vSphere Installation and Setup Update 1 Modified on 04 DEC 2017 VMware vSphere 6.5 VMware ESXi 6.5 vCenter Server 6.
vSphere Installation and Setup You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: https://docs.vmware.com/ If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com Copyright © 2009–2017 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc.
Contents About vSphere Installation and Setup 5 Updated Information for the vSphere 6.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 After You Install vCenter Server or Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance 318 Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Web Client Install the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in Collect vCenter Server Log Files 318 319 320 Repoint vCenter Server to Another External Platform Services Controller 321 Reconfigure a Standalone vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller 323 6 File-Ba
About vSphere Installation and Setup ® vSphere Installation and Setup describes how to install and configure VMware vCenter Server , deploy ® the VMware vCenter Server Appliance™, and install and configure VMware ESXi™. Intended Audience vSphere Installation and Setup is intended for experienced administrators who want to install and configure vCenter Server, deploy and configure the vCenter Server Appliance, and install and configure ESXi.
Updated Information for the vSphere 6.5 Installation and Setup This vSphere Installation and Setup is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Installation and Setup . Revision Description 04 DEC 2017 Added consideration item for SCP protocol in Considerations and Limitations for File-Based Backup and Restore. EN-002587-01 Initial release. VMware, Inc.
Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup 1 vSphere 6.5 provides various options for installation and setup. To ensure a successful vSphere deployment, understand the installation and setup options, and the sequence of tasks. The two core components of vSphere are ESXi and vCenter Server. ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administrator for ESXi hosts connected in a network.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 1‑1.
vSphere Installation and Setup c Determine where you want to locate and boot the ESXi installer. See Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer. If you are using PXE to boot the installer, verify that your network PXE infrastructure is properly set up. See PXE Booting the ESXi Installer. d Create a worksheet with the information you will need when you install ESXi. See Required Information for ESXi Installation. e Install ESXi.
vSphere Installation and Setup n 3 Use the topic Required Information for Deploying a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance to create a worksheet with the information you need for the GUI deployment, or use the topic Prepare Your JSON Configuration File for CLI Deployment to create your JSON templates for the CLI deployment. 4 Deploy the appliance. Install vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on a Windows virtual machine or physical server.
vSphere Installation and Setup n The vCenter Server group of services contains vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, vSphere Auto Deploy, and vSphere ESXi Dump Collector. vCenter Server for Windows also contains the VMware vSphere Syslog Collector. The vCenter Server Appliance also contains the VMware vSphere Update Manager Extension service. Note Starting with vSphere 6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Services Installed with vCenter Server These additional components are installed silently when you install vCenter Server. The components cannot be installed separately as they do not have their own installers. PostgreSQL A bundled version of the VMware distribution of PostgreSQL database for vSphere and vCloud Hybrid Services.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere Auto Deploy The vCenter Server support tool that can provision hundreds of physical hosts with ESXi software. You can specify the image to deploy and the hosts to provision with the image. Optionally, you can specify host profiles to apply to the hosts, and a vCenter Server location (folder or cluster) for each host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Starting with vSphere 6.5, the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller appliance support file-based backup and restore. For information backing up and restoring, see Chapter 6 FileBased Backup and Restore of vCenter Server Appliance. For information about the vCenter Server Appliance maximums, see the Configuration Maximums documentation.
vSphere Installation and Setup Installing vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller has the following advantages: n The connection between vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller is not over the network, and vCenter Server is not prone to outages caused by connectivity and name resolution issues between vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller. n If you install vCenter Server on Windows virtual machines or physical servers, you need fewer Windows licenses.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 1‑3. Example of Two vCenter Server Instances with a Common External Platform Services Controller Virtual Machine or Physical Server Platform Services Controller Virtual Machine or Physical Server Virtual Machine or Physical Server vCenter Server vCenter Server Installing vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller has the following advantages: n Fewer resources consumed by the shared services in the Platform Services Controller instances.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 1‑4. Example of a Mixed Operating Systems Environment with an External Platform Services Controller on Windows Windows Virtual Machine or Physical Server Platform Services Controller on Windows Virtual Machine or Physical Server Virtual Machine vCenter Server on Windows vCenter Server Appliance Figure 1‑5.
vSphere Installation and Setup With vSphere 6.0 and later, you can give your vSphere domain a unique name. To prevent authentication conflicts, use a name that is not used by OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and other directory services. Note You cannot change the domain to which a Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server instance belongs. If you are upgrading from vSphere 5.5, your vSphere domain name remains the default (vsphere.local).
vSphere Installation and Setup You can use a third-party load balancer per site to configure Platform Services Controller high availability with automatic failover for this site. For information about the maximum number of Platform Services Controller instances behind a load balancer, see the Configuration Maximums documentation. Important To configure Platform Services Controller high availability behind a load balancer, the Platform Services Controller instances must be of the same operating system type.
vSphere Installation and Setup Platform Services Controller with No Load Balancer Figure 1‑8.
vSphere Installation and Setup Platform Services Controller with No Load Balancer Across vCenter Single Sign-On Sites Figure 1‑9.
vSphere Installation and Setup If you install vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller, you first must deploy the Platform Services Controller on one virtual machines or physical server and then deploy vCenter Server on another virtual machine or physical server. While installing vCenter Server, you must select an existing external Platform Services Controller. You cannot select an existing Platform Services Controller that is a part of an embedded installation.
Installing and Setting Up ESXi 2 You can install and set up ESXi on your physical hardware so that it acts as a platform for virtual machines. This section includes the following topics: n ESXi Requirements n Preparing for Installing ESXi n Installing ESXi n Setting Up ESXi n After You Install and Set Up ESXi ESXi Requirements To install or upgrade ESXi, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.
vSphere Installation and Setup n One or more Gigabit or faster Ethernet controllers. For a list of supported network adapter models, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility. n SCSI disk or a local, non-network, RAID LUN with unpartitioned space for the virtual machines. n For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. SATA disks are considered remote, not local.
vSphere Installation and Setup datastore. Although a 1GB USB or SD device suffices for a minimal installation, you should use a 4GB or larger device. The extra space is used for an expanded coredump partition on the USB/SD device. Use a high-quality USB flash drive of 16 GB or larger so that the extra flash cells can prolong the life of the boot media, but high-quality drives of 4 GB or larger are sufficient to hold the extended coredump partition. See Knowledge Base article http://kb.vmware.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑2. Recommendations for Enhanced Performance System Element Recommendation RAM ESXi hosts require more RAM than typical servers. Provide at least 8GB of RAM to take full advantage of ESXi features and run virtual machines in typical production environments. An ESXi host must have sufficient RAM to run concurrent virtual machines. The following examples are provided to help you calculate the RAM required by the virtual machines running on the ESXi host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Incoming and Outgoing Firewall Ports for ESXi Hosts The vSphere Web Client and the VMware Host Client allow you to open and close firewall ports for each service or to allow traffic from selected IP addresses. The following table lists the firewalls for services that are installed by default. If you install other VIBs on your host, additional services and firewall ports might become available.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑3. Incoming Firewall Connections (Continued) Port Protoc ol Service Description 8080 TCP vsanvp vSAN VASA Vendor Provider. Used by the Storage Management Service (SMS) that is part of vCenter to access information about vSAN storage profiles, capabilities, and compliance. If disabled, vSAN Storage Profile Based Management (SPBM) does not work. 80 TCP vSphere Web Access Welcome page, with download links for different interfaces.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑4. Outgoing Firewall Connections (Continued) Port Protocol Service Description 5671 TCP rabbitmqproxy A proxy running on the ESXi host. This proxy allows applications that are running inside virtual machines to communicate with the AMQP brokers that are running in the vCenter network domain. The virtual machine does not have to be on the network, that is, no NIC is required.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑6. Recommended Minimum Size and Rotation Configuration for hostd, vpxa, and fdm Logs Log Maximum Log File Size Number of Rotations to Preserve Minimum Disk Space Required Management Agent (hostd) 10 MB 10 100 MB VirtualCenter Agent (vpxa) 5 MB 10 50 MB vSphere HA agent (Fault Domain Manager, fdm) 5 MB 10 50 MB For information about setting up a remote log server, see Configure Syslog on ESXi Hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Confirm that the md5sum is correct. See the VMware Web site topic Using MD5 Checksums at http://www.vmware.com/download/md5.html. Options for Installing ESXi ESXi can be installed in several ways. To ensure the best vSphere deployment, understand the options thoroughly before beginning the installation. ESXi installations are designed to accommodate a range of deployment sizes.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere Auto Deploy ESXi Installation vSphere 5.x and later provide several ways to install ESXi with vSphere Auto Deploy. vSphere Auto Deploy can provision hundreds of physical hosts with ESXi software. You can specify the image to deploy and the hosts to provision with the image. Optionally, you can specify host profiles to apply to the hosts, a vCenter Server location (datacenter, folder, or cluster), and script bundle for each host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Download the ESXi installer from the VMware Web site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads. ESXi is listed under Datacenter & Cloud Infrastructure. 2 Confirm that the md5sum is correct. See the VMware Web site topic Using MD5 Checksums at http://www.vmware.com/download/md5.html. 3 Burn the ISO image to a CD or DVD.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Create a partition table on the USB flash device. /sbin/fdisk /dev/sdb a Enter d to delete partitions until they are all deleted. b Enter n to create a primary partition 1 that extends over the entire disk. c Enter t to set the type to an appropriate setting for the FAT32 file system, such as c. d Enter a to set the active flag on partition 1. e Enter p to print the partition table. The result should be similar to the following message.
vSphere Installation and Setup 8 Rename the isolinux.cfg file to syslinux.cfg. mv /usbdisk/isolinux.cfg /usbdisk/syslinux.cfg 9 In the /usbdisk/syslinux.cfg file, edit the APPEND -c boot.cfg line to APPEND -c boot.cfg -p 1. 10 Unmount the USB flash drive. umount /usbdisk 11 Unmount the installer ISO image. umount /esxi_cdrom The USB flash drive can boot the ESXi installer.
vSphere Installation and Setup d Type p to print the partition table. The result should be similar to the following text: Disk /dev/sdb: 2004 MB, 2004877312 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks /dev/sdb1 1 243 1951866 e 3 Id c System W95 FAT32 (LBA) Type w to write the partition table and quit. Format the USB flash drive with the Fat32 file system. /sbin/mkfs.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Mount the ISO image in a folder: mount -o loop VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.x.x-XXXXXX.x86_64.iso /esxi_cdrom_mount XXXXXX is the ESXi build number for the version that you are installing or upgrading to. 3 Copy the contents of cdrom to another folder: cp -r /esxi_cdrom_mount /esxi_cdrom 4 Copy the kickstart file to /esxi_cdrom. cp ks_cust.cfg /esxi_cdrom 5 (Optional) Modify the boot.
vSphere Installation and Setup PXE booting requires some network infrastructure and a machine with a PXE-capable network adapter. Most machines that can run ESXi have network adapters that can PXE boot. Note PXE booting with legacy BIOS firmware is possible only over IPv4. PXE booting with UEFI firmware is possible with either IPv4 or IPv6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Example of Booting Using TFTP with IPv6 This example shows how to configure an ISC DHCPv6 server to boot ESXi using a TFTP server at IPv6 address xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx::xxxx. # # ISC DHCPv6 server configuration file snippet. This is not a complete # configuration file; see the ISC server documentation for details on # how to configure the DHCP server. # allow booting; allow bootp; option dhcp6.bootfile-url code 59 = string; option dhcp6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Example of Booting Using HTTP with IPv6 This example shows how to configure an ISC DHCPv6 server to boot ESXi using a TFTP server at IPv6 address xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx::xxxx. # # ISC DHCPv6 server configuration file snippet. This is not a complete # configuration file; see the ISC server documentation for details on # how to configure the DHCP server. # allow booting; allow bootp; option dhcp6.
vSphere Installation and Setup The initial boot file, pxelinux.0 or gpxelinux.0, tries to load a PXE configuration file in the following order: 1 It tries with the MAC address of the target ESXi host, prefixed with its ARP type code, which is 01 for Ethernet. 2 If that attempt fails, it tries with the hexadecimal notation of target ESXi system IP address. 3 Ultimately, it tries to load a file named default. File Location for the PXE Configuration File Save the file in /tftpboot/pxelinux.
vSphere Installation and Setup n gPXELINUX is a hybrid configuration that includes both PXELINUX and gPXE and supports booting from a Web server. gPXELINUX is part of the SYSLINUX package. If you use gPXELINUX to boot the ESXi installer, only the gpxelinux.0 binary file, mboot.c32, and the configuration file are transferred via TFTP. The remaining files are transferred via HTTP.
vSphere Installation and Setup Using Remote Management Applications Remote management applications allow you to install ESXi on servers that are in remote locations. Remote management applications supported for installation include HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO), Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC), IBM management module (MM), and Remote Supervisor Adapter II (RSA II).
