Milestone 2.2 - vCenter

Pre-Vcenter Configurations

Before installing Vcenter on the MGMT box, we need to update its DNS and search domains to the new ones we created last milestone. Set the DNS server address to DC1 and the search domain to eamon.local.

To ensure that there are no syncing issues between the virtual machines and ESXI host, we need to change their time settings to NTP. Go to System then Time & Date, and change ESXI Host Time Settings to NTP. Have it start and stop with the host and configure the NTP server to be pool.ntp.org.

Make a DNS Record for ESXI Host, which in my case is super25, so that the hostname can be queried on the virtual network and possibly prevent potential networking or resolution issues in the VCSA installation process.

To acquire the files needed to install Vcenter, the VSCA ISO needs to be attached and mounted on MGMT1.

Once in the mounted drive, navigate to /media/champuser/VMWare VCSA/vcsa-ui-installer/lin64 and run the installer (Use --no-sandbox option if sandbox is preventing it from running).

Once you've run the installer, a new GUI will appear on your screen similar to the one in the screenshot below.

Select the "Install" option and do the following configurations:

• Enter and Accept License agreement
• Enter IP address of ESXI Host and the root credentials for it
• Name vCenter Server VM "vcenter" and create root password for VM
• Stick to default deployment size of Tiny
• Select the only Datastore and use "Thin Disk Mode" or Thin Provisioning
• Configure Network settings as seen in the screenshot below:

• Review the configurations and hit Finish.

It should begin to Install Stage 1 of VCSA, which should take 10 to 20 minutes.

The message in the screenshot below will appear once the first stage installation is complete.

Upon pressing continue, do the following configurations:

• Synchronize time with NTP servers (pool.ntp.org)
• Create a new Single Sign On (SSO) domain called "vsphere.local"
• Create a new SSO password for the administrator account (can use same from earlier)
• Opt out of joining VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)
• Review Configurations and select Finish

It should begin to Install Stage 2 of VCSA, which should take 5 to 10 minutes.

The message in the screenshot below will appear once the second stage installation is complete. Now you should be able to access the Vcenter virtual machine from the browser.

Upon navigating to the Vcenter address, login with the SSO credentials created during the installation process.

Upon logging in you will see the main client GUI, as shown in the screenshot below. It is currently empty, so we need to add our ESXI host as a datacenter.

To add a datacenter to Vcenter, right click on "vcenter.eamon.local" and select "New Datacenter".

Right click on "480-Eamon" and select "Add Host". Then enter the IP Address for the ESXI Host.

Enter the ESXI host root credentials and you will be given a host summary as seen in the screenshot below.

Select Evaulation License, keep Lockdown mode disabled, have the VM Location be in "480-Eamon", and select Finish.

Afterwards you should see the ESXI host and all the VMs on it under the "480-Eamon" datacenter.

Sources