to be created in.
NetworkingSelect Frame-Managed Networking
Network TypeSelect Public Network.
Customize VPC SettingsSelect this checkbox to specify a specific VPC/VNET CIDR. If you do not enable this feature and specify a CIDR, Frame will set the CIDR to a randomized IP address range of 10.{0-255}.0.0/18.

If you plan to connect this VPC/VNET to another network through a peer, VPN, or other private connection, you need to specify a non-overlapping CIDR (e.g., 10.0.0.0/20, 192.168.0.0/24).

The VPC/VNET CIDR can be changed after the Frame account is created under Dashboard, Settings, Networking, as long as there are no customer-provsioned network resources (e.g., peers, VPNs, gateways, etc.) attached to the Frame-provisioned VPC/VNET.
  1. After selecting the “Next” button, you will be asked to specify the Frame account configuration.

Account Configuration

Field/ButtonDescription
Frame/BYO base imageIf you have already configured your organization or customer entity with a BYO base image, you can select the “Bring your own base image” radio button and use your custom base image here. Otherwise, select Use Frame base image (public cloud only).
Base image familySelect the base server type/version (AMI) for the account. The options for image family vary depending on the cloud provider.
Instance typeSelect the system type of the Sandbox upon account creation. The system type can be modified at a later time from the Dashboard of the account.
Disk sizeUse the slider or the editable field next to it to specify the initial Sandbox disk capacity upon account creation. We recommend you start with the smallest disk size since you can always increase the Sandbox disk size in the Dashboard.
Initial capacityUse the slider to specify the number of workload VMs you would like provisioned upon account creation. You can adjust capacity settings any time after account creation.
Persistent DesktopThis toggle will enable “Persistent Desktops” for your account. If you wish to deliver non-persistent desktops or individual applications to your users, do not select the Persistent Desktop option.
  1. Review the configuration you have specified in the first two steps of the account creation wizard and click “Create” in the bottom right corner of the window. Once the operation is complete, the new account will populate in the accounts list.

Summary

Troubleshooting

"My Sandbox is taking a long time to provision on my new account..."
  • The typical time required to create a new instance (for the Sandbox on a new account) is 10-15 minutes for public cloud. This time is necessary as the Sandbox image is being created from the Frame-provided base image. After creation, updates are applied incrementally and there may be a reboot required for an update – this can extend the provisioning time for the Sandbox to over 15 minutes.

  • In some cases, if there is a problem with provisioning the first Sandbox, the system may go into a recovery process that will terminate the original instance and start over with a new Sandbox which could result in a provisioning time closer to 30 minutes.

  • If the above process takes between 30 minutes to an hour, there could be a problem with a lack of capacity in your AHV cluster or service limits with your IaaS cloud subscription. For example, provisioning can't proceed when a virtual machine limit is reached with the request by Frame Platform for a new instance. In this case, you should check your IaaS service/quota limits.

"My Sandbox failed to provision during account creation..."
  • When publishing to provision instances with storage volumes (especially GPU-backed instances), there is a possibility that the instance and/or storage limit can be reached in the given region (e.g. the default limits for GPU instances on new IaaS accounts are typically very low per region).

  • If instance storage limits in a given region are hit, provisioning of the Sandbox for the new account will fail.

  • If the Sandbox VM cannot be provisioned during the Account creation process due to lack of availability of that instance type, the administrator will be prompted to retry creating the Sandbox or change the instance type.

"My account creation failed..."
  • For each account, a new VPC/VNET is required when creating an account using Frame networking. IaaS providers limit the number of VPCs or VNETs that can be created.

  • If an issue is encountered when creating VPCs or VNETs due to the limit being hit, the account creation will fail.

"I can't access my Sandbox after account creation..."

If a Frame account using Frame Networking (Private Networking) or Customer-Managed Networking is created, the Sandbox may not be created successfully or accessible from the Internet. The Administrator must verify that the network configuration requirements are satisfied.

"How do I request a capacity limit increase from my IaaS provider?"

In general, when provisioning accounts, the IaaS cloud account must have sufficient capacity/limits to support the instance, storage, VPC/VNET and networking demands. If limits are reached, the owner of the IaaS account must request limit increases by submitting a support ticket with their IaaS provider.

"I need help, how do I contact support?"

If you need additional help, contact our Frame support team using the guide on our support page.