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 2‑2. Image Builder Architecture Depot Image Profile 1 VIB Image Profile 2 VIB ISO Image Builder PowerCLI vSphere Update Manager User-Created Image Profile ZIP Windows Client vSphere Auto Deploy esxcli You use vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets for managing the software to deploy to your ESXi hosts in several different situations. Table 2‑7.
vSphere Installation and Setup The vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets take image profiles and VIBs as input and produce various outputs. Table 2‑8. Input and Output to the vSphere ESXi Image Builder Cmdlets Parameter Description Input Image profiles and VIBs that are located in a software depot are used as input to PowerCLI cmdlets running on a Windows client. Output PowerCLI cmdlets create custom image profiles that can be exported to an ISO image or an offline depot ZIP file.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere ESXi Image Builder Cmdlets Overview vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets allow you to manage image profiles and VIBs. vSphere ESXi Image Builder includes the following cmdlets. Note When you run vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets, provide all parameters on the command line when you invoke the cmdlet. Supplying parameters in interactive mode is not recommended. Run Get-Help cmdlet_name at the PowerCLI prompt for detailed reference information. Table 2‑9.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Each image profile has an acceptance level. When you add a VIB to an image profile with an vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlet, Image Builder checks that the VIB matches the acceptance level defined for the profile. n You cannot remove VIBs that are required by other VIBs. n You cannot include two versions of the same VIB in an image profile. When you add a new version of a VIB, the new version replaces the existing version of the VIB.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Checks that VIBs follow file path usage rules. VMware tests VMwareCertified and VMwareAccepted VIBs to guarantee those VIBs always follow file path usage rules. Acceptance Levels Each VIB is released with an acceptance level that cannot be changed. The host acceptance level determines which VIBs can be installed to a host. You can change the host acceptance levels with esxcli commands. VMware supports the following acceptance levels.
vSphere Installation and Setup Name Type Description AcceptanceLevel AcceptanceLevel Determines which VIBs you can add to the profile. Levels are VMwareCertified, VMwareAccepted, PartnerSupported, and CommunitySupported. See Acceptance Levels. Author System.String The person who created the profile. 60 characters or fewer. CreationTime System.DateTime The timestamp of creation time. Description System.String The full text description of profile. No length limit. GUID System.
vSphere Installation and Setup Name Type Description Guid System.String The unique ID for the VIB. LiveInstallOk System.Boolean True if live installs of this VIB are supported. LiveRemoveOk System.Boolean True if live removals of this VIB are supported. MaintenanceMode System.Boolean True if hosts must be in maintenance mode for installation of this VIB. Name System.String The name of the VIB. Usually uniquely describes the package on a running ESXi system.
vSphere Installation and Setup ImageProfileDiff Object Properties When you run the Compare-EsxImageProfile cmdlet, you pass in two parameters, first the reference profile, and then the comparison profile. The cmdlet returns an ImageProfileDiff object, which has the following properties. Name Type Description CompAcceptanceLevel System.String The acceptance level for the second profile that you passed to CompareEsxImageProfile. DowngradeFromRef System.
vSphere Installation and Setup SoftwareConstraint Object Properties The SoftwareConstraint object implements a MatchesProvide method. The method accepts a SoftwareProvides or SoftwarePackage object as input and returns True if the constraint matches the SoftwareProvide or the SoftwarePackage, or returns False otherwise. The SoftwareConstraint object includes the following properties. Name Type Description Name System.String The name of the constraint.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere ESXi Image Builder Installation and Usage vSphere ESXi Image Builder consists of the vSphere ESXi Image Builder server and the vSphere ESXi Image Builder PowerShell cmdlets. The vSphere ESXi Image Builder server starts when your run the first vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlet. Install vSphere ESXi Image Builder and Prerequisite Software Before you can run vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets, you must install PowerCLI and all prerequisite software.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Select ImageBuilder Service, click the Actions menu, and select Edit Startup Type. n On Windows, the vSphere ESXi Image Builder service is disabled. In the Edit Startup Type window, select Manual or Automatic to enable Auto Deploy. n On the vCenter Server Appliance, the vSphere ESXi Image Builder service by default is set to Manual. If you want the service to start automatically upon OS startup, select Automatic.
vSphere Installation and Setup Passing Parameters as Objects You can pass parameters as objects if you want to do scripting and automation. You can use the technique with cmdlets that return multiple objects or with cmdlets that return a single object. 1 Bind the output of a cmdlet that returns multiple objects to a variable. $profs = Get-EsxImageProfile 2 When you run the cmdlet that needs the object as input, access the object by position, with the list starting with 0.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Compare Image Profiles You can compare two image profiles by using the vSphere Web Client, for example, to see if they have the same VIB list, version, or acceptance level. n Move an Image Profile to a Different Software Depot You can move image profiles between custom depots by using the vSphere Web Client. You can move an image profile to a custom depot to edit the image profile.
vSphere Installation and Setup Import a Software Depot If an offline depot is located on your local file system, you can import the ZIP file to the vSphere ESXi Image Builder inventory by using the vSphere Web Client. Prerequisites Verify that the vSphere ESXi Image Builder service is enabled and running. See Configure the vSphere ESXi Image Builder Service Startup Type. Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy. By default, only the Administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere ESXi Image Builder service. 2 On the Software Depots tab, select the software depot that contains the image profile that you want to work with. 3 From the list of image profiles in the depot, select the image profile that you want to clone and click Clone. 4 Enter an image profile name, vendor, and description.
vSphere Installation and Setup Create an Image Profile You can create a new image profile by using the vSphere Web Client instead of cloning an existing one. You might consider creating a new image profile if it differs significantly from the image profiles in your inventory. The acceptance level of the VIBs you add to the base image must be at least as high as the level of the base image.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next n You can associate an image profile with a new vSphere Auto Deploy rule to provision ESXi hosts. See Create a Deploy Rule or Clone a Deploy Rule. n You can associate an image profile with an ESXi host. See Add a Host to the vSphere Auto Deploy Inventory. n Edit the Image Profile Association of a Host. Edit an Image Profile You can edit image profiles by using the vSphere Web Client. You can change the name, details and VIB list of an image profile.
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 Click Next. vSphere ESXi Image Builder verifies that the change does not invalidate the profile. Some VIBs depend on other VIBs and become invalid if you include them in an image profile separately. When you add or remove a VIB, vSphere ESXi Image Builder checks whether the package dependencies are met. 8 On the Ready to complete page, review the summary information for the edited image profile and click Finish.
vSphere Installation and Setup Move an Image Profile to a Different Software Depot You can move image profiles between custom depots by using the vSphere Web Client. You can move an image profile to a custom depot to edit the image profile. Prerequisites n Verify that the vSphere ESXi Image Builder service is enabled and running. See Configure the vSphere ESXi Image Builder Service Startup Type. n Add or import a software depot to the vSphere ESXi Image Builder inventory.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Select the type of the exported file. Option Description ISO Exports the image profile to a bootable ISO image. If you want to create an ISO image that you can burn to a CD or DVD and use to boot up a stateless ESXi instance, select the Do not include an installer on the ISO check box. ZIP Exports the image profile to a ZIP file. 5 (Optional) If you want to bypass the acceptance level verification of the image profile, select Skip acceptance level checking.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Run the New-EsxImageProfile cmdlet to create the new profile and use the -CloneProfile parameter to specify the profile you want to clone. New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile My_Profile -Name "Test Profile 42" This example clones the profile named My_Profile and assigns it the name Test Profile 42. You must specify a unique combination of name and vendor for the cloned profile. What to do next See Examine Depot Contents for some examples of filtering.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with. Option Action Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url. ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system. b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offlinebundle.zip The cmdlet returns one or more SoftwareDepot objects. 2 Run the Get-EsxImageProfile cmdlet to list all image profiles in all currently visible depots.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with. Option Action Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url. ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system. b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offlinebundle.zip The cmdlet returns one or more SoftwareDepot objects. 2 Run Export-EsxImageProfile to export the image profile.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Export the image profile. Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile "myprofile" -ExportToBundle -FilePath C:\my_bundle.zip What to do next Use the ISO image in an ESXi installation or upload the ISO image into vSphereUpdate Manager to perform upgrades. Use the ZIP file to upgrade an ESXi installation. n Import the ZIP file into vSphere Update Manager for use with patch baselines.
vSphere Installation and Setup Compare Image Profiles You can compare two image profiles by using the Compare-EsxImageProfile cmdlet, for example, to see if they have the same VIB list or acceptance level . Comparing image profiles or their properties is also possible by using the PowerShell comparison operators. Prerequisites Install the PowerCLI and all prerequisite software. See Install vSphere ESXi Image Builder and Prerequisite Software.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Compare the two image profiles by using the Compare-EsxImageProfile cmdlet or the -eq comparison operator, which returns a Boolean value. n Compare the two image profiles to get a full description of the differences by using the CompareEsxImageProfile cmdlet. Compare-EsxImageProfile -ReferenceProfile $imageProfile1 -ComparisonProfile $imageProfile2 n Compare the two image profiles by VIB list and acceptance level using the -eq comparison operator.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Before comparing the VIBs, assign them to variables. For example, you can create variables $vib1 and $vib2 to hold the names of the compared VIBs. $vib1 = Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Name "ReferenceVIB" $vib2 = Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Name "ComparisonVIB" 4 Use a comparison operator to compare the VIBs by contents and acceptance level or by a specific property. n Compare the two VIBs by their contents and acceptance level.
vSphere Installation and Setup Working with Acceptance Levels Hosts, image profiles, and individual VIBs have acceptance levels. VIB acceptance levels show how the VIB was tested. Understanding what each acceptance level implies, how to change levels, and what a change implies is an important part of installation and update procedures. Acceptance levels are set for hosts, image profiles, and individual VIBs. The default acceptance level for an ESXi image or image profile is PartnerSupported.
vSphere Installation and Setup The acceptance level of a host, image profile, or VIB lets you determine who tested the VIB and who supports the VIB. VMware supports the following acceptance levels . VMwareCertified The VMwareCertified acceptance level has the most stringent requirements. VIBs with this level go through thorough testing fully equivalent to VMware in-house Quality Assurance testing for the same technology. Today, only I/O Vendor Program (IOVP) program drivers are published at this level.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Retrieve the acceptance level for the VIB or image profile.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites Install PowerCLI and all prerequisite software. See Install vSphere ESXi Image Builder and Prerequisite Software. Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with. Option Action Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url. ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system. b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offlinebundle.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with. Option Action Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url. ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system. b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offlinebundle.zip The cmdlet returns one or more SoftwareDepot objects. 2 Retrieve image profiles. You can filter by vendor, name, and acceptance level.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Use -Newest to find the latest package. n Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Vendor "V*" -Newest Returns the newest package for the vendors with a name that starts with the letter V, and displays the information as a table. n Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -Vendor "V*" -Newest | format-list Returns detailed information about each software package by using a pipeline to link the output of the request for software packages to the PowerShell format-list cmdlet.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites Verify that PowerCLI and prerequisite software is installed. See Install vSphere ESXi Image Builder and Prerequisite Software. Procedure 1 In a PowerShell window, check whether any software depots are defined for the current session. $DefaultSoftwareDepots PowerShell returns the currently defined depots, or nothing if you just started PowerShell.
vSphere Installation and Setup Example: Creating Image Profile by Cloning Using Variables This workflow example repeats the steps of this workflow by passing in parameters as objects accessed by position in a variable, instead of passing in parameters by name. You can run the following cmdlets in sequence from the PowerCLI prompt.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Run the Get-EsxImageProfile cmdlet to list all image profiles in all currently visible depots. You can narrow your search by using the optional arguments to filter the output. Get-EsxSoftwarePackage -CreatedAfter 7/1/2010 3 Create a new profile, assign it a name and vendor, and add a base package. New-EsxImageProfile -NewProfile -Name "Test #2" -vendor "Vendor42" -SoftwarePackage esxbase[0],esx-xlibs[0] The example uses the esx-base package.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with. Option Action Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url. ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system. b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offlinebundle.zip The cmdlet returns one or more SoftwareDepot objects. 2 Use a pipeline to pass the image profile you intend to edit to format-list to see detailed information.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Add a software package (VIB) to the image profile. You can add the package by name. Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "Test #2" -SoftwarePackage NewPack3 PowerShell returns the information about the image profile in tabular format. Name ---Test #2 Vendor -----Vendor42 Last Modified Acceptance Level ---------------------------9/22/2010 12:05:...
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑10. Required Information for ESXi Installation Information Required or Optional Default Keyboard layout Required U.S. English VLAN ID Optional None Range: 0 through 4094 IP address Optional DHCP Subnet mask Optional Calculated based on the IP address You can allow DHCP to configure the network during installation. After installation, you can change the network settings.
vSphere Installation and Setup If you are installing ESXi on a disk that contains a previous installation of ESXi or ESX, or a VMFS datastore, the installer provides you with options for upgrading. See the vSphere Upgrade documentation. Install ESXi Interactively You use the ESXi CD/DVD or a USB flash drive to install the ESXi software onto a SAS, SATA, SCSI hard drive, or USB drive. Prerequisites n You must have the ESXi installer ISO in one of the following locations: n On CD or DVD.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 On the Select a Disk page, select the drive on which to install ESXi, and press Enter. Press F1 for information about the selected disk. Note Do not rely on the disk order in the list to select a disk. The disk order is determined by the BIOS and might be out of order. This might occur on systems where drives are continuously being added and removed. If you select a disk that contains data, the Confirm Disk Selection page appears.
vSphere Installation and Setup After the installation is complete, you can migrate existing VMFS data to the ESXi host. You can boot a single machine from each ESXi image. Booting multiple devices from a single shared ESXi image is not supported. What to do next Set up basic administration and network configuration for ESXi. See After You Install and Set Up ESXi. Install ESXi on a Software iSCSI Disk When you install ESXi to a software iSCSI disk, you must configure the target iSCSI qualified name (IQN).
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next On your iBFT adapter, reenable the option to boot to the iSCSI target, so the system will boot from the LUN you installed ESXi on. Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script You can quickly deploy ESXi hosts by using scripted, unattended installations or upgrades. Scripted installations or upgrades provide an efficient way to deploy multiple hosts. The installation or upgrade script contains the installation settings for ESXi.
vSphere Installation and Setup To specify the location of the installation script, set the ks=filepath option, where filepath is indicates the location of your Kickstart file. Otherwise, a scripted installation or upgrade cannot start. If ks=filepath is omitted, the text installer is run. Supported boot options are listed in Boot Options. Procedure 1 Start the host. 2 When the ESXi installer window appears, press Shift+O to edit boot options.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑12. Boot Options for ESXi Installation (Continued) Boot Option Description ks=cdrom:/path Performs a scripted installation with the script at path, which resides on the CD in the CD-ROM drive. Each CDROM is mounted and checked until the file that matches the path is found.
vSphere Installation and Setup About the Default ks.cfg Installation Script The ESXi installer includes a default installation script that performs a standard installation to the first detected disk. The default ks.cfg installation script is located in the initial RAM disk at /etc/vmware/weasel/ks.cfg. You can specify the location of the default ks.cfg file with the ks=file://etc/vmware/weasel/ks.cfg boot option. See Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script.
vSphere Installation and Setup Path to the Installation or Upgrade Script You can specify the path to an installation or upgrade script. ks=http://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/kickstart/KS.CFG is the path to the ESXi installation script, where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address of the machine where the script resides. See About Installation and Upgrade Scripts. To start an installation script from an interactive installation, you enter the ks= option manually.
vSphere Installation and Setup You can change the order of the disks by using a comma-separated list appended to the argument. If you provide a filter list, the default settings are overridden. You can combine filters to specify a particular disk, including esx for the first disk with ESXi installed on it, model and vendor information, or the name of the VMkernel device driver.
vSphere Installation and Setup driver rather than a normal local disk, the argument is --firstdisk=ST3120814A,mptsas,local. You can use localesx for local storage that contains ESXi image or remoteesx for remote storage that contains ESXi image. --ignoressd Excludes solid-state disks from eligibility for partitioning. This option can be used with the install command and the --firstdisk option. This option takes precedence over the --firstdisk option.
vSphere Installation and Setup n VML name: --disk=vml.000000034211234 n vmkLUN UID: --disk=vmkLUN_UID For accepted disk name formats, see Disk Device Names. --firstdisk= disk-type1, [disk-type2,...] Partitions the first eligible disk found. By default, the eligible disks are set to the following order: 1 Locally attached storage (local) 2 Network storage (remote) 3 USB disks (usb) You can change the order of the disks by using a comma-separated list appended to the argument.
vSphere Installation and Setup keyboard (optional) Sets the keyboard type for the system. keyboardType VMware, Inc. Specifies the keyboard map for the selected keyboard type. keyboardType must be one of the following types.
vSphere Installation and Setup n US Dvorak serialnum or vmserialnum (optional) Deprecated in ESXi 5.0.x. Supported in ESXi 5.1 and later. Configures licensing. If not included, ESXi installs in evaluation mode. --esx= Specifies the vSphere license key to use. The format is 5 five-character groups (XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX). network (optional) Specifies a network address for the system.
