# Virtual Machine-Based Installation

You can install a Station Manager virtual machine on VMware vSphere.

Minimum requirements:

- VMware vSphere version 6.5 or later

- VM requirements:

  - 4 CPU cores

  - 8 GB RAM

  - At least 200 GB storage

To create the Station Manager virtual machine:

1. Right-click on the cluster or host in the vSphere inventory, and select Deploy OVF Template... to begin the installation process.

2. Choose URL or Local file. For the URL, enter the full path to the .ova file location. For the local file system, click Upload Files and select the cognex-station-manager.ova file.

3. Click Next.

4. Provide a name for the virtual machine that is created from the OVF template.

5. Select the inventory location for the virtual machine.

6. Click Next.

7. Choose the host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp where the virtual machine runs.

8. Select the appropriate compute resource for your deployment.

9. Click Next.

10. Verify the template details including the publisher, download size, and description. Confirm these are correct for the Edge Intelligence Station Manager OVA.

11. Click Next.

12. Choose the destination storage or storage cluster for the virtual machine configuration and disk files.

13. Optionally select the virtual disk format as Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed and VM Storage Policy.

14. Click Next.

15. Select the relevant network.

16. Click Next.

17. Review the details and configuration selected in the previous steps.

18. Click Finish to initiate the OVA deployment task.

19. The OVA is now downloaded (if specified by URL) or uploaded from your local file and deployed to the selected compute resource and storage. You can see the progress at the bottom in the Status Window.

20. After the deployment finishes, the Station Manager virtual machine is created and ready for configuration and use. Enter the IP address specified to access Station Manager with a browser.