Installation and Setup vCenter Server - VMware

1 vCenter Server Installation and Setup 02 APR 2020. VMware vSphere vCenter Server vCenter Server Installation and Setup You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to VMware , Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304.. Copyright 2018-2020 VMware , Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware , Inc. 2. Contents About vCenter Server Installation and Setup 5. Updated Information 6. 1 Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup 7. Overview of the vSphere Installation and Setup Process 7. vCenter Server Components and Services 9.

2 Overview of the vCenter Server Appliance 11. Understanding vSphere Domains and Domain Names 12. vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode 12. vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode for vCenter Server Appliance 13. 2 Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance 15. system Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance 16. Hardware Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance 17. Storage Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance 17. Software Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance 18. Required Ports for vCenter Server 18. DNS Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance 21. vSphere Client Software Requirements 21. Preparing for Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance 22.

3 system Requirements for the vCenter Server Installer 22. Download and Mount the vCenter Server Installer 23. Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network 24. system Clock Synchronization Between the Client and Server 25. Prerequisites for Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance 25. GUI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance 26. Required Information for Deploying a vCenter Server Appliance 27. Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance by Using the GUI 31. CLI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance 36. Deploy a vCenter Server Appliance by Using the CLI 37. Prepare Your JSON Configuration File for CLI Deployment 38. Syntax of the CLI Deployment Command 47.

4 Deploy Multiple vCenter Server Appliances Using the CLI 49. 3 File-Based Backup and Restore of vCenter Server 50. Considerations and Limitations for File-Based Backup and Restore 51. Schedule a File-Based Backup 54. VMware , Inc. 3. vCenter Server Installation and Setup Manually Back up vCenter Server by Using the vCenter Server Management Interface 55. Restore vCenter Server from a File-Based Backup 56. Stage 1 - Deploy a New Appliance 58. Stage 2 - Transfer Data to the Newly Deployed Appliance 61. 4 Image-Based Backup and Restore of a vCenter Server Environment 63. Considerations and Limitations for Image-Based Backup and Restore 63. Restore a vCenter Server Image-based Environment 66.

5 Restore a vCenter Server Instance 67. Restore a vCenter Server Environment with a Single Platform Services Controller 68. Restore a vCenter Server Environment with Multiple External Platform Services Controller Instances 69. Restore a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode Environment 70. 5 After You Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance 71. Log In to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Client 71. Install the VMware Enhanced authentication Plug-in 72. Repoint vCenter Server to Another vCenter Server in a Different Domain 73. Repoint a Single vCenter Server Node from One Domain to an Existing Domain 73. Repoint a vCenter Server Node from One Domain to an Existing Domain with a Replication Partner 75.

6 Repoint a vCenter Server Node to a New Domain 77. Syntax of the Domain Repoint Command 79. Understanding Tagging and Authorization Conflicts 80. vCenter Server Domain Repoint License Considerations 84. 6 Troubleshooting vCenter Server Installation or Deployment 86. Collecting Logs for Troubleshooting a vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade 86. Retrieve Installation Logs Manually 86. Collect Deployment Log Files for the vCenter Server Appliance 87. Export a vCenter Server Support Bundle for Troubleshooting 87. VMware , Inc. 4. About vCenter Server Installation and Setup . vCenter Server Installation and Setup describes how to deploy the VMware vCenter Server appliance.

7 vCenter Server Installation and Setup is intended for experienced administrators who want to install and configure vCenter Server . This information is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and data center operations. The information about using the Image Builder . and VMware vSphere Auto Deploy is written for administrators who have experience with Microsoft . PowerShell and VMware vSphere PowerCLI . VMware , Inc. 5. Updated Information This vCenter Server Installation and Setup is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vCenter Server Installation and Setup .

8 Revision Description 22 JUN 2020 Removed restriction that the vCenter Server appliance GUI installer does not support restore from a backup using the NFS or SMB protocol. Backup using NFS or SMB is supported in this release. See Restore vCenter Server from a File-Based Backup. 15 JUN 2020 n Support for Internet Explorer was removed as a supported web browser for use with the vSphere Client. See vSphere Client Software Requirements. n The number of hosts and virtual machines an X-Large environment can support was corrected. When deploying an X-Large environment with adequate memory and storage, you can support up to 2,500 hosts or 45,000. virtual machines.

9 See Hardware Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance. 05 JUN 2020 New information on performing an image-based restore of vCenter Server environments using an external Platform Services Controller or vCenter Enahnced Link Mode were added. See Restore a vCenter Server Environment with Multiple External Platform Services Controller Instances and Restore a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode Environment. 21 APR 2020 n Added the prerequisite that, when deploying a new vCenter Server as part of an Enhanced Linked Mode deployment, you must create an image-based backup of the existing vCenter Server nodes in your environment. You can use the backup as a precaution in case there is a failure during the deployment process.

10 See Prerequisites for Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance. n Restored the information on how to create an image-based backup, which was available in previous versions of the documentation. See Chapter 4 Image-Based Backup and Restore of a vCenter Server Environment. 02 APR 2020 Initial release. VMware , Inc. 6. 1. Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup vSphere provides various options for Installation and Setup . To ensure a successful vSphere deployment, you should 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.