vSphere Installation and Setup part or partition (optional) Creates an additional VMFS datastore on the system. Only one datastore per disk can be created. Cannot be used on the same disk as the install command. Only one partition can be specified per disk and it can only be a VMFS partition. datastore name Specifies where the partition is to be mounted. --ondisk= or --ondrive= Specifies the disk or drive where the partition is created.
vSphere Installation and Setup upgrade Either the install, upgrade, or installorupgrade command is required to determine which disk to install or upgrade ESXi on. --disk= or --drive= Specifies the disk to partition. In the command --disk=diskname, the diskname can be in any of the forms shown in the following examples: n Path: --disk=/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 n MPX name: --disk=mpx.vmhba1:C0:T0:L0 n VML name: --disk=vml.
vSphere Installation and Setup %post (optional) Runs the specified script after package installation is complete. If you specify multiple %post sections, they run in the order that they appear in the installation script. --interpreter Specifies an interpreter to use. The default is busybox. =[python|busybox] --timeout=secs Specifies a timeout for running the script. If the script is not finished when the timeout expires, the script is forcefully terminated.
vSphere Installation and Setup The boot.cfg file has the following syntax: # boot.cfg -- mboot configuration file # # Any line preceded with '#' is a comment. title=STRING prefix=DIRPATH kernel=FILEPATH kernelopt=STRING modules=FILEPATH1 --- FILEPATH2... --- FILEPATHn # Any other line must remain unchanged. The commands in boot.cfg configure the boot loader. Table 2‑14. Commands in boot.cfg . Command Description title=STRING Sets the boot loader title to STRING.
vSphere Installation and Setup n The default installation or upgrade script (ks.cfg) or a custom installation or upgrade script is accessible to the system. See About Installation and Upgrade Scripts. n You have selected a boot command to run the scripted installation or upgrade. See Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script. For a complete list of boot commands, see Boot Options. Procedure 1 Boot the ESXi installer from the local CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
vSphere Installation and Setup n You have selected a boot option to run the scripted installation, upgrade, or migration. See Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script. Procedure 1 Boot the ESXi installer from the USB flash drive. 2 When the ESXi installer window appears, press Shift+O to edit boot options. 3 Type a boot option that calls the default installation or upgrade script or an installation or upgrade script file that you created. The boot option has the form ks=.
vSphere Installation and Setup PXE Booting the ESXi Installer You can use the preboot execution environment (PXE) to boot a host. Starting with vSphere 6.0, you can PXE boot the ESXi installer from a network interface on hosts with legacy BIOS or using UEFI. ESXi is distributed in an ISO format that is designed to install to flash memory or to a local hard drive. You can extract the files and boot by using PXE.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 2‑3. Overview of PXE Boot Installation Process ESXi target host Give me an IP for the network adapter UDP DHCP server IP & TFTP server UDP TFTP server Give me the network boot loader mboot and supporting files Give me the kernel TCP or UDP Web server or TFTP server kernel UDP DHCP server IP TCP script depot Give me an IP for the kernel Give me an installation script ks.
vSphere Installation and Setup PXE Boot the ESXi Installer Using TFTP You can use a TFTP server to PXE boot the ESXi installer. The process differs slightly depending on whether you use UEFI or boot from a legacy BIOS. Because most environments include ESXi hosts that support UEFI boot and hosts that support only legacy BIOS, this topic discusses prerequisites and steps for both types of hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 (Legacy BIOS only) Obtain and configure PXELINUX: a Obtain SYSLINUX version 3.86, unpack it, and copy the pxelinux.0 file to the toplevel /tftpboot directory on your TFTP server. b Create a PXELINUX configuration file using the following code model. ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX is the name of the TFTP subdirectory that contains the ESXi installer files. DEFAULT install NOHALT 1 LABEL install KERNEL ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX/mboot.c32 APPEND -c ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX/boot.
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 (Optional) For a scripted installation, in the boot.cfg file, add the kernelopt option to the line after the kernel command, to specify the location of the installation script. Use the following code as a model, where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address of the server where the installation script resides, and esxi_ksFiles is the directory that contains the ks.cfg file. kernelopt=ks=http://XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/esxi_ksFiles/ks.
vSphere Installation and Setup n (Optional) Installation script (kickstart file). n Use a native VLAN in most cases. If you want to specify the VLAN ID to be used with PXE booting, check that your NIC supports VLAN ID specification. Verify that your environment also meets the following prerequisites required for PXE boot using a Web Server: n Verify that the HTTP Web server is accessible by your target ESXi hosts. n (UEFI) Obtain iPXE, available at http://ipxe.org.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 (Legacy BIOS only) Obtain and configure PXELINUX: a Obtain SYSLINUX version 3.86, unpack it, and copy the gpxelinux.0 file to the toplevel /tftpboot directory on your TFTP server. b Create a PXELINUX configuration file using the following code model. ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX is the name of the TFTP subdirectory that contains the ESXi installer files. DEFAULT install NOHALT 1 LABEL install KERNEL ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX/mboot.c32 APPEND -c ESXi-6.x.x-XXXXXX/boot.
vSphere Installation and Setup 9 (UEFI only) Specify whether you want for all UEFI hosts to boot the same installer. Option Description Same installer Copy or link the boot.cfg file to /tftpboot/boot.cfg Different installers a Create a subdirectory of /tftpboot named after the MAC address of the target host machine (01-mac_address_of_target_ESXi_host), for example, 01-23-45-67-89-0a-bc. b Place a copy of (or a link to) the host's boot.
vSphere Installation and Setup Understanding vSphere Auto Deploy vSphere Auto Deploy can provision hundreds of physical hosts with ESXi software. You can specify the image to deploy and the hosts to provision with the image. Optionally, you can specify host profiles to apply to the hosts, a vCenter Server location (datacenter, folder or cluster), and assign a script bundle for each host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Auto Deploy Architecture (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2296383276001? bctid=ref:video_auto_deploy_architecture) Figure 2‑4.
vSphere Installation and Setup Host profiles Define machine-specific configuration such as networking or storage setup. Use the host profile UI to create host profiles. You can create a host profile for a reference host and apply that host profile to other hosts in your environment for a consistent configuration. For more information, see the vSphere Host Profiles documentation or the Setting Up a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host section.
vSphere Installation and Setup You can specify the following parameters in a rule. Parameter Description Name Name of the rule, specified with the -Name parameter. Item One or more items, specified with the -Item parameter. An item can be an image profile, a host profile, a vCenter Server inventory location (datacenter, folder, cluster) for the target host, or a custom script. You can specify multiple items separated by commas.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Test the working rule set rules against a host to make sure that everything is working correctly. 3 Refine and retest the rules in the working rule set. 4 Activate the rules in the working rule set. If you add a rule in a PowerCLI session and do not specify the NoActivate parameter, all rules that are currently in the working rule set are activated. You cannot activate individual rules.
vSphere Installation and Setup First Boot Overview When a host that has not yet been provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy boots (first boot), the host interacts with several vSphere Auto Deploy components. 1 When the administrator turns on a host, the host starts a PXE boot sequence. The DHCP Server assigns an IP address to the host and instructs the host to contact the TFTP server. 2 The host contacts the TFTP server and downloads the iPXE file (executable boot loader) and an iPXE configuration file.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 2‑5. vSphere Auto Deploy Installation, First Boot PXE Host sends hardware and network information to Auto Deploy server Auto Deploy server streams host and image profiles to the host Host boots using image profile Subsequent Boots Without Updates For hosts that are provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy and managed by avCenter Server system, subsequent boots can become completely automatic. 1 The administrator reboots the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Subsequent Boots With Updates You can change the image profile, host profile, vCenter Server location, or script bundle for hosts. The process includes changing rules and testing and repairing the host's rule compliance. 1 The administrator uses the Copy-DeployRule PowerCLI cmdlet to copy and edit one or more rules and updates the rule set. See Overview of the vSphere Auto Deploy Process by Using PowerCLI for an example.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 The host creates the VMkernel NICs. The VMkernel NICs allow the host to connect to vSphere Auto Deploy and to the vCenter Server system. When the host is added to vCenter Server, vCenter Server removes the standard switch and reapplies the distributed switch to the host. Note Do not change the boot configuration parameters to avoid problems with your distributed switch.
vSphere Installation and Setup See Clone a Deploy Rule or Editing a Deploy Rule. 10 Activate the new rule and deactivate the old one. See Activate, Deactivate, and Reorder Deploy Rules. 11 Remediate the host associations to apply the new rule to the host. See Remediate a Non-compliant Host. 12 Verify that the hosts you provisioned meet the following requirements. n Each host is connected to the vCenter Server system. n The hosts are not in maintenance mode. n The hosts have no compliance failures.
vSphere Installation and Setup n To create a custom image profile, use vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets to clone an existing image profile and add the custom VIBs to the clone. Add the custom image profile to the PowerCLI session. You must use vSphere ESXi Image Builder for customization only if you have to add or remove VIBs. In most cases, you can add the depot where VMware hosts the image profiles to your PowerCLI session as a URL.
vSphere Installation and Setup See Test and Repair Rule Compliance. 13 Verify that the hosts you provisioned meet the following requirements. n Each host is connected to the vCenter Server system. n The hosts are not in maintenance mode. n The hosts have no compliance failures. n Each host with a host profile that requires user input has up-to-date host customization information. Remediate host associations and compliance problems and reboot hosts until all hosts meet the requirements.
vSphere Installation and Setup n If you want to use VLANs in your vSphere Auto Deploy environment, you must set up the end to end networking properly. When the host is PXE booting, the firmware driver must be set up to tag the frames with proper VLAN IDs. You must do this set up manually by making the correct changes in the UEFI/BIOS interface. You must also correctly configure the ESXi port groups with the correct VLAN IDs. Ask your network administrator how VLAN IDs are used in your environment.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Configure the vSphere Auto Deploy service startup type. a Log in to your vCenter Server system by using the vSphere Web Client. b On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Administration. c Under System Configuration click Services. d Select Auto Deploy, click the Actions menu, and select Edit Startup Type. n On Windows, the vSphere Auto Deploy service is disabled. In the Edit Startup Type window, select Manual or Automatic to enable vSphere Auto Deploy.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Set up your DHCP server to point to the TFTP server on which the TFTP ZIP file is located. a Specify the TFTP Server's IP address in DHCP option 66, frequently called next-server. b Specify the boot file name, which is snponly64.efi.vmw-hardwired for UEFI or undionly.kpxe.vmw-hardwired for BIOS in the DHCP option 67, frequently called bootfilename.
vSphere Installation and Setup You can type cmdlets, parameters, and parameter values in the PowerCLI shell. n Get help for any cmdlet by running Get-Helpcmdlet_name. n Remember that PowerShell is not case sensitive. n Use tab completion for cmdlet names and parameter names. n Format any variable and cmdlet output by using Format-List or Format-Table, or their short forms fl or ft. For more information, run the Get-Help Format-List cmdlet.
vSphere Installation and Setup Set Up Bulk Licensing You can use the vSphere Web Client or ESXi Shell to specify individual license keys, or you can set up bulk licensing by using PowerCLI cmdlets. Bulk licensing works for all ESXi hosts, but is especially useful for hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy. Assigning license keys through the vSphere Web Client and assigning licensing by using PowerCLI cmdlets function differently.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Create a new LicenseData object and a LicenseKeyEntry object with associated type ID and license key. $licenseData = New-Object VMware.VimAutomation.License.Types.LicenseData $licenseKeyEntry = New-Object Vmware.VimAutomation.License.Types.LicenseKeyEntry $licenseKeyEntry.TypeId = "vmware-vsphere” $licenseKeyEntry.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑16. Rule Engine PowerCLI Cmdlets Command Description Get-DeployCommand Returns a list of vSphere Auto Deploy cmdlets. New-DeployRule Creates a new rule with the specified items and patterns. Set-DeployRule Updates an existing rule with the specified items and patterns. You cannot update a rule that is part of a rule set. Get-DeployRule Retrieves the rules with the specified names. Copy-DeployRule Clones and updates an existing rule.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑16. Rule Engine PowerCLI Cmdlets (Continued) Command Description Get-DeployOption Retrieves the vSphere Auto Deploy global configuration options. This cmdlet currently supports the vlan-id option, which specifies the default VLAN ID for the ESXi Management Network of a host provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy. vSphere Auto Deploy uses the value only if the host boots without a host profile. Set-DeployOption Sets the value of a global configuration option.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with. Connect-VIServer ipv4_or_ipv6_address The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server certificate warnings result. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning.
vSphere Installation and Setup When the host boots from iPXE, it reports attributes of the machine to the console. Use the same format of the attributes when writing deploy rules. ****************************************************************** * Booting through VMware AutoDeploy... * * Machine attributes: * . asset=No Asset Tag * . domain=vmware.com * . hostname=myhost.mycompany.com * . ipv4=XX.XX.XXX.XXX * . mac=XX:Xa:Xb:Xc:Xx:XX * . model=MyVendorModel * . oemstring=Product ID: XXXXXX-XXX * .
