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Saturday 11 February 2017

Deploy VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) 6.5 Step by Step

Overview of vCSA 6.5
The vCenter Server Appliance is supported on VMware ESXi™ 5.5 and later. The appliance package contains the following software:
Project Photon OS® 1.0
PostgreSQL database
vCenter Server 6.5 and vCenter Server 6.5 components
Platform Services Controller that contains all of the necessary services for running vCenter Server such as vCenter Single Sign-On, License service, and VMware Certificate Authority

Customization of the vCenter Server Appliance is unsupported except for adding memory, CPU, and disk space.
Improvements in vCSA 6.5
  • Supports 2000 Hosts and 35000 VMs
  • Update manager service is embedded in vCSA Appliance
  • vCSA Supports High Availability
  • vCSA Supports File-based Backup and Restore
DNS Requirements:-
  • When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance, similar to any network server, you can assign a fixed IP address and an FQDN that is resolvable by a DNS server so that clients can reliably access the service.
  • When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance with a static IP address, you ensure that in case of system restart, the IP address of the appliance remains the same.
  • Before you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance with a static IP address, you must verify that this IP address has a valid internal domain name system (DNS) registration.
  • When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, the installation of the Web server component that supports the vSphere Web Client fails if the installer cannot look up the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the appliance from its IP address. Reverse lookup is implemented using PTR records.
  • If you plan to use an FQDN for the appliance system name, you must verify that the FQDN is resolvable by a DNS server.
  • You can use the nslookup command to verify that the DNS reverse lookup service returns an FQDN when queried with the IP address and to verify that the FQDN is resolvable.
          nslookup -nosearch -nodefname FQDN_or_IP_address
  • If you use DHCP instead of a static IP address for the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance, verify that the appliance name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). If you can ping the appliance 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 thevCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all vSphere Web Clients.

Network Ports Requirements
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.
If a port is in use or is blacklisted, the vCenter Server installer displays an error message. You must use another port number to proceed with the installation. There are internal ports that are used only for inter-process communication.
VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts monitor designated ports for data from vCenter Server. If a built-in firewall exists between any of these elements, the installer opens the ports during the installation or upgrade process. For custom firewalls, you must manually open the required ports. If you have a firewall between two managed hosts and you want to perform source or target activities, such as migration or cloning, you must configure a means for the managed hosts to receive data.
In Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and later, firewall is enabled by default.
Ports Required for Communication Between Components
Port
Protocol
Description
Required for
Used for Node-to-Node Communication
22
TCP/UDP
System port for SSHD.
Appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
53

