6.7

Migrating vCenter Server 6.5 for Windows to vCenter Server Appliance 6.7

Last subject in VMware and 2023 has finally come to an end
VMware has officially announced that vCenter Server appliance is the default deployment of the vCenter server and Windows based vCenter Server will be discontinued in the next numbered release.

Only vCenter Server 6.0 and 6.5 versions can be upgraded directly to vCenter Server 6.7 version

VMware vCenter Server (VCS) Converter Appliance which enabled users to migrate from vCenter Server for Windows and an external MS SQL database to a VCSA with an embedded vPostgres database.

Let’s get to it
Here is tool which is part of the new VCSA vSphere 6.0 Update 2m

i will unzip it

and here all the files i will start Migration Assistant
Click YES

Enter the Administrator password
the Script will extract
Once it mention for you to start the migration we will jump to the files again

Now go to D:\VMware\VMware-VCSA-all-6.7.0-10244745\vcsa-ui-installer\win32
Click on Installer.exe

Choose Migrate

Click Deploy
i Accept the License
Enter the detail of the Source vCenter
I will verify the thumbprint

Enter the Target vCenter Detail

Click YES

Put the new Name
Select the Deployment Size
Select the Datastore
Choose the network configuration
Click FINISH
Monitor the Deployment
Click CONTINUE
Click Next
Save in progress 😀
Pre-migration Check but that is ok since it’s a lab
enter the detail to join the machine to the domain
Validation Success
Select the Migration data
Click Next
Click FINISH
Click OK to shutdown the machine
it will take coupe of minute to Start
the data will be copies from the source
then the target machine will start the services
Warning messages will show up just press OK
and Done
Now when i browse to the URL i will see the new machine
Click to Launch vSphere Client
I will use same login that i used for the old vCenter
and YES it work perfectly and Happy New Year everyone

6.5

VMware vSphere Auto Deploy (ImageBuilder)

1 Host is simple installation
but
what if i have 100 host :O
i cant just go one by one to do it if it’s not a smart move so

Auto Deploy is the solution, The architecture of auto deploy has changed in vSphere 6.5, one of the main difference is the ImageBuilder build in vCenter, you can create image profiles through the GUI instead of Power CLI

one of the main requirement is to make sure of DHCP scope Configuration:

Option 066 – with the Boot Server Host Name (in Cisco it will be different command)
Option 067 – with the Bootfile Name

My Design :
vCenter Server : (192.168.200.251)
TFTP Server : (192.168.200.102)

Lets start
Go to Administration > System Configuration

Then Choose Services
Click on Auto Deploy > Actions >Edit the Start Type

its Manual by default so change it to Automatic

Then Click Start
Then Move to ImageBuilder Service and do the Same step
Now log out of the Web Client and Login Again
you will see in the home Page the Icon of (Auto Deploy)

in the in the right Pane click on (Auto Deploy)

Then go to Software Depots > Import Software Depost
I already downloaded a Depots from VMware Web Site
13A
Then i choose to import the Downloaded Depots

Once it finish Click Close

then when you highlight the Depots it show everything you have inside the File 17A
Now go to Deploy Rules > Create A Deploy Rule

Choose a name and i made it simple i Select All hosts. you can define it by MAC or Range of IP Address
Select the Image Profile
Choose the host profile i created in the earlier blog
Choose where you want the Host to be in which cluster
Review and click Finish
As you can see the rule is in (inactive) Status we will activate it after complete our other configuration in DHCP Side
I will download my TFTP Files from my vCenter
Go to vCenter – Configure – Auto Deploy and click on Download TFTP BOOT Zip

And Extract it the ZIP File to my TFTP Folder
Then i Turn my TFTP
i use Tftpd64 it so easy to use

Now go back to the vCenter – Configure – Auto Deploy and this time Copy the BIOS DHCP File Name i will need it in Cisco DHCP Configuration

and as you see
Option 66 is the Command (Next-server) Which direct to IP of my TFTP Server
Option 67 is the BIOS DHCP File Name
1000
Now Lets go back to the vCenter and Activate our Rule
highlight the rule and click on Activate