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Using the vSphere Web Client, set up a host with the settings you want to use and create a host profile from that host. 3 Find the name of the host profile by running Get-VMhostProfile PowerCLI cmdlet, passing in the ESXi host from which you create a host profile. 4 At the PowerCLI prompt, define a rule in which host profiles are assigned to hosts with certain attributes, for example a range of IP addresses.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with. Connect-VIServer ipv4_or_ipv6_address The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server certificate warnings result. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a PowerCLI session, run the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with. Connect-VIServer ipv4_or_ipv6_address The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server certificate warnings result. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning.
vSphere Installation and Setup Test and Repair Rule Compliance When you add a rule to the vSphere Auto Deploy rule set or make changes to one or more rules, hosts are not updated automatically. vSphere Auto Deploy applies the new rules only when you test their rule compliance and perform remediation. Prerequisites n Prepare your system for vSphere Auto Deploy. For more information, see vSphere Installation and Setup.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Examine the differences between the contents of the rule set and configuration of the host. $tr.itemlist The system returns a table of current and expected items if the host for which you want to test the new rule set compliance is compliant with the active rule set. CurrentItem ----------My Profile 25 7 ExpectedItem -----------MyNewProfile Remediate the host to use the revised rule set the next time you boot the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 (Optional) Run the List-ProxyServer cmdlet to verify that the caching proxy server is registered with vSphere Auto Deploy. Managing vSphere Auto Deploy with the vSphere Web Client You can add ESXi hosts to the vSphere Auto Deploy inventory and create, monitor, and manage the vSphere Auto Deploy rules and ESXi host associations by using the vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Edit a vSphere Auto Deploy rule. See Editing a Deploy Rule. n View the image profile, host profile, and location associations of a host. See View Host Associations. n Remediate non-compliant hosts. See Remediate a Non-compliant Host. n Change the image profile association of a host. See Edit the Image Profile Association of a Host. Start the New Deploy Rule Wizard You can create a new vSphere Auto Deploy rule by using the New Deploy Rule wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 2 On the Select image profile page of the wizard, select an image profile. Option Action If you do not want to assign an image profile to the selected hosts Select the No image profile check box. If you want to assign an image profile to the selected hosts 1 Select a software depot from the drop-down menu. 2 Select an image profile from the list.
vSphere Installation and Setup View the Summary of the New Deploy Rule Wizard In the New Deploy Rule wizard,, you can review the settings of the new vSphere Auto Deploy rule before completing the wizard. Procedure 1 On the Ready to complete page, review the summary information for the new rule. 2 Click Finish. You can view the newly created rule listed on the Deploy Rules tab.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next n Activate a vSphere Auto Deploy rule. See Activate, Deactivate, and Reorder Deploy Rules. n Edit a vSphere Auto Deploy rule. See Editing a Deploy Rule. Start the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard You can clone an existing vSphere Auto Deploy rule by using the Clone Deploy Rule wizard. Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy. By default, only the Administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere Auto Deploy service.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 2 On the Select image profile page of the wizard, select an image profile. Option Action If you do not want to change the image profile Select the Same image profile option. If you do not want to assign an image profile to the selected hosts Select the No image profile option. If you want to assign a new image profile to the selected hosts 1 Select the Browse for Image Profile option. 2 Select a software depot from the drop-down menu.
vSphere Installation and Setup View the Summary of the Clone Deploy Rule Wizard You can review the settings of the cloned vSphere Auto Deploy rule before completing the wizard. Procedure 1 On the Ready to complete page, review the summary information for the new rule. 2 Click Finish. You can view the newly created rule listed on the Deploy Rules tab. Editing a Deploy Rule You can edit a vSphere Auto Deploy rule only if it is in inactive state in the inventory.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Select the Name and hosts page and enter a new name of the rule. 4 Select a pattern to apply the rule to the hosts in the inventory. You can select to apply the rule to all the hosts in the inventory or to apply the rule only to hosts that match a specific pattern. You can select one or more patterns. For example, the rule can apply only to hosts in a vCenter Single Sign-On domain, with a specific host name, or that match a specific IPv4 range. 5 Click OK.
vSphere Installation and Setup Edit a Rule to Assign a Different Host Profile to Hosts If a rule in the inventory is in inactive state, you can edit the rule and assign a different host profile to the hosts that match the criteria for the rule. Prerequisites n Prepare your system and install the Auto Deploy Server. For more information, see Prepare Your System for vSphere Auto Deploy. n Create a vSphere Auto Deploy rule. See Create a Deploy Rule.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 4 Select the Select host location page and select a host location for the hosts matching the rule. Option Action If you do not want to select a host location Select the Do not include a location check box. If you want to select a specific location for the selected hosts Select a data center, folder, or cluster as host location. Click OK. Activate, Deactivate, and Reorder Deploy Rules After you create a vSphere Auto Deploy rule, the rule is in inactive state.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 (Optional) If you want to test an inactive rule before activation, select the Test rules before activation check box and click Next. a On the Select test targets page of the wizard, from the Filter tab select the hosts on which to test the inactive rule and click Next. The Selected tab displays only the selected hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Check the host associations compliance The Check Host Associations Compliance window displays the current status of the host and whether the host is compliant with the active rule set. You can view the currently assigned image profile, host profile, host location, script bundle, and the associations that will take effect after a remediation of the host. You can assign a script bundle to a host only by using PowerCLI cmdlets.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy. By default, only the Administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere Auto Deploy service. 2 On the Deployed Hosts tab, select an ESXi host. 3 Click Edit Image Profile Association. The Edit Image Profile Association dialog box appears. 4 5 Edit the image profile association of the host. Option Action If you do not want to change the image profile Select the Same image profile option.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy. By default, only the Administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere Auto Deploy service. 2 On the Deployed Hosts tab, select an ESXi host. You can use Shift+left-click or Ctrl+left-click to select multiple hosts 3 Click Remediate Host Associations. If you remediate a host that has an edited image profile association, the host reverts to the settings defined in the rule that it matches.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Select a Host Location in the Add to Inventory Wizard You can assign a location to a host that you want to add to the vSphere Auto Deploy inventory. 5 View the Summary of the Add to Inventory Wizard You can review the host associations before you complete the Add to Inventory wizard. What to do next n Edit a vSphere Auto Deploy rule. See Editing a Deploy Rule. n View the image profile, host profile, and location associations of a host. See View Host Associations.
vSphere Installation and Setup Select a Host Profile in the Add to Inventory Wizard You can optionally assign a host profile to a host that you want to add to the vSphere Auto Deploy inventory. Procedure 1 2 On the Select host profile page of the wizard, select a host profile. Option Action If you do not want to assign a host profile to the selected hosts Select the Do not include a host profile check box.
vSphere Installation and Setup Provision a Host (First Boot) Provisioning a host that has never been provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy (first boot) differs from subsequent boot processes. You must prepare the host and fulfill all other prerequisites before you can provision the host. You can optionally define a custom image profile with vSphere ESXi Image Builder by using the vSphere Web Client or PowerCLI cmdlets. Prerequisites n Make sure your host meets the hardware requirements for ESXi hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup Reprovisioning Hosts vSphere Auto Deploy supports multiple reprovisioning options. You can perform a simple reboot or reprovision with a different image profile or a different host profile. A first boot using vSphere Auto Deploy requires that you set up your environment and add rules to the rule set. See Preparing for vSphere Auto Deploy. The following reprovisioning operations are available. n Simple reboot.
vSphere Installation and Setup Reprovision a Host with a New Image Profile by Using PowerCLI You can use vSphere Auto Deploy to reprovision a host with a new image profile in a PowerCLI session by changing the rule for the host and performing a test and repair compliance operation. Several options for reprovisioning hosts exist. n If the VIBs that you want to use support live update, you can use an esxcli software vib command.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 Run Copy-DeployRule and specify the ReplaceItem parameter to change the rule that assigns an image profile to hosts. The following cmdlet replaces the current image profile that the rule assigns to the host with the my_new_imageprofile profile. After the cmdlet completes, myrule assigns the new image profile to hosts. The old version of myrule is renamed and hidden.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Auto Deploy. By default, only the Administrator role has privileges to use the vSphere Auto Deploy service. 2 On the Deploy Rules tab, from the list of rules in the inventory select the rule that you want to edit and click Edit. The Edit Deploy Rule dialog box appears. 3 Select the Select image profile page to assign an image profile to the hosts that match the rule criteria.
vSphere Installation and Setup 9 Review the list of active rules and click Finish. 10 Reboot the host to provision it with the new image profile. Update the Host Customization in the vSphere Web Client If a host required user input during a previous boot, the answers are saved with the vCenter Server. If you want to prompt the user for new information, you must remediate the host. Prerequisites Attach a host profile that prompts for user input to the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Introduction to Stateless Caching and Stateful Installs You can use the System Cache Configuration host profile to provision hosts with vSphere Auto Deploy stateless caching and stateful installs. n Understanding Stateless Caching and Stateful Installs When you want to use vSphere Auto Deploy with stateless caching or stateful installs, you must set up a host profile, apply the host profile, and set the boot order.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑17. Preparation for Stateless Caching or Stateful Installs Requirement or Decision Description Decide on VMFS partition overwrite When you install ESXi by using the interactive installer, you are prompted whether you want to overwrite an existing VMFS datastore. The System Cache Configuration host profile provides an option to overwrite existing VMFS partitions. The option is not available if you set up the host profile to use a USB drive.
vSphere Installation and Setup Understanding Stateless Caching and Stateful Installs When you want to use vSphere Auto Deploy with stateless caching or stateful installs, you must set up a host profile, apply the host profile, and set the boot order. When you apply a host profile that enables caching to a host, vSphere Auto Deploy partitions the specified disk. What happens next depends on how you set up the host profile and how you set the boot order on the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 vSphere Auto Deploy provisions each host with the image profile or by using the script bundle associated with the rule. The exact effect of applying the host profile depends on the host profile you selected. n n For stateful installs, vSphere Auto Deploy proceeds as follows: n During first boot, vSphere Auto Deploy installs the image on the host. n During subsequent boots, the host boots from disk. The hosts do not need a connection to the vSphere Auto Deploy server.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 On the Edit host profile page of the wizard, select Advanced Configuration Settings > System Image Cache Configuration > System Image Cache Configuration. 6 In the System Image Cache Profile Settings drop-down menu, choose a policy option. 7 Option Description Enable stateless caching on the host Caches the image to disk. Enable stateless caching to a USB disk on the host Caches the image to a USB disk attached to the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup n For hosts that are already provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy, perform the test and repair compliance operations in a PowerCLI session, see Test and Repair Rule Compliance. n Power on unprovisioned hosts to provision them with the new host profile. Configure a Host Profile to Enable Stateful Installs To set up a host provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy to boot from disk, you must configure a host profile.
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 (Optional) If you select Enable stateful installs on the host, specify information about the disk to use. Option Description Arguments for first disk By default, the system attempts to replace an existing ESXi installation, and then attempts to write to the local disk. You can use the Arguments for first disk field to specify a comma-separated list of disks to use, in order of preference. You can specify more than one disk.
vSphere Installation and Setup Setting Up a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host In an environment where no state is stored on the host, a reference host helps you set up multiple hosts with the same configuration. You configure the reference host with the logging, coredump, and other settings that you want, save the host profile, and write a rule that applies the host profile to other hosts as needed.
vSphere Installation and Setup the reference host with the vSphere Web Client or with vCLI commands. Security setup includes shared user access settings for all hosts. You can achieve unified user access by setting up your reference host to use Active Directory. See the vSphere Security documentation. Note If you set up Active Directory by using host profiles, the passwords are not protected. Use the vSphere Authentication Service to set up Active Directory to avoid exposing the Active Directory password.
vSphere Installation and Setup Options for Configuration of a vSphere Auto Deploy Reference Host You can configure a reference host by using the vSphere Web Client, vCLI, or host profiles. To set up a reference host, you can use the approach that suits you best. vSphere Web Client The vSphere Web Client supports setup of networking, storage, security, and most other aspects of an ESXi host. Set up your environment and create a host profile from the reference host for use by vSphere Auto Deploy.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Set up an ESXi system to use ESXi Dump Collector by running esxcli system coredump in the local ESXi Shell or by using vCLI. esxcli system coredump network set --interface-name vmk0 port 6500 --server-ip 10xx.xx.xx.xx --server- You must specify a VMkernel NIC and the IP address and optional port of the server to send the core dumps to. You can use an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Verify that at least one partition has sufficient storage capability for core dumps from multiple hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy. Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, click Policies and Profiles, and select Host Profiles. 2 Right-click the host profile you want to modify and select Edit Settings. 3 Leave the name and description unchanged and click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Leave the name and description unchanged and click Next. 5 On the Edit host profile page of the wizard, select Advanced Configuration Settings > Advanced Options > Advanced configuration options. You can select specific sub-profiles and edit the syslog settings. 6 If you are setting up an ESXi 5.0 host that did not have a previously configured syslog server, you have to create an advanced configuration option. a Click the Add sub-profile icon.
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 Click OK. What to do next n Extract a host profile from the reference host. See the Host Profiles documentation. n Create a rule that applies the host profile to all hosts that you want to provision with the settings specified in the reference host. For writing a rule in a PowerCLI session, see Write a Rule and Assign a Host Profile to Hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup Configure a Reference Host for Auto-Partitioning By default, vSphere Auto Deploy provisions hosts only if a partition is available on the host. The autopartitioning option creates a VMFS datastore on your host's local storage. You can set up a reference host to auto-partition all hosts that you provision with vSphere Auto Deploy. Caution If you change the default auto-partitioning behavior, vSphere Auto Deploy overwrites existing partitions regardless of their content.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere Auto Deploy Best Practices and Security Consideration Follow best practices when installing vSphere Auto Deploy and when using vSphere Auto Deploy with other vSphere components. Set up a highly available vSphere Auto Deploy infrastructure in large production environments or when using stateless caching. Follow all security guidelines that you would follow in a PXE boot environment, and consider the recommendations in this chapter.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere Auto Deploy Networking Best Practices Prevent networking problems by following vSphere Auto Deploy networking best practices. vSphere Auto Deploy and IPv6 Because vSphere Auto Deploy takes advantage of the iPXE infrastructure, if the hosts that you plan to provision with vSphere Auto Deploy are with legacy BIOS, the vSphere Auto Deploy server must have an IPv4 address. PXE booting with legacy BIOS firmware is possible only over IPv4.
vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere Auto Deploy Load Management Best Practices Simultaneously booting large numbers of hosts places a significant load on the vSphere Auto Deploy server. Because vSphere Auto Deploy is a Web server at its core, you can use existing Web server scaling technologies to help distribute the load. For example, one or more caching reverse proxy servers can be used with vSphere Auto Deploy.
vSphere Installation and Setup Using vSphere Auto Deploy in a Production Environment When you move from a proof of concept setup to a production environment, take care to make the environment resilient. n Protect the vSphere Auto Deploy server. See vSphere Auto Deploy and vSphere HA Best Practices. n Protect all other servers in your environment, including the DHCP server and the TFTP server. n Follow VMware security guidelines, including those outlined in vSphere Auto Deploy Security Considerations.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites For the management cluster, install ESXi on three hosts. Do not provision the management cluster hosts with vSphere Auto Deploy. Watch the video "Highly Available vSphere Auto Deploy Infrastructure" for information about the implementation of a highly available vSphere Auto Deploy infrastructure: Procedure 1 Enable vSphere HA and vSphere DRS on the management cluster. 2 Set up the following virtual machines on the management cluster.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Any other passwords associated with profiles are in the clear. If you set up Active Directory by using host profiles, the passwords are not protected. Use the vSphere Authentication Proxy to avoid exposing the Active Directory passwords. If you set up Active Directory using host profiles, the passwords are not protected. n The host's public and private SSL key and certificate are included in the boot image. Using the Device Alias Configuration Host Profile In vSphere 5.
vSphere Installation and Setup Upgrading Systems for Device Alias Profiles In ESXi versions earlier than 5.5, the Device Alias Configuration profile does not exist. Consider the following problems when you upgrade from previous versions of ESXi to ESXi 5.5 and later: n For installed hosts, that is, hosts not provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy, upgrading the ESXi host preserves aliases. After they are upgraded, aliases remain stable as long as the BIOS provides the information.
vSphere Installation and Setup Download vSphere Auto Deploy Logs You can use the vSphere Auto Deploy logging information from the vSphere Web Client to resolve problems that you encounter with vSphere Auto Deploy. Prerequisites Use the vSphere Web Client to log in to the vCenter Server instance that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with. Procedure 1 From Administration select Deployment > System Configuration. 2 Click one of the Nodes for which you want to retrieve a support bundle.