DNS service
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
No
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.
WS-Management (also requires port 443 to be open).
If you use a Microsoft SQL database that is stored on the same virtual machine or physical server as the vCenter Server, port 80 is used by the SQL Reporting Service. When you install or upgrade vCenter Server, the installer prompts you to change the HTTP port for vCenter Server. Change the vCenter Server HTTP port to a custom value to ensure a successful installation or upgrade.
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
88
TCP
Active Directory server.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
No
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 thevCenter 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. You can run the LDAP service on any port from 1025 through 65535.
If this instance is serving as the Microsoft Windows Active Directory, change the port number from 389 to an available port from 1025 through 65535.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
vCenter Server toPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller to Platform Services Controller
443
TCP
The default port that thevCenter Server system uses to listen for connections from thevSphere Web Client. To enable the vCenter Serversystem to receive data from the vSphere Web Client, open port 443 in the firewall.
The vCenter Server system also uses port 443 to monitor data transfer from SDK clients.
This port is also used for the following services:
WS-Management (also requires port 80 to be open)
Third-party network management client connections to vCenter Server
Third-party network management clients access to hosts
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
vCenter Server tovCenter Server
vCenter Server toPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server
514
UDP
vSphere Syslog Collector port for vCenter Server on Windows and vSphere Syslog Service port for vCenter Server Appliance
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
636
TCP
vCenter Single Sign-On LDAPS
For backward compatibility with vSphere 6.0 only.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
During upgrade from vSphere 6.0 only.
vCenter Server 6.0 to Platform Services Controller 6.5
902
TCP/UDP
The default port that thevCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Serversystem. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts.
Port 902 must not be blocked between the VMware Host Client and the hosts. TheVMware Host Client uses this port to display virtual machine consoles
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
1514
TCP/UDP
vSphere Syslog Collector TLS port for vCenter Server on Windows and vSphere Syslog Service TLS port for vCenter Server Appliance
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
2012
TCP
Control interface RPC for vCenter Single Sign-On
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
vCenter Server toPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller to Platform Services Controller
2014
TCP
RPC port for all VMCA (VMware Certificate Authority) APIs
Important
You can change this port number during the Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
vCenter Server toPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server
2015
TCP
DNS management
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller toPlatform Services Controller
2020
TCP/UDP
Authentication framework management
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
vCenter Server toPlatform Services Controller
Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server
5480
TCP
Appliance Management Interface
Open endpoint serving all HTTPS, XMLRPS and JSON-RPC requests over HTTPS.
Appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
6500
TCP/UDP
ESXi Dump Collector port
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
6501
TCP
Auto Deploy service
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
6502
TCP
Auto Deploy management
Important
You can change this port number during the vCenter Server installations on Windows.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
7080, 12721
TCP
Secure Token Service
Note
Internal ports
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
No
7081
TCP
VMware Platform Services Controller Web Client
Note
Internal port
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
No
8200, 8201, 8300, 8301
TCP
Appliance management
Note
Internal ports
Appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
No
7444
TCP
Secure Token Service
For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 only.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only.
vCenter Server 5.5 toPlatform Services Controller 6.5
Platform Services Controller 6.5 tovCenter Server 5.5
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.
Appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
9084
TCP
vSphere Update Manager Web Server Port
The HTTP port used by ESXihosts to access host patch files from vSphere Update Manager server.
Appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
9087
TCP
vSphere Update Manager Web SSL Port
The HTTPS port used by vSphere Update Manager client plug-in to upload host upgrade files to vSphere Update Manager server.
Appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
9123
TCP
Migration Assistant port
Only when you run the Migration Assistant on the source Windows installation. The Migration Assistant lets you migrate Windows installations of vCenter Serverand Platform Services Controller to appliances.
Windows installations and appliance deployments of
vCenter Server
Platform Services Controller
During migration only.
Source vCenter Server5.5 or 6.5 to targetvCenter Server Appliance 6.5
Source vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 to targetPlatform Services Controller appliance 6.5
Source Platform Services Controller 5.5 to target Platform Services Controller appliance 6.5
9443
TCP
vSphere Web Client HTTPS
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofvCenter Server
No
11711
TCP
vCenter Single Sign-On LDAP
For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 only.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only.
vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 toPlatform Services Controller 6.5
11712
TCP
vCenter Single Sign-On LDAPS
For backward compatibility with vSphere 5.5 only.
Windows installations and appliance deployments ofPlatform Services Controller
During upgrade from vSphere 5.5 only.
vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 toPlatform Services Controller 6.5


Storage Requirements
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.

Storage Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance
The storage requirements are different for each vSphere environment size and depend on your database size requirements.




