Objectives
Deploy vCenter core components according to a deployment plan
Deploy and Configure a Platform Services Controller (PSC):
Determine use case for embedded vs external PSC
Re-point a vCenter Server Appliance to another External PSC
Deploy and Configure Identity Sources for Single Sign-On:
Configure Single Sign-On users and groups
Change Default domain for Single Sign-On
List services registered with Single Sign-on
Deploy and configure vCenter Server
Deploy / Configure Enhanced Link Mode
Manage / Configure vCenter components according to a deployment plan:
Configure Global Permissions for vCenter services
Configure Dump Collector service
Configure the Syslog Collector / Syslog service
Managing vCenter Server advanced configurations
The deployment steps of some of the components are straight forward and are not covered in this post.
Deploy vCenter core components according to a deployment plan – Steps
Re-point a vCenter Server Appliance to another External PSC
Re-point embedded to external: Run installer and deploy PSC (vCenter, datastore, network etc.,) > After deployment, while configuring, Join an SSO domain in an existing vCenter PSC > provide the SSO details of embedded vCenter (PSC URL, SSO domain, credentials) > Complete the setup.
SSH to PSC to get case sensitive name (vmafd-cli is also useful to get-site-name): /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-pnid –server-name psc2
SSH to VCSA > Login to Shell (shell.set –enabled true) > Run the command: cmsso-util reconfigure –repoint-psc psc2.domain.com –username administrator –domain-name cc.local –passwd P@ssw0rd!
Linking external PSC to embedded PSC is only supported in this scenario i.e. to re-point embedded vCenter to external PSC.
To re-point vCenter from external1 to external2: Run the command: cmsso-util repoint –repoint-psc psc2.domain.com
Deploy and Configure Identity Sources for Single Sign-On – Steps
Configure Single Sign-On users and groups
Menu > Administration > Single Sign On > Users and Groups >Can add users to local domain
… Configuration > Identity sources > Add > Choose ‘AD as an LDAP server’ or a relevant option > complete details
Change Default domain for Single Sign-On
Select a desired domain > Click Default Domain icon at the top. Users belonging to the default domain can login without domain suffix
List services registered with Single Sign-on
SSH to VCSA > /usr/lib/vmidentity/tools/scripts/lstool.py list –url https://vc.domain.com:7444/lookupservice/sdk
or just /usr/lib/vmidentity/tools/scripts/lstool.py to get the various switches available
Deploy and configure vCenter Server
Load vCenter installer ISO > Launch installer > Choose Install > Fill in required details (Deployment type – vCenter with embedded PSC vs PSC vs vCenter, deployment target – vCenter or esxi, SSO, deployment size, datastore, network)
Configure vCenter > choose time source, Enable SSH > SSO domain name and credentials | or PSC name and credentials > CEIP > Finish
Deploy / Configure Enhanced Link Mode
vCenter servers joining the same SSO domain (one or more PSCs, one or more sites) are in Enhanced Link Mode.
Manage / Configure vCenter components according to a deployment plan – Steps
Configure Global Permissions for vCenter services
Web Client > Menu > Administration > Global Permissions > Click Plus > Add desired group and assign the appropriate role > Check ‘Propagate to children’.
If required can create custom roles or use one of the inbuilt roles
Configure Dump Collector service
Web Client > Menu > Administration >System Configuration > Services > VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector > Start | if required set startup type to automatic | Set port and max dump file size
Config file – /etc/sysconfig/netdumper
Configure ESXi host:
esxcli system coredump network set –interface-name vmk0 –server-ipv4 10.xx.xx.xx –server-port 6500
esxcli system coredump network set –enable true
esxcli system coredump network get
To test connectivity: esxcli system coredump network get & check in vcsa –
tail -f /var/log/vmware/netdumper/netdumper.log
Dumps are stored here – /var/core/netdumps
To manually trigger PSOD, dump gets generated in above location:
In ESX host, send NMI interrupt in HW or type:
vsish
set /reliability/crashMe/Panic
Configure the Syslog Collector / Syslog service
Web Client > System Configuration > Services > VMware Syslog Service > Configure Syslog host IP | port | protocol. In 6.5, this is moved to VAMI > Syslog configuration. Default port used by Log insight as syslog is 514 TCP
To forward vpxd.log from vCenter, configure Web Client > vCenter > Configure > Advanced Settings > config.log.outputToSyslog to true | Restart vCenter service
Logs from ESXi hosts, vCenter partial set of services, events, vpxd.log (if configured) etc., are forwarded.
Managing vCenter Server advanced configurations
configure Web Client > vCenter > Configure > Advanced Settings > add key and value or modify existing.
Most of the settings needs restart of vCenter service (Web Client > Menu > Administration >System Configuration > Services > VMware vCenter server)
Prasanna 