vSphere Installation and Setup To perform the tasks in this scenario, you should have the following background knowledge and privileges. n Experience with vSphere (vCenter Server and ESXi). n Basic knowledge of Microsoft PowerShell and PowerCLI. n Administrator rights to the target Windows and vCenter Server systems. Follow the tasks in the order presented in this scenario. Some steps can be performed in a different order, but the order used here limits repeated manipulation of some components.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 2‑9.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 vSphere Auto Deploy Preinstallation Checklist Before you can start the tasks in this vSphere Auto Deploy scenario, make sure that your environment meets the hardware and software requirements, and that you have the necessary permissions for the components included in the setup. 2 Install the TFTP Server To set up a vSphere Auto Deploy infrastructure, you must install a TFTP server in your environment. .
vSphere Installation and Setup 11 Provision Hosts and Set Up Host Customizations With the rule in place that provisions hosts using an image profile and a host profile, you can provision specific target hosts. If any host profile items are set to prompt the user for input, the host comes up in maintenance mode. You apply the host profile or check host compliance to be prompted for the information. The system associates the host customization with the host.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑18. Preinstallation Checklist (Continued) Required Software and Hardware Details PowerCLI PowerCLI installer binaries downloaded from the Downloads page on the VMware Web site. See the vSphere PowerCLI User's Guide for detailed instructions for PowerCLI installation. ESXi software depot The location of the ESXi software depot on the Downloads page of the VMware Web site.
vSphere Installation and Setup Install PowerCLI Before you can manage vSphere Auto Deploy with rules that you create with PowerCLI cmdlets, you must install PowerCLI. In this scenario, you install PowerCLI on the same system as the vCenter Server system. You can also install PowerCLI on a different Windows system. Prerequisites n Verify that Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or 4.5.x is installed, or install it from the Microsoft Web site. n Verify that Windows PowerShell 3.0 or 4.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next Set up the DHCP server to serve each target host with an iPXE binary. Prepare the DHCP Server for vSphere Auto Deploy Provisioning When you prepare the vSphere Auto Deploy target hosts, you must set up the DHCP server in this scenario to serve each target host with an iPXE binary. The environment in this scenario uses Active Directory with DNS and DHCP. The DHCP server is included with Windows 2008.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Set up the DHCP Server to point the hosts to the TFTP Server. a In the DHCP window, navigate to DHCP > hostname > IPv4 > Autodeploy Scope > Scope Options. b Right click Scope Options and choose Configure Options. c In the Scope Options window, click the General tab. d Click 066 Boot Server Host Name and enter the address of the TFTP server that you installed in the String value field below the Available Options. e Click 067 Bootfile Name and enter undionly.kpxe.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Start the vSphere Auto Deploy service. a On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Administration. b Under System Configuration click Services. c Select Auto Deploy, click the Actions menu, and select Start. On Windows, the vSphere Auto Deploy service can be disabled. You can enable the service by changing the vSphere Auto Deploy service startup type. 4 In the inventory, navigate to the vCenter Server system.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 In a PowerCLI session, run the Connect-VIServer cmdlet to connect to the vCenter Server system that vSphere Auto Deploy is registered with. Connect-VIServer ipv4_address The cmdlet might return a server certificate warning. In a production environment, make sure no server certificate issues occur. In a development environment, you can ignore the warning. 3 Enter the vCenter Server credentials. 4 Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot to add the online depot to the PowerCLI session.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click Hosts and Clusters. 4 Verify that the newly provisioned host is now in the vCenter Server inventory at the datacenter level. By default, vSphere Auto Deploy adds hosts at the datacenter level when the boot process completes. What to do next Extract a host profile from the host and configure it to require user input.
vSphere Installation and Setup Create a Rule that Provisions Hosts from a Specific IP Range After creating a host profile from a reference host, you can create a rule that applies the previously verified image profile and the host profile that you extracted to target hosts from a specific IP range. Procedure 1 Log in with administrator privileges to the console of the Windows system on which vCenter Server is installed, either directly or by using RDP.
vSphere Installation and Setup Provision Hosts and Set Up Host Customizations With the rule in place that provisions hosts using an image profile and a host profile, you can provision specific target hosts. If any host profile items are set to prompt the user for input, the host comes up in maintenance mode. You apply the host profile or check host compliance to be prompted for the information. The system associates the host customization with the host. Procedure 1 Boot the remaining hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup About the Direct Console ESXi Interface Use the direct console interface for initial ESXi configuration and troubleshooting. Connect a keyboard and monitor to the host to use the direct console. After the host completes the autoconfiguration phase, the direct console appears on the monitor. You can examine the default network configuration and change any settings that are not compatible with your network environment.
vSphere Installation and Setup Create a Security Banner for the Direct Console A security banner is a message that is displayed on the direct console Welcome screen. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client, connect to the vCenter Server. 2 Select the host in the inventory. 3 Click the Manage tab. 4 Click Settings. 5 Under System, select Advanced System Settings. 6 Select Annotations. 7 Click the Edit icon. 8 Enter a security message.
vSphere Installation and Setup Redirect the Direct Console to a Serial Port by Setting the Boot Options Manually When you redirect the direct console to a serial port by setting the boot options, the change does not persist for subsequent boots. Prerequisites Verify that the serial port is not in use for serial logging and debugging. Procedure 1 Start the host. 2 When the Loading VMware Hypervisor window appears, press Shift+O to edit boot options.
vSphere Installation and Setup Redirect the Direct Console to a Serial Port in a Host Deployed with Auto Deploy After you redirect the direct console to a serial port, you can make that setting part of the host profile that persists when you reprovision the host with Auto Deploy. Prerequisites The serial port must not already be in use for serial logging and debugging. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client, connect to the vCenter Server. 2 Select the host in the inventory. 3 Click the Manage tab.
vSphere Installation and Setup The availability timeout setting is the number of minutes that can elapse before you must log in after the ESXi Shell is enabled. After the timeout period, if you have not logged in, the shell is disabled. Note If you are logged in when the timeout period elapses, your session will persist. However, the ESXi Shell will be disabled, preventing other users from logging in. a From the Troubleshooting Mode Options menu, select Modify ESXi Shell and SSH timeouts and press Enter.
vSphere Installation and Setup Configuring the BIOS Boot Settings If your server has multiple drives, you might need to configure the BIOS settings. The BIOS boot configuration determines how your server boots. Generally, the CD-ROM device is listed first. Note If you are using ESXi Embedded, the BIOS boot configuration determines whether your server boots into the ESXi boot device or another boot device.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites ESXi Installable and ESXi Embedded cannot exist on the same host. Procedure 1 Connect the media to the virtual device. For example, if you are using a Dell server, log in to the Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) or a similar remote management interface and select a physical floppy or CD-ROM drive, or provide a path to a floppy image or CD-ROM image. 2 Reboot the server. 3 While the server is powering on, enter the device selection menu.
vSphere Installation and Setup Network Access to Your ESXi Host The default behavior is to configure the ESXi management network using DHCP. You can override the default behavior and use static IP settings for the management network after the installation is completed. Table 2‑20. Network Configuration Scenarios Supported by ESXi Scenario Approach You want to accept the DHCP-configured IP settings.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Virtual machine traffic can flow over one or many networks. You can enhance the isolation of virtual machines by using virtual firewall solutions that set firewall rules at the virtual network controller. These settings travel with a virtual machine as it migrates from host to host within your vSphere environment.
vSphere Installation and Setup For DHCP to work, your network environment must have a DHCP server. If DHCP is not available, the host assigns the link local IP address, which is in the subnet 169.254.x.x/16. The assigned IP address appears on the direct console. If you do not have physical monitor access to the host, you can access the direct console using a remote management application.
vSphere Installation and Setup Configuring DNS for ESXi You can select either manual or automatic DNS configuration of the ESXi host. The default is automatic. For automatic DNS to work, your network environment must have a DHCP server and a DNS server. In network environments where automatic DNS is not available or not desirable, you can configure static DNS information, including a host name, a primary name server, a secondary name server, and DNS suffixes.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Connect a network cable to the host. 5 (Optional) Use the vSphere Web Client to connect to a vCenter Server system. 6 (Optional) Add the host to the vCenter Server inventory. Test the Management Network You can use the direct console to do simple network connectivity tests. The direct console performs the following tests.
vSphere Installation and Setup If a renewed DHCP lease results in a new network identity (IP address or host name), remote management software will be disconnected. Procedure 1 From the direct console, select Restart Management Network and press Enter. 2 Press F11 to confirm the restart. Test Connectivity to Devices and Networks You can use the direct console to perform some simple network connectivity tests. In addition to the management network, you can specify other devices and networks.
vSphere Installation and Setup Storage Behavior When you start ESXi, the host enters an autoconfiguration phase during which system storage devices are configured with defaults. When you reboot the ESXi host after installing the ESXi image, the host configures the system storage devices with default settings. By default, all visible blank internal disks are formatted with VMFS, so you can store virtual machines on the disks.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 2‑21. Partitions Created by ESXi on the Host Drive ESXi Version Partitions Created ESXi Installable For fresh installations, several new partitions are created for the boot banks, the scratch partition, and the locker. Fresh ESXi installations use GUID Partition Tables (GPT) instead of MSDOS-based partitioning. The partition table itself is fixed as part of the binary image, and is written to the disk at the time the system is installed.
vSphere Installation and Setup When ESXi boots, the system tries to find a suitable partition on a local disk to create a scratch partition. The scratch partition is not required. It is used to store vm-support output, which you need when you create a support bundle. If the scratch partition is not present, vm-support output is stored in a ramdisk. In low-memory situations, you might want to create a scratch partition if one is not present.
vSphere Installation and Setup Configuring System Logging The ESXi hosts run the syslog service (vmsyslogd), which writes messages from the VMkernel and other system components to log files. You can configure the amount and location of the log. You can also create and apply log filters to modify the logging policy of an ESXi host. Configure Syslog on ESXi Hosts You can use the vSphere Web Client or the esxcli system syslog vCLI command to configure the syslog service.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 7 (Optional) To overwrite the default log size and log rotation for any of the logs. a Click the name of the log that you want to customize. b Click Edit and enter the number of rotations and the log size you want. Click OK. Changes to the syslog options take effect immediately. Configure Log Filtering on ESXi Hosts The log filtering capability lets you modify the logging policy of the syslog service that is running on an ESXi host.
vSphere Installation and Setup n logRegexp specifies a case-sensitive phrase with Python regular expression syntax to filter the log messages by their content. For example, to set a limit of maximum two-log entries from the hostd component for messages that resemble the SOCKET connect failed, error 2: No such file or directory phrase with any error number, add the following entry: 2 | hostd | SOCKET connect failed, error .
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 Select the acceptance level and click OK. Table 2‑22.
vSphere Installation and Setup Reset the System Configuration If you are having trouble determining the source of a problem with your ESXi host, you can reset the system configuration. Changes in the system configuration can be related to various problems, including problems with connectivity to the network and devices. Resetting the system configuration might solve such problems.
vSphere Installation and Setup Licensing ESXi Hosts After you install ESXi, it has a 60-day evaluation period during which you can explore the full set of vSphere features provided with a vSphere Enterprise Plus license. You must assign the host an appropriate license before the evaluation period expires. ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses that have per-CPU capacity. To license hosts correctly, you must assign them a vSphere license that has enough CPU capacity to cover all CPUs in the hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup Recording the License Key of an ESXi Host If a host becomes inaccessible or unbootable, you should have a record of its license key. You can write down the license key and tape it to the server, or put the license key in a secure location. You can access the license key from the direct console user interface or the vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Perform a regular expression search. a Press the slash key (/). b Type the text to find. c Press Enter. The found text is highlighted on the screen. 5 Press q to return to the direct console. What to do next See also Configure Syslog on ESXi Hosts. VMware, Inc.
Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance 3 You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded or external Platform Services Controller to manage your vSphere environment. You can deploy a Platform Services Controller appliance and register external deployments and Windows installations of vCenter Server Appliance with this Platform Services Controller appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup User Name Description root Use this user name to log in to the appliance operating system and the Appliance Management Interface. You set the password while deploying the virtual appliance. administrator@your_domain_name Use this user name for vCenter Single Sign-On login. You set the password while creating the vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
vSphere Installation and Setup Before you deploy the appliance, synchronize the clocks of the target server and all vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller instances on the vSphere network. Unsynchronized clocks might result in authentication problems and can cause the installation to fail or prevent the appliance services from starting. See Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network.
vSphere Installation and Setup Storage Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance, the ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you deploy the appliance must meet minimum storage requirements. The required storage depends not only on the size of the vSphere environment and the storage size, but also on the disk provisioning mode.
vSphere Installation and Setup Software Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance The VMware vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller appliance can be deployed on ESXi hosts 5.5 or later, or on vCenter Server instances 5.5 or later. You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance by using the GUI or CLI installer.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components Port Protocol Description Required for 22 TCP/UDP System port for SSHD. Appliance deployments of 53 80 TCP n vCenter Server n Platform Services Controller Used for Node-to-Node Communication No DNS service Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller No vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS port 443.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 389 TCP/UDP This port must be open on the local and all remote instances of vCenter Server. This is the LDAP port number for the Directory Services for the vCenter Server group. If another service is running on this port, it might be preferable to remove it or change its port to a different port.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 636 TCP vCenter Single Sign-On LDAPS Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller During upgrade from vSphere 6.0 only.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 7444 TCP Secure Token Service Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 only. 8084 TCP vSphere Update Manager SOAP port The port used by vSphere Update Manager client plug-in to connect to the vSphere Update Manager SOAP server.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 11711 TCP vCenter Single Sign-On LDAP Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only. Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only. For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.
vSphere Installation and Setup Ensure that the ESXi host management interface has a valid DNS resolution from the vCenter Server and all vSphere Web Client instances. Ensure that the vCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all vSphere Web Clients. vSphere Web Client Software Requirements Make sure that your browser supports the vSphere Web Client. The vSphere Web Client 6.5 requires Adobe Flash Player v. 16 to 23.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑5. System Requirements for the GUI and CLI Installers Operating System Supported Versions Windows n Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 n Windows 2012 x64 bit n Windows 2012 R2 x64 bit n Windows 2016 x64 bit n SUSE 12 n Ubuntu 14.04 n macOS v10.9, 10,10, 10.11 n macOS Sierra Linux Mac Minimum Hardware Configuration for Optimal Performance 4 GB RAM, 2 CPU having 4 cores with 2.3 GHz, 32 GB hard disk, 1 NIC 4 GB RAM, 1 CPU having 2 cores with 2.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Mount or extract the ISO image to the client machine from which you want to deploy, upgrade, migrate, or restore the appliance. Note ISO mounting or extracting software that does not allow more than eight directory levels, for example, MagicISO Maker on Windows, is unsupported. For Linux OS and Mac OS, Archive Manager is unsupported. For Mac OS, you can use DiskImageMounter. For Ubuntu 14.04, you can use Disk Image Mounter. For SUSE 12 OS, you can use the terminal.