Storage Requirements for a vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded or External Platform Services Controller

Default Storage Size
Large Storage Size
X-Large Storage Size
Tiny environment (up to 10 hosts or 100 virtual machines)
250 GB
775 GB
1650 GB
Small environment (up to 100 hosts or 1,000 virtual machines)
290 GB
820 GB
1700 GB
Medium environment (up to 400 hosts or 4,000 virtual machine)
425 GB
925 GB
1805 GB
Large environment (up to 1,000 hosts or 10,000 virtual machines)
640 GB
990 GB
1870 GB
X-Large environment (up to 2,000 hosts or 35,000 virtual machines)
980 GB
1030 GB
1910 GB
Storage Requirements for the Platform Services Controller Appliance
The storage requirement for a Platform Services Controller appliance is 60 GB.
Hardware Requirements:-
When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, you can select to deploy an appliance that is suitable for the size of your vSphere environment. The option that you select determines the number of CPUs and the amount of memory for the appliance. The size of the Platform Services Controller appliance is the same for all environment sizes.
Hardware Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance
The hardware requirements for a vCenter Server Appliance depend on the size of your vSphere inventory.


Hardware Requirements for a vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded or External Platform Services Controller

Number of vCPUs
Memory
Tiny environment (up to 10 hosts or 100 virtual machines)
2
10 GB
Small environment (up to 100 hosts or 1,000 virtual machines)
4
16 GB
Medium environment (up to 400 hosts or 4,000 virtual machine)
8
24 GB
Large environment (up to 1,000 hosts or 10,000 virtual machines)
16
32 GB
X-Large environment (up to 2,000 hosts or 35,000 virtual machines)
24
48 GB
Note
If you want to add an ESXi host with more than 512 LUNs and 2,048 paths to the vCenter Server Appliance inventory, you must deploy a vCenter Server Appliance for a large or x-large environment.
Hardware Requirements for the Platform Services Controller Appliance
The hardware requirements for a Platform Services Controller appliance are 2 vCPUs and 4 GB memory. 

Deployments Steps:-
1. Download vCSA 6.5 ISO from VMware Website
2. Mount the ISO on the machine from where you want to trigger this deployment. It can be Windows, Linux and MAC. In my case OS was Windows  and Path is given in the below screenshot. Double click on Installer.exe
3. Launch the Install by clicking on Install
4. Click on Next
5. Accept the License Agreement > Click on Next
6. Here i am going with Embedded PSC > Click on Next
7. Provide the details of your ESXi host (Mostly this host is in Management Cluster) > Click on Next
8. Click Yes on Certificate Message. It is because of Self-Sign Certificate
9. Now configure your vCenter Appliance VM Name > Click on Next
10. Configure the Deployment Size based on your Inventory Size
11. Select the Datastore and Thin/Thick Provisioning for the vCenter VM > Click on Next
12. Configure the Network details for the vCenter Appliance > Click on Next
13. Click on Finish.
 14. Now deployment is started wait for its completion

 15. Now the Stage 2 Starts, this is configuration phase for vCSA
16. Provide NTP Server details for time sync > Click on Next
17. Configure SSO > Click on Next
 18. Click on Next
19. Review the details > Click on Finish.
20. Click on OK at the Warning message.
21. Wait for the Configuration phase to be completed successfully.


Known Limitations of vCSA 6.5
The current release has several known limitations.
The following list contains features or actions that are currently not supported:
Local Windows OS users and groups are not migrated to the Photon OS of the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5. If you assigned vCenter Server permissions to any Local Windows OS users and groups, remove the permissions assignments before the migration. You can re-create Local OS users and groups on the Photon OS of the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 after the migration.
After the migration, the source vCenter Server is turned off and cannot be turned on to avoid network ID conflicts with the target vCenter Server Appliance. After the source vCenter Server is turned off, all solutions that are installed on the source vCenter Server and that are not migrated become unavailable.
Migration of deployments that use custom ports for services other than Auto Deploy, Update Manager, and vSphere ESXi Dump Collector are not supported.
The migration process migrates only one network adapter settings to the target vCenter Server Appliance. If the hostname of the source vCenter Serverresolves to multiple IP addresses across multiple network adapters, you have the option to select which IP address and network adapter settings to migrate. After the migration, you can add the rest of the network adapters and settings to the target vCenter Server Appliance.
You cannot migrate a vCenter Server instance that uses a DHCP IP address.

Refer VMware Documentation for more Info

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