VMware vCenter Installation: A Comprehensive Guide

=====================================================

Introduction

----------

vCenter Server is a crucial component of the vSphere ecosystem. As part of this comprehensive guide to installing VMware vCenter, we will walk you through the process step-by-step.

Prerequisites for vCenter Installation

-------------------------------------

Before diving into the installation process itself, ensure that your environment meets the following prerequisites:

1. Supported Operating System: The supported operating systems for vCenter Server are Windows or Linux (specifically CentOS 6.x and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x).

2. Hardware Requirements:

- For a standard deployment with one ESXi host per CPU socket in each node, you will need at least two physical hosts.

- Each additional ESXi host should have the same specifications.

3. vCenter Server Edition: Determine whether to install the Standard or Enterprise Plus edition based on your needs and licensing requirements.

Step 1: Downloading and Extracting vCenter

-------------------------------------

To begin with, you will need to download the appropriate version of vcenter-server--xxxxx.iso from 'VMware's Downloads page'(https://my.vmware.com/).

Once downloaded, extract the ISO file using a tool like 7-Zip or WinRAR.

Step 2: Configuring Network and Storage

--------------------------------

1. Ensure that your network interface cards (NICs) are properly configured for both management traffic and vMotion if required.

- For this example, we will assume eth0 is connected to the management network.

2. Create a new datastore on each ESXi host where you plan to install vCenter Server:

```bash

# esxi1> esdcli datastore create --name 'vcenter_datastore' --path /vmfs/volumes/

```

Step 3: Installing vSphere Update Manager (VUM)

----------------------------------------------

Before proceeding with the actual installation of vCenter, it is highly recommended that you install and configure VUM. This will ensure your environment remains up-to-date.

To do this:

1. Download the appropriate version of VMware-vim--xxxxx.iso from 'VMware's Downloads page'(https://my.vmware.com/).

2. Extract the ISO file using a tool like 7-Zip or WinRAR.

3. Run the vCenter Server installer:

```

# ./bin/vcenter-server-vmware.vib --acceptEULA yes --input /tmp/deployments/input.txt

```

Step 4: Configuring vSphere Client and ESXi Hosts

----------------------------------------------

1. Open a web browser (e.g., Google Chrome) on the same machine that you used to download and extract the vCenter Server ISO.

2. Navigate to 'https://vcenter-serverip'(https://vcenter-serverip)/psc/).

3. Log in with your previously specified credentials:

- User name: root

- Password:

4. Add ESXi hosts:

1. Select Inventory > Hosts and Clusters

2. Click the plus sign (+) at the top-right corner of the vCenter inventory tree.

- Choose ESX/ESXi host from the dropdown menu.

5. Configure network settings for each ESXi host:

- For this example, we will assume eth1 is connected to the management network.

6. Add storage repositories (Datastores) on each ESXi host:

```

# esxi1> cd /etc/vmware/ovirtmgmt/etc/

# vi vsphere.conf

datastore.vsan.enabled = 'true'

```

7. Reboot your vCenter Server machine and all connected ESXi hosts:

```

reboot -f

```

-------

This concludes our step-by-step guide to installing VMware vCenter on a supported operating system, including both Windows and Linux distributions.

By following these instructions carefully, you should now have successfully deployed an operational vSphere environment that can be managed through the vSphere Client or via API calls using tools such as PowerCLI.

Vmware vcenter installation