vSphere Installation and Setup n For topologies with external Platform Services Controller instances, verify that you deploy the different nodes with time synchronization between each other. All vCenter Server instances, Platform Services Controller instances, and third-party load balancers in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain must be time synchronized. See Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 3‑1. Stage 1 - OVA Deployment The first stage walks you through the deployment wizard to choose the deployment type and appliance settings. This stage completes the deployment of the OVA file on the target server with the deployment type and appliance settings that you provide.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6. Required Information During Stage 1 of the GUI Deployment Process Required for Deployment of Required Information Default All deployment types FQDN or IP address of the target server on which you want to deploy the appliance. - Your Entry The target server can be either an ESXi host or a vCenter Server instance.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6. Required Information During Stage 1 of the GUI Deployment Process (Continued) Required for Deployment of Required Information Default All deployment types Password for the root user of the appliance operating system - VMware, Inc. n Must contain only lower ASCII characters without spaces.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6. Required Information During Stage 1 of the GUI Deployment Process (Continued) Required for Deployment of Required Information Default Tiny n vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller Deployment size of the vCenter Server Appliance for your vSphere environment n vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller n Your Entry Tiny Deploys an appliance with 2 CPUs and 10 GB of memory.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6. Required Information During Stage 1 of the GUI Deployment Process (Continued) Required for Deployment of Required Information Default Your Entry For medium deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1805 GB of storage. For large deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1870 GB of storage. For x-large deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1910 GB of storage.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑7. Required Information During Stage 2 of the GUI Deployment Process (Continued) Required for Required Information Default Site name - n vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller FQDN or IP address of the Platform Services Controller instance that you want to join n Platform Services Controller appliance as a subsequent instance in an existing domain You must join a Platform Services Controller instance of the same version.
vSphere Installation and Setup Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller by Using the GUI You can use the GUI installer to perform an interactive deployment of a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller. You must run the GUI deployment from a Windows, Linux, or Mac machine that is in the network on which you want to deploy the appliance. Figure 3‑3.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Stage 2 - Set up the Newly Deployed vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller When the OVA deployment finishes, you are redirected to stage 2 of the deployment process to set up and start the services of the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Connect to the target server on which you want to deploy the vCenter Server Appliance. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. 4 Click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup 9 Select the storage size for the vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next. Storage Size Option Description for Tiny Deployment Size Description for Small Deployment Size Description for Medium Deployment Size Description for Large Deployment Size Description for XLarge Deployment Size Default Deploys an appliance with 250 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 290 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 425 GB of storage.
vSphere Installation and Setup 13 Wait for the OVA deployment to finish, and click Continue to proceed with stage 2 of the deployment process to set up and start the services of the newly deployed appliance. Note If you exit the wizard by clicking Close, you must log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface to set up and start the services.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Review the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page and choose if you want to join the program. For information about the CEIP, see the Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program section in vCenter Server and Host Management. 5 On the Ready to complete page, review the configuration settings for the vCenter Server Appliance, click Finish, and click OK to complete stage 2 of the deployment process and set up the appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 3‑4. Deployment Workflow of a Platform Services Controller Appliance Start the deployment Stage 1 - Deploy the OVA file as a Platform Services Controller appliance Stage 2 - Set up the newly deployed Platform Services Controller appliance End of the deployment Prerequisites n See Prerequisites for Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup n For Linux OS, go to the lin64 subdirectory, and run the installer file. n For Mac OS, go to the mac subdirectory, and run the Installer.app file. 2 On the Home page, click Install to start the deployment wizard. 3 Review the Introduction page to understand the deployment process and click Next. 4 Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next. 5 On the Select a deployment type page, select Platform Services Controller and click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup 9 On the Configure network settings page, set up the network settings. The IP address or the FQDN of the appliance is used as a system name. It is recommended to use an FQDN. However, if you want to use an IP address, use static IP address allocation for the appliance, because IP addresses allocated by DHCP might change. Option Action Network Select the network to which to connect the appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 3 Configure the time settings in the appliance, optionally enable remote SSH access to the appliance, and click Next. Option Description Synchronize time with the ESXi host Enables periodic time synchronization, and VMware Tools sets the time of the guest operating system to be the same as the time of the ESXi host. Synchronize time with NTP servers Uses a Network Time Protocol server for synchronizing the time.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 (Optional) After the initial setup finishes, click the https://platform_services_controller_fqdn/psc to go to the Platform Services Controller Web interface, or click the https://platform_services_controller_fqdn:443 to go the Platform Services Controller Getting Started page. 7 Click Close to exit the wizard. You are redirected to the Platform Services Controller Getting Started page.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites n See Prerequisites for Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance. n See Required Information for Deploying a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance. n Verify that you have installed or deployed the Platform Services Controller instance with which you plan to register the vCenter Server Appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Connect to the target server on which you want to deploy the vCenter Server Appliance. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. 4 Click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup 9 Select the storage size for the vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next. Storage Size Option Description for Tiny Deployment Size Description for Small Deployment Size Description for Medium Deployment Size Description for Large Deployment Size Description for XLarge Deployment Size Default Deploys an appliance with 250 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 290 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 425 GB of storage.
vSphere Installation and Setup 13 Wait for the OVA deployment to finish, and click Continue to proceed with stage 2 of the deployment process to set up and start the services of the newly deployed appliance. Note If you exit the wizard by clicking Close, you must log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface to set up and start the services.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next You can configure high availability for the vCenter Server Appliance. For information about providing vCenter Server Appliance high availability, see vSphere Availability. CLI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance You can use the CLI installer to perform a silent deployment of a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance on an ESXi host or vCenter Server instance.
vSphere Installation and Setup For a complete list of the configuration parameters and their descriptions, navigate to the installer subdirectory for your operating system and run the vcsa-deploy install --template-help command or see Deployment Configuration Parameters. Prerequisites n You must be familiar with the JSON syntax. n Download and Mount the vCenter Server Appliance Installer.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next You can create and save additional templates if needed for your deployment specification. JSON Templates for CLI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance The vCenter Server Appliance installer contains JSON templates that are located in the vcsa-cliinstaller/templates directory. In the install subfolder, you can find eight JSON templates with the minimum configuration parameters for all deployment types.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑8. Deployment JSON Templates Included in the vCenter Server Appliance Installer (Continued) Location Template Description PSC_replication_on_VC.json Contains the minimum configuration parameters that are required for deployment of a Platform Services Controller appliance joining an existing vCenter Single Sign-On domain on a vCenter Server instance. vCSA_on_ESXi.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑9. Sections and Subsections of Configuration Parameters in the JSON Deployment Files (Continued) Section Subsecti on Description applianc e Contains the configuration parameters that describe the appliance. See Table 3‑12. network Contains the configuration parameters that describe the network settings for the appliance. See Table 3‑13. os Contains the configuration parameters that describe the operating system settings for the appliance. See Table 3‑14.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑10. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, esxi Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description password string The password of the user with administrative privileges on the target ESXi host. deployment.network string The name of the network to which to connect the appliance. Note The network must be accessible from the target ESXi host. Ignored if the target ESXi host has only one network.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑11. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, vc Subsection (Continued) Name Type port integer Description The HTTPS reverse proxy port of the target vCenter Server instance. The default port is 443. Use only if the target vCenter Server instance uses a custom HTTPS reverse proxy port. target string or array The target ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, appliance Subsection Name Type Description thin.disk.mode Boolean Set to true to deploy the appliance with thin virtual disks. deployment.option string The size of the appliance. n Set to tiny if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller for up to 10 hosts and 100 virtual machines with the default storage size.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to large-lstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller for up to 1,000 hosts and 10,000 virtual machines with the large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 16 CPUs, 32 GB of memory, and 990 GB of storage.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to management-small-xlstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller for up to 100 hosts and 1,000 virtual machines with the x-large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 4 CPUs, 16 GB of memory, and 1700 GB of storage.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type image string Description Optional. A local file path or URL to the vCenter Server Appliance installation package. By default the installer uses the installation package that is included in the ISO file, in the vcsa folder. name string The VM name for the appliance. Must contain only ASCII characters except a percent sign (%), backslash (\), or forward slash (/) and
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑13. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, network Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description gateway string IP address of the default gateway. For IPv6 version, the value can be default. system.name string Primary network identity. Can be an IP address or FQDN, preferably FQDN. You cannot change the value of this parameter after the deployment. The FQDN and dotted-decimal numbers must comply with the RFC 1123 guidelines. Table 3‑14.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 3‑15. Configuration Parameters in the new.vcsa Section, sso Subsection Name Type Description password string Password of the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user, administrator@your_domain_name.
vSphere Installation and Setup Configuration Parameters in the ceip Section Table 3‑16. Configuration Parameters in the ceip Section, settings Subsection Name Type Description ceip.enabled Boolean Set to true to join the CEIP for this appliance. Deploy a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance by Using the CLI You can use the CLI installer to perform an unattended deployment of a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Run the deployment command. vcsa-deploy install --accept-eula --acknowledge-ceip optional_arguments path_to_the_json_file Use optional_arguments to enter space-separated arguments to set additional execution parameters of the deployment command. For example, you can set the location of the log and other output files that the installer generates.
vSphere Installation and Setup Argument Description --sso-ssl-thumbprint SSL-SHA1-THUMBPRINT Validates server certificate against the supplied SHA1 thumbprint. -h, --help Displays the help message for the vcsa-deploy install command. --template-help Displays the help message for the use of configuration parameters in the JSON deployment file. After the execution finishes, you can get the exit code of the command.
Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows 4 You can install vCenter Server with an embedded or external Platform Services Controller on a Microsoft Windows virtual machine or physical server to manage your vSphere environment. Before you install vCenter Server, download the installer ISO file and mount it to the Windows host machine on which you want to perform the installation, and then start the installation wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup This section includes the following topics: n vCenter Server for Windows Requirements n Preparing for Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows n Required Information for Installing vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on Windows n Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows vCenter Server for Windows Requirements To install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must
vSphere Installation and Setup n Verify that the LOCAL SERVICE account has read permission on the folder in which vCenter Server is installed and on the HKLM registry. n Verify that the connection between the virtual machine or physical server and the domain controller is working.
vSphere Installation and Setup Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows When you install vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on a virtual machine or physical server running Microsoft Windows, your system must meet specific hardware requirements. You can install vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller on the same virtual machine or physical server or on different virtual machines or physical servers.
vSphere Installation and Setup The storage requirements per folder depend on the deployment model that you decide to install. During installation, you can select a folder other than the default C:\Program Files\VMware folder to install vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller. You can also select a folder other than the default C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\ in which to store data. Table 4‑2.
vSphere Installation and Setup Required Ports for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller The vCenter Server system, both on Windows and in the appliance, must be able to send data to every managed host and receive data from the vSphere Web Client and the Platform Services Controller services. To enable migration and provisioning activities between managed hosts, the source and destination hosts must be able to receive data from each other.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 80 TCP vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS port 443. This redirection is useful if you accidentally use http://server instead of https://server. Windows installations and appliance deployments of WS-Management (also requires port 443 to be open).
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 443 TCP The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to listen for connections from the vSphere Web Client. To enable the vCenter Server system to receive data from the vSphere Web Client, open port 443 in the firewall.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 902 TCP/UDP The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 2020 TCP/UDP Authentication framework management Windows installations and appliance deployments of Important You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows. 5480 TCP Appliance Management Interface Open endpoint serving all HTTPS, XMLRPS and JSON-RPC requests over HTTPS.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 7444 TCP Secure Token Service Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 only. 8084 TCP vSphere Update Manager SOAP port The port used by vSphere Update Manager client plug-in to connect to the vSphere Update Manager SOAP server.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 11711 TCP vCenter Single Sign-On LDAP Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only. Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only. For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.
vSphere Installation and Setup If you use DHCP instead of a static IP address for vCenter Server, make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS. Ensure that the ESXi host management interface has a valid DNS resolution from the vCenter Server and all vSphere Web Client instances. Ensure that the vCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all vSphere Web Clients.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Download the vCenter Server installer from the VMware Web site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads. vCenter Server is part of VMware vCloud Suite and VMware vSphere, listed under Datacenter & Cloud Infrastructure. 2 Confirm that the md5sum is correct. See the VMware Web site topic Using MD5 Checksums at http://www.vmware.com/download/md5.html.
vSphere Installation and Setup vCenter Server databases require a UTF code set. Contact your DBA for the appropriate database credentials. Table 4‑5. Configuration Notes for Databases Supported with vCenter Server Database Type Configuration Notes Embedded PostgreSQL For vCenter Server 6.5, the bundled PostgreSQL database is suitable for environments with up to 20 hosts and 200 virtual machines.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prepare the vCenter Server SQL Server Database You first create a database and user for vCenter Server. Then you assign permissions to the vCenter Server database user either by using the existing dbo schema and dbo_owner role or by creating custom database schema and roles. Prerequisites Log in to the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio as the sysadmin (SA) or a user account with sysadmin privileges.
vSphere Installation and Setup use MSDB go CREATE USER vpxuser for LOGIN vpxuser go You now have a Microsoft SQL Server database that you can use with vCenter Server. 2 Assign the db_owner role to the vCenter Server database user on both the vCenter Server and msdb databases.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Create a database and user for vCenter Server. a In the master database, create a database for vCenter Server. b Create a database user for vCenter Server and map it to the vCenter Server and msdb databases. For example, to create the database VCDB and user vpxuser, you can run the following script: use master go CREATE DATABASE VCDB ON PRIMARY (NAME = N'vcdb', FILENAME = N'C:\database_path\VCDB.
vSphere Installation and Setup GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA :: VMW to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT REFERENCES ON SCHEMA :: VMW to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT INSERT ON SCHEMA :: VMW to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE TABLE to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE VIEW to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE Procedure to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; if not exists (SELECT name FROM sysusers WHERE issqlrole=1 AND name = 'VC_USER_ROLE') CREATE ROLE VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA :: VMW to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT INSERT ON SCHEMA :: VMW to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT D
vSphere Installation and Setup go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobschedule TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_category TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go sp_addrolemember VC_ADMIN_ROLE , vpxuser go Note The VC_ADMIN_ROLE role in the msdb database is required only during installation and upgrade of vCenter Server. After the installation or upgrade, you can revoke the role and leave it as inactive for future upgrades, or you can remove it for increased security.
vSphere Installation and Setup d purge_stat2_proc_mssql.sql e purge_stat3_proc_mssql.sql f purge_usage_stats_proc_mssql.sql g stats_rollup1_proc_mssql.sql h stats_rollup2_proc_mssql.sql i stats_rollup3_proc_mssql.sql j cleanup_events_mssql.sql k delete_stats_proc_mssql.sql l upsert_last_event_proc_mssql.sql m load_usage_stats_proc_mssql.sql n TopN_DB_mssql.sql o calc_topn1_proc_mssql.sql p calc_topn2_proc_mssql.sql q calc_topn3_proc_mssql.sql r calc_topn4_proc_mssql.
vSphere Installation and Setup b 7 process_performance_data_mssql.sql For all supported editions of Microsoft SQL Server except Microsoft SQL Server Express, run the scripts to set up scheduled jobs on the database. These scripts ensure that the SQL Server Agent service is running. 8 a job_schedule1_mssql.sql b job_schedule2_mssql.sql c job_schedule3_mssql.sql d job_cleanup_events_mssql.sql e job_topn_past_day_mssql.sql f job_topn_past_week_mssql.sql g job_topn_past_month_mssql.
vSphere Installation and Setup grant grant grant grant execute execute execute execute on on on on l_purge_stat2_proc to vpxuser l_purge_stat3_proc to vpxuser l_stats_rollup1_proc to vpxuser l_stats_rollup2_proc to vpxuser If you ran the script process_performance_data_mssql.sql in Step 5, grant the following execute privilege to the vCenter Server database. grant execute on process_performance_data_proc to vpxuser You created the vCenter Server tables manually.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 (Optional) In the Description text box, enter an ODBC DSN description. 5 In the Server text box, enter the IP address or FQDN of the SQL Server and, if you want to use a non-default port to access the SQL Server, enter a custom port separated by a comma. For example, if the IP address of your SQL Server is 10.160.10.160 and you want to access the server by using custom port 8347, enter 10.160.10.160,8347. Note You cannot use a database server alias to create a DSN.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 6 On the Protocol tab, make the following entries. Enabled Yes Listen All Yes Keep Alive 30000 On the IP Addresses tab, make the following selections. Active Yes TCP Dynamic Ports 0 7 Restart the SQL Server service from SQL Server Configuration Manager > SQL Server Services. 8 Start the SQL Server Browser service from SQL Server Configuration Manager > SQL Server Services.
vSphere Installation and Setup Prepare the vCenter Server Oracle Database To use an Oracle database with vCenter Server, you must create the database with certain tablespaces and privileges, and the database user with certain permissions. You must first create a tablespace and user for vCenter Server. Then you grant permissions to the database user. You must also enable database monitoring for the user before you install vCenter Server. See Database Permission Requirements for vCenter Server.
vSphere Installation and Setup grant grant grant grant select on select on select on unlimited dba_temp_files to VPXADMIN; dba_data_files to VPXADMIN; v_$session to VPXADMIN; tablespace to VPXADMIN; By default, the RESOURCE role has the CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE SEQUENCE privileges assigned. If the RESOURCE role lacks these privileges, grant them to the vCenter Server database user. Note Instead of granting unlimited tablespace, you can set a specific tablespace quota.
vSphere Installation and Setup d load_stats_proc_oracle.sql e purge_stat2_proc_oracle.sql f purge_stat3_proc_oracle.sql g purge_usage_stats_proc_oracle.sql h stats_rollup1_proc_oracle.sql i stats_rollup2_proc_oracle.sql j stats_rollup3_proc_oracle.sql k cleanup_events_oracle.sql l delete_stats_proc_oracle.sql m load_usage_stats_proc_oracle.sql n TopN_DB_oracle.sql o calc_topn1_proc_oracle.sql p calc_topn2_proc_oracle.sql q calc_topn3_proc_oracle.sql r calc_topn4_proc_oracle.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 For all supported editions of Oracle Server, run the scripts to set up scheduled jobs on the database. a job_schedule1_oracle.sql b job_schedule2_oracle.sql c job_schedule3_oracle.sql d job_cleanup_events_oracle.sql e job_topn_past_day_oracle.sql f job_topn_past_week_oracle.sql g job_topn_past_month_oracle.sql h job_topn_past_year_oracle.sql You created the vCenter Server tables manually.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the machine on which you plan to install vCenter Server, select Start > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC). 2 On the System DSN tab, modify an existing or create a new Oracle ODBC connection. 3 n To modify an existing Oracle ODBC connection, select the connection from the System Data Source list and click Configure. n To create an Oracle ODBC connection, click Add, select the Oracle client, and click Finish.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑6. Microsoft SQL Database Permissions for vCenter Server (Continued) Permission Description GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] TO VC_USER_ROLE Permissions that let you run SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE operations on tables which are part of the VMW schema.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑7. Oracle Database Permissions for vCenter Server (Continued) Permission Description GRANT CREATE SEQUENCE TO VPXADMIN Necessary for creating a sequence. GRANT CREATE TABLE TO VPXADMIN Necessary for creating a table. GRANT CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW TO VPXADMIN Necessary for creating a materialized view. GRANT EXECUTE ON dbms_lock TO VPXADMIN Necessary for guaranteeing that the vCenter Server database is used by a single vCenter Server instance.
vSphere Installation and Setup If your database is remote, you can skip this procedure. The name change has no effect on communication with remote databases. After you rename the server, verify with your database administrator or the database vendor that all components of the database are working. Prerequisites n Make sure that the database server is running. n Make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS).
vSphere Installation and Setup To synchronize ESXi clocks with an NTP server, you can use the VMware Host Client. For information about editing the time configuration of an ESXi host, see vSphere Single Host Management. Using a User Account for Running vCenter Server You can use the Microsoft Windows built-in system account or a user account to run vCenter Server. With a user account, you can enable Windows authentication for SQL Server, and it provides more security.
vSphere Installation and Setup Required Information for Installing vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on Windows When you install vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller, Platform Services Controller, or vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller, the wizard prompts you for the installation information. It is a best practice to keep a record of the values that you entered in case you must reinstall the product.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑8. Required Information for Installing vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on Windows (Continued) Required for n n vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller Required Information Default vCenter Server service account information Windows local system account Can be the Windows local system account or a user service account. Your Entry Note Starting with vSphere 6.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 4‑8. Required Information for Installing vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on Windows (Continued) Required for Required Information Default All deployment types Destination folder n n The folder in which to install vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller n The folder in which to store data for vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller The installation paths cannot contain non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.
vSphere Installation and Setup Install vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller You can deploy vCenter Server, the vCenter Server components, and the Platform Services Controller on one virtual machine or physical server. After you deploy vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller, you can reconfigure your topology and switch to vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Set up the new vCenter Single Sign-On domain and click Next. a Enter the domain name, for example vsphere.local. b Set the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account. This is the password for the user administrator@your_domain_name. After installation, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and to vCenter Server as adminstrator@your_domain_name. c Enter the site name for vCenter Single Sign-On.
vSphere Installation and Setup 10 (Optional) Change the default destination folders and click Next. Important Do not use folders that end with an exclamation mark (!). 11 Review the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page and choose if you want to join the program. For information about the CEIP, see the Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program section in vCenter Server and Host Management. 12 Click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Select Platform Services Controller and click Next. 5 Enter the system name, preferably an FQDN, and click Next. You can also enter an IP address. If you enter an IP address, provide a static IP address. Important When you provide an FQDN or an IP address as the system name of the Platform Services Controller, make sure that the FQDN or IP address does not change.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Create a new vCenter Single Sign-On domain or join an existing domain. Option Description Create a new Single Sign-On domain Creates a new vCenter Single Sign-On domain. a Enter the domain name, for example vsphere.local. b Set the user name for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account, for example, administrator. After the deployment, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and to vCenter Server as adminstrator_user_name@your_domain_name.
vSphere Installation and Setup 10 Review the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page and choose if you want to join the program. For information about the CEIP, see the Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program section in vCenter Server and Host Management. 11 Review the summary of the installation settings and click Install to start the installation. 12 After the installation completes, click Finish to close the i nstaller. The Platform Services Controller is installed.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Provide the system name of the Platform Services Controller that you already installed or deployed, the HTTPS port to use for communication with the vCenter Single Sign-On server, as well as the vCenter Single Sign-On password, and click Next. Important Make sure that you use either the IP address or the FQDN that you provided during the installation of the Platform Services Controller.
vSphere Installation and Setup 13 (Optional) After the installation finishes, click Launch vSphere Web Client to start the vSphere Web Client and log in to vCenter Server. 14 Click Finish to close the installer. vCenter Server is installed in evaluation mode. You can activate vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client. For information about activating vCenter Server, see vCenter Server and Host Management.
After You Install vCenter Server or Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance 5 After you install vCenter Server or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, consider these postinstallation options before adding inventory for the vCenter Server to manage. For information about configuring the vSphere Authentication Proxy service, see vSphere Security.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 If a warning message about an untrusted SSL certificate appears, select the appropriate action based on your security policy. Option Action Ignore the security warning for this login session only. Click Ignore. Ignore the security warning for this login session, and install the default certificate so that the warning does not appear again. Select Install this certificate and do not display any security warnings for this server and click Ignore.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Open a Web browser and type the URL for the vSphere Web Client. 2 At the bottom of the vSphere Web Client login page, click Download Enhanced Authentication Plug-in. 3 If the browser blocks the installation either by issuing certificate errors or by running a pop-up blocker, follow the Help instructions for your browser to resolve the problem. 4 Save the plug-in to your computer, and run the executable.
vSphere Installation and Setup Repoint vCenter Server to Another External Platform Services Controller Joining external Platform Services Controller instances in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, ensures high availability of your system. If an external Platform Services Controller stops responding or if you want to distribute the load of an external Platform Services Controller, you can repoint the vCenter Server instances to another Platform Services Controller in the same domain and site.
vSphere Installation and Setup where the square brackets [ ] enclose the command options. Here, psc_fqdn_or_static_ip is the system name used to identify the Platform Services Controller. This system name must be an FQDN or a static IP address. Note The FQDN value is case-sensitive. Use the --dc-port port_number option if the Platform Services Controller runs on a custom HTTPS port. The default value of the HTTPS port is 443.
vSphere Installation and Setup Reconfigure a Standalone vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller If you have deployed or installed a standalone vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller and you want to extend your vCenter Single Sign-On domain with more vCenter Server instances, you can reconfigure and repoint the existing vCenter Server instance to an external Platform Services Controller.
vSphere Installation and Setup Table 5‑1.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 2 Log in to the vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller. Option Steps For a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller Log in to the appliance shell as root. For a Windows installation of vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller Log in to the Windows machine as an administrator, open the Windows command prompt, and navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin.
vSphere Installation and Setup What to do next n You can deploy or install additional vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller instances in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain. n If you reconfigured a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller that was configured in a vCenter HA cluster, you can reconfigure the vCenter HA cluster. For information about configuring vCenter HA, see vSphere Availability. VMware, Inc.
File-Based Backup and Restore of vCenter Server Appliance 6 The vCenter Server Appliance supports a file-based backup and restore mechanism that helps you to recover your environment after failures. In vSphere 6.5, you can use the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface to create a file-based backup of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller appliance. After you create the backup, you can restore it by using the GUI installer of the appliance.
vSphere Installation and Setup Considerations and Limitations for File-Based Backup and Restore When you backup or restore a vCenter Server environment, take into account these considerations and limitation.
vSphere Installation and Setup Distributed Power Management If you put a host into standby mode after a backup, the vCenter Server might force the host to exit standby mode when you restore to the backup. Distributed Virtual Switch If you use a distributed virtual switch, you are advised to export separately the distributed virtual switch configuration before you restore to a backup. You can import the configuration after the restore.
vSphere Installation and Setup c n The missing virtual machine is located on the destination ESXi host, but it is not registered with the destination ESXi host. In the vCenter Server instance, the missing virtual machine is marked as orphaned. You must remove the virtual machine from the vCenter Server inventory and add it again. Restoring vCenter Server from a backup that has an out-of-date linked clone virtual machine layout.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Changes, such as create, delete, or update, performed on storage policies after backup are lost. n Changes, such as create, delete, or update, performed on storage policy components after backup are lost. n Default policy configuration changes for datastores performed after backup are lost. n Changes in the storage policy association of the virtual machine and its disks, and in their policy compliance might occur.
vSphere Installation and Setup 5 Enter the backup protocol and location details. Option Description Backup protocol Select the protocol to use to connect to your backup server. You can select FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, or SCP. For FTP, FTPS, HTTP, or HTTPS the path is relative to the home directory configured for the service. For SCP, the path is absolute to the remote systems root directory. 6 Backup location Enter the server address and backup folder in which to store the backup files.
vSphere Installation and Setup Restore a vCenter Server Appliance from a File-Based Backup You can use the vCenter Server Appliance GUI installer to restore a vCenter Server Appliance to an ESXi host or a vCenter Server instance. The restore procedure has two stages. The first stage deploys a new vCenter Server Appliance. The second stage populates the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance with the data stored in the file-based backup. Figure 6‑1. vCenter Server Appliance Restore Workflow VMware, Inc.
vSphere Installation and Setup Perform a file-based restore of a Platform Services Controller only when the last Platform Services Controller in the domain fails. If there are other Platform Services Controller instances in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, deploy a new Platform Services Controller instance and join it to the existing Single Sign-On domain. Figure 6‑2.
vSphere Installation and Setup n If the vCenter Server instance is part of a vCenter High Availability cluster, you must power off the active, passive, and witness nodes of the cluster before restoring the vCenter Server. Procedure 1 Stage 1 - Deploy a New Appliance In stage 1 of the restore process, you deploy the OVA file, which is included in the vCenter Server Appliance GUI installer.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 On the Home page, click Restore. 3 Review the Introduction page to understand the restore process and click Next. 4 Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next. 5 On the Enter backup details page, enter the details of the backup file that you want to restore, and click Next. Option Description Backup location type Select the protocol to use to retrieve the backup from your backup server. You can select HTTPS, HTTP, SCP, FTPS, or FTP.
vSphere Installation and Setup 10 Select the deployment size for the new vCenter Server Appliance depending on the size of your vSphere inventory. Deployment Size Option Description Tiny Deploys an appliance with 2 CPUs and 10 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 10 hosts or 100 virtual machines Small Deploys an appliance with 4 CPUs and 16 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 100 hosts or 1,000 virtual machines Medium Deploys an appliance with 8 CPUs and 24 GB of memory.
vSphere Installation and Setup 16 Wait for the OVA deployment to finish, and click Continue to proceed with stage 2 of the restore process to transfer the data to the newly deployed appliance. Note If you exit the wizard by clicking Close, you must log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface to transfer the data. The newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance is running on the target server but the data is not copied from the backup location.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Perform a post restore recovery to complete the restore process. Restored Node Type Action vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller a Log in to the restored vCenter Server Appliance Bash shell. b Run the script /usr/bin/vcenter-restore.
Image-Based Backup and Restore of a vCenter Server Environment 7 You can use vSphere Data Protection or a third-party product that is integrated with VMware vSphere Storage APIs - Data Protection to back up and restore a virtual machine that contains vCenter Server, a vCenter Server Appliance, or a Platform Services Controller. vSphere Data Protection is a disk‐based backup and recovery solution that is powered by EMC.
vSphere Installation and Setup This section includes the following topics: n Considerations and Limitations for Image-Based Backup and Restore n Use vSphere Data Protection to Back Up a vCenter Server Environment n Use vSphere Data Protection to Restore a vCenter Server Environment Considerations and Limitations for Image-Based Backup and Restore When you restore a vCenter Server environment, take into account these considerations and limitations.
vSphere Installation and Setup Distributed Virtual Switch If you use a distributed virtual switch, you are advised to export separately the distributed virtual switch configuration before you restore to a backup. You can import the configuration after the restore. If you omit this consideration, you may lose the changes made to a distributed virtual switch after the backup. For detailed steps, see the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2034602.
vSphere Installation and Setup If you create a linked clone virtual machine after the backup and you restore vCenter Server from the old backup, then after the restore, vCenter Server does not know about the new linked clone virtual machine until vCenter Server discovers the new linked clone virtual machine. If you remove all existing virtual machines before the new linked clone virtual machine is discovered, then the removal of existing virtual machines corrupts the new linked clone due to missing disks.
vSphere Installation and Setup Virtual Storage Area Network Restoring vCenter Server from a backup may cause inconsistencies in the vSAN. For information how to check vSAN health, see Administering VMware vSAN. Patching Restoring vCenter Server from a backup might result in missing security patches. You must apply them again after the restore is complete. For information on patching the vCenter Server Appliance, see vSphere Upgrade.
vSphere Installation and Setup Deploy the vSphere Data Protection OVF Template Deploy vSphere Data Protection to back up and restore virtual machines that contain vCenter Server, a vCenter Server Appliance, or a Platform Services Controller. Note This procedure describes the steps by using vSphere Data Protection 6.1.3. The steps might vary if you use a different version of vSphere Data Protection. Prerequisites n Verify that your ESXi version is 5.1 or later.
vSphere Installation and Setup 10 Enter the network settings such as the default gateway, DNS, network IP address, and netmask and click Next. Confirm that the IP addresses are correct and match the entry in the DNS server. If you enter incorrect IP addresses, you must redeploy the vSphere Data Protection Appliance. Note The vSphere Data Protection Appliance does not support DHCP. A static IP address is required.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Log in as root. The default password is changeme. The vSphere Data Protection configuration wizard appears. 5 On the Network settings page of the wizard, enter or confirm the network and server information for the vSphere Data Protection Appliance, and click Next. Ensure that the values are populated correctly, otherwise the initial configuration fails. 6 Select the appropriate time zone for your vSphere Data Protection Appliance and click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup Create a Backup Job in vSphere Data Protection You can create backup jobs to associate the backup of a set of one or more VMs that contain vCenter Server, the vCenter Server Appliance, and Platform Services Controller with a backup schedule and specific retention policies. Note This procedure describes the steps by using vSphere Data Protection 6.1.3. The steps might vary if you use a different version of vSphere Data Protection.
vSphere Installation and Setup (Optional) Start a Backup Job Manually A backup operation starts automatically according to the scheduled date, time, and frequency configured in the backup job. If you want to run an existing backup job immediately, you can start the process manually. Note This procedure describes the steps by using vSphere Data Protection 6.1.3. The steps might vary if you use a different version of vSphere Data Protection.
vSphere Installation and Setup You can restore a virtual machine that contains vCenter Server or a Platform Services Controller instance directly on the ESXi host that is running the vSphere Data Protection Appliance when the vCenter Server service becomes unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the vSphere Web Client. Important Restoring virtual machines that have snapshots or that are configured with Fault Tolerance is unsupported. Figure 7‑1.
vSphere Installation and Setup Figure 7‑2. Platform Services Controller Restore Workflow Restore a vCenter Server Instance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller Your environment might consist of vCenter Server or a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller. You can use vSphere Data Protection to restore a vCenter Server environment with an embedded Platform Services Controller.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine to the Original Location You can restore to the original location the full image backup of a virtual machine that contains vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller manually by using the Restore backup wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 Select a virtual machine listed in the Name column, and select one or more backup items that you want to restore. When you select a virtual machine, you can see the list of the performed backups for that virtual machine. 5 Click Restore to start the Restore backup wizard. 6 On the Select Backup page, verify that the list of backups is correct, remove the backups that you want to exclude from the restore operation, and click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click vSphere Data Protection. 2 Click the Restore tab. 3 (Optional) Filter the backups to narrow your search. 4 Select a virtual machine listed in the Name column, and select one or more backup items that you want to restore. When you select a virtual machine, you can see the list of the performed backups for that virtual machine. 5 Click Restore to start the Restore backup wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine With the Direct-to-Host Emergency Restore Operation The direct‐to‐host emergency restore operation lets you restore the virtual machine that contains vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller when vCenter Server becomes unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup 4 In the Host Credentials dialog box, enter valid host credentials and click OK. 5 In the Restore a Backup dialog box, enter a new name. 6 Select a datastore as the destination target for the backup, and click Restore. Caution The datastore capacity size is listed. Make sure you select a datastore with enough disk space to accommodate the restore. Insufficient space causes the restore to fail.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Restore the Failed Platform Services Controller Virtual Machine With the Direct-to-Host Emergency Restore Operation The direct‐to‐host emergency restore operation lets you restore the virtual machine that contains Platform Services Controller when vCenter Server becomes unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 In a Web browser, navigate to the vSphere Data Protection Configure Utility. https://ip_address_VDP_Appliance:8543/vdp-configure/. 3 On the Emergency Restore tab, select the virtual machine that will serve as the restore point, and click Restore. 4 In the Host Credentials dialog box, enter valid host credentials and click OK. 5 In the Restore a Backup dialog box, enter a new name. 6 Select a datastore as the destination target for the backup, and click Restore.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Run the vcenter-restore script to complete the restore operation and start all the vCenter Server services. Option Action For a vCenter Server Appliance Run the vcenter-restore script in the appliance shell. For vCenter Server installed on Windows 1 vcenter-restore -u psc_administrator_username -p psc_administrator_password From the Windows command prompt, navigate to the vcenter-restore script. By default, the script is located in C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Ser
vSphere Installation and Setup n Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine to a New Location You can manually restore the full image backup of a virtual machine that contains a vCenter Server instance by using the Restore backup wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup 7 On the Set Restore Options page, leave the Restore to Original Location check box selected. Important If the virtual disk of the original virtual machine has been removed or deleted, you cannot restore the virtual machine to its original location. The VMDK must be restored to a new location. 8 (Optional) Under Advanced options, select a new datastore to power on the virtual machine after it is restored and to reconnect the NIC. 9 Click Next.
vSphere Installation and Setup An information dialog box confirms that the restore operation was successfully initiated. You can monitor the restore progress in the Recent Tasks pane. Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine to a New Location You can manually restore the full image backup of a virtual machine that contains a vCenter Server instance by using the Restore backup wizard. Note This procedure describes the steps by using vSphere Data Protection 6.1.3.
vSphere Installation and Setup 12 On the Ready to complete page, review the summary of your restore requests, and click Finish to start the restore operation. Note If you selected to reconnect the NIC during the restore process, verify that the network configuration for the newly created virtual machine is correct. The NIC of the new virtual machine might use the same IP address as the original virtual machine, which causes conflicts. 13 Verify that no vCenter Server services are running.
vSphere Installation and Setup Restore the Failed vCenter Server Virtual Machine With the Direct-to-Host Emergency Restore Operation The direct‐to‐host emergency restore operation lets you restore the virtual machine that contains vCenter Server when vCenter Server becomes unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the vSphere Web Client. vSphere Data Protection depends on vCenter Server for many of the vSphere Data Protection core operations.
vSphere Installation and Setup 6 Select a datastore as the destination target for the backup, and click Restore. Caution The datastore capacity size is listed. Make sure you select a datastore with enough disk space to accommodate the restore. Insufficient space causes the restore to fail. The restored virtual machine is listed in the inventory at the vSphere host level. Restoring to a more specific inventory path is unsupported. 7 Verify that no vCenter Server services are running.
vSphere Installation and Setup Restoring a vCenter Server Environment with Multiple Platform Services Controller Instances You can use vSphere Data Protection to restore an environment in which the vCenter Server instances are registered with different Platform Services Controller instances, and the infrastructure data is replicated between the Platform Services Controller instances.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Deploy a New Platform Services Controller If a Platform Services Controller instance fails in an environment that contains multiple Platform Services Controller instances, you must deploy a new Platform Services Controller instance and join it to an active node in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, and site.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Run the cmsso-util repoint command. cmsso-util repoint --repoint-psc psc_fqdn_or_static_ip [--dc-port port_number] where the square brackets [ ] enclose the command options. Here, psc_fqdn_or_static_ip is the system name used to identify the Platform Services Controller. This system name must be an FQDN or a static IP address. Note The FQDN value is case-sensitive. Use the --dc-port port_number option if the Platform Services Controller runs on a custom HTTPS port.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Log in to the vCenter Server instance. n For a vCenter Server Appliance, log in to the vCenter Server Appliance shell as root. n For a vCenter Server instance on Windows, log in as an administrator to the vCenter Server virtual machine or physical server. 2 If the vCenter Server instance runs on Windows, in the Windows command prompt, navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin. 3 Run the cmsso-util script.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 Restore the Most Recently Backed Up Platform Services Controller Virtual Machine With the Directto-Host Emergency Restore Operation The direct‐to‐host emergency restore operation lets you restore the VM that contains Platform Services Controller when vCenter Server becomes unavailable or when you cannot access the vSphere Data Protection user interface by using the vSphere Web Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 In a Web browser navigate to http://host-name/ui or http://host-IP-address/ui. Here, host-name is the name of the ESXi host and host-IP-address is the IP of the ESXi host on which the vSphere Data Protection Appliance resides. Log in as an administrator to the VMware Host Client. a Right-click Host in the VMware Host Client inventory and select Disconnect from vCenter Server from the menu.
vSphere Installation and Setup 2 Verify that no vCenter Server services are running. n For a vCenter Server Appliance, run the service-control --status --all command in the appliance shell. n 3 For a vCenter Server instance installed on Windows, from the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. Run the vcenter-restore script to complete the restore operation and start all the vCenter Server services.
vSphere Installation and Setup Repoint Back the Connections Between vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller Instances After you restore the failed Platform Services Controller instances in an environment that contains multiple vCenter Server instances registered with different external Platform Services Controller instances, you must repoint back the vCenter Server instances to the restored Platform Services Controller nodes.
vSphere Installation and Setup Restore a Failed vCenter Server Instance Your environment might contain multiple vCenter Server instances registered with different external Platform Services Controller instances, while the infrastructure data is replicated between thePlatform Services Controller instances. You can use vSphere Data Protection to restore any failed vCenter Server instance.
vSphere Installation and Setup n Verify that the virtual machine you want to restore is powered off. Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click vSphere Data Protection. 2 Click the Restore tab. 3 (Optional) Filter the backups to narrow your search. 4 Select a virtual machine listed in the Name column, and select one or more backup items that you want to restore. When you select a virtual machine, you can see the list of the performed backups for that virtual machine.
vSphere Installation and Setup 12 Run the vcenter-restore script to complete the restore operation and start all the vCenter Server services. Option Action For a vCenter Server Appliance Run the vcenter-restore script in the appliance shell. For vCenter Server installed on Windows 1 vcenter-restore -u psc_administrator_username -p psc_administrator_password From the Windows command prompt, navigate to the vcenter-restore script. By default, the script is located in C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Ser
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click vSphere Data Protection. 2 Click the Restore tab. 3 (Optional) Filter the backups to narrow your search. 4 Select a virtual machine listed in the Name column, and select one or more backup items that you want to restore. When you select a virtual machine, you can see the list of the performed backups for that virtual machine. 5 Click Restore to start the Restore backup wizard.
vSphere Installation and Setup 14 Run the vcenter-restore script to complete the restore operation and start all the vCenter Server services. Option Action For a vCenter Server Appliance Run the vcenter-restore script in the appliance shell. For vCenter Server installed on Windows 1 vcenter-restore -u psc_administrator_username -p psc_administrator_password From the Windows command prompt, navigate to the vcenter-restore script. By default, the script is located in C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Ser
vSphere Installation and Setup Prerequisites Back up the vCenter Server virtual machine or thevCenter Server Appliance by using vSphere Data Protection. Procedure 1 In a Web browser navigate to http://host-name/ui or http://host-IP-address/ui. Here, host-name is the name of the ESXi host and host-IP-address is the IP of the ESXi host on which the vSphere Data Protection Appliance resides. Log in as an administrator to the VMware Host Client.
vSphere Installation and Setup 8 Run the vcenter-restore script to complete the restore operation and start all the vCenter Server services. Option Action For a vCenter Server Appliance Run the vcenter-restore script in the appliance shell. For vCenter Server installed on Windows 1 vcenter-restore -u psc_administrator_username -p psc_administrator_password From the Windows command prompt, navigate to the vcenter-restore script. By default, the script is located in C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Ser
Troubleshooting ESXi Booting 8 The ESXi booting troubleshooting topics provide solutions to problems that you might encounter during the ESXi booting.
vSphere Installation and Setup 8 In the ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation text box, enter a directory path that is unique for this host. For example, /vmfs/volumes/DatastoreUUID/DatastoreFolder. 9 Reboot the host for the changes to take effect. Host Fails to Boot After You Install ESXi in UEFI Mode When you install ESXi on a host machine in UEFI mode, the machine might fail to boot. Problem When you reboot after installing ESXi on a host machine in UEFI mode, the reboot might fail.
Troubleshooting vCenter Server Installation or Deployment 9 The vCenter Server installation or deployment troubleshooting topics provide solutions to problems that you might encounter during the vCenter Server installation or vCenter Server Appliance deployment process.
vSphere Installation and Setup Collect Installation Logs by Using the Installation Wizard You can use the Setup Interrupted page of the installation wizard to browse to the generated .zip file of the vCenter Server for Windows installation log files. If the installation fails, the Setup Interrupted page appears with the log collection check boxes selected by default. Procedure 1 Leave the check boxes selected and click Finish. The installation files are collected in a .
vSphere Installation and Setup Procedure 1 On the Windows machine that you use for deploying the vCenter Server Appliance, navigate to the log files folder. If you are logged in as an administrator, by default this is the C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\VMware\CIP\vcsaInstaller folder. 2 Open the installation log files in a text editor for examination.
vSphere Installation and Setup Cause The Platform Services Controller data is not cleaned up when an installation of a Platform Services Controller fails. Consider the following scenario: 1 Install Platform Services Controller A. 2 When you try to install Platform Services Controller B and join it to the same domain as Platform Services Controller A, the installation fails.
Decommissioning ESXi and vCenter Server 10 The decommissioning topics provide information on how to remove ESXi and vCenter Server from your host machines. This section includes the following topics: n Decommission an ESXi Host n Uninstall vCenter Server Decommission an ESXi Host If you do not want your server to be an ESXi host, you can decommission the ESXi host machine.
vSphere Installation and Setup 3 Click Remove to confirm that you want to remove the program. 4 Click Finish. 5 Reboot the system. VMware, Inc.