The rule will go up Then press Next
Now Click on Finish
Now lets start our Machine 100
you can see configuration is loading
101
it will take couple of minute 1000
and as you can see it start loading the VMware ESXi
300
and as you see it Applying the host Profile 700
and Done and it took an IP of (192.168.250.13)
so now i press F2 to login
1001
Username : root
Password: still not set so you just press Enter
101010
now click on Configure Password 905
and put the new password and press Enter
906
Now browse to (192.168.250.13) and click on Advanced and made an Exception 1002
Confirm the Exception
1003
put the Username and Password i configure earlier
1004
and finally you can see the host now running HPE customized image 6.5 that we download from VMware
1005
and in vCenter page i see it added to my Cluster

6.0

VMware vMotion Cross vCenter 6.0

This is one of the most amazing feature introduced in vSphere 6.0 that allows virtual machines (VMs) to switch from one vCenter Server instance to another

Traditional VMware vMotion is the feature to allow users to move virtual machine to another host managed by the same vCenter, but Cross vSwitch vMotion basically allows you to migrate virtual machines between different vSwitches. Not just from vSS to vSS but also from vSS to vDS and vDS to vDS.

Note:
that vDS to vSS is not supported. This is because when migrating from vDS metadata of the VM is transferred as well and the vSwitch does not have this logic and cannot handle the metadata.

so in the previous blog we did ELM (Enhanced Linked Mode) which is requirement for vMotion Cross vCenter and that mean (Shared SSO domains) and another requirement is Enterprise Plus license. Both vCenter Server instances must be time-synchronized and last thing For migration of compute resources only, both vCenter Server instances must be connected to the shared virtual machine storage.

Note: in case you didnt match the VM requirement you can use app such as (Vinchin Backup & Recovery)

there is a network port requirement but i connected both machine in my lab to the same network so no need for them but you can check them in the VMware website
Screenshot 2023-12-27 114416

so Lets start
Go to vCenter Home page > Host and Clusters
Expand vCenter > Cluster > Host > manage > Networking > VMKernel adapter > select the network card

Enable the port properties > select vMotion traffic
i used the same interface as the management traffic since i don’t have many network card

Repeat the same steps in the other vCenter

Migration Steps
Now i will move my VM from host (192.168.208.210) to (192.168.208.209)
Expand the cluster > expand the host > right-click the VM you would like to migrate
Select Change both computer resource and storage > Select Compute resource first
Now select the destination host (192.168.208.209)
Now select the storage
Then i will select the Datacenter-VC1
and finally i will select the Network Adapter
Note:
that the IP Address of the VM that you are migrating will not magically change, so you will need to make sure both the source and the destination Port-group belong to the same layer 2 network.

Next thing select to the schedule the vMotion
and last thing click finish
now as you can see it move the VM
and Done finally 😀

Note:

this feature for instance Datacenter Migrations or when you are moving VMs between clusters for instance or are migrating to a new vCenter instance even and You can even do it without having a shared datastore between the source and destination vCenter
Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion, introduced in vSphere 7.0 U1c, is only supported between vSphere (vCenter and ESXi) versions 6.5 or greater. The source vCenter must run vCenter 7.0 U1c or later.

6.0, VMware

VMware 6.0 Configuring vCenter Server ELM (Enhanced Linked Mode)

Hello Again

I show you in earlier blog how to configure Linked mode for VMware 5.5 As a result of these architectural changes, Platform Services Controllers can be linked together. Previously, vCenter Linked Mode was only available for Windows vCenters.

Until the release of vSphere 6.0, the new vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) can connect multiple vCenter Servers (both vCenter Servers running on Windows and vCenter Server Appliances) by using one or more Platform Services Controllers.
vSphere 6.0, Platform Services Controller (PSC) was introduced as Embedded PSC for single vCenter Server and External PSC to manage multiple vCenter Servers.

the limitations for Linked Mode with external or embedded PSCs are different:

For vCenter Servers deployments with external PSCs, you can join up to 10 external PSCs and 15 vCenter Server systems in a single SSO domain.
For vCenter Servers with an embedded PSC, you can join up 15 nodes in one SSO domain.

You can also migrate virtual machines across clusters on separate vCenter instances

so let’s go
This is my Single Sign-on Machine

i will run the VMware CD
Click Install vCenter Server for Windows
Click YES

Press Next

Check the box
I Accept the term of the license agreement
I choose (Platform Service Controller)
i put the Machine FQDN
then i click OK

put the domain name, vCenter admin and password and default site name as this is a new SSO
Leave the port to it default

Press Next

again Next

now click Install

it will take couple of minute

Press Finish

you can go to Program and software and you will fins the software installed on the machine
(platform Service Controller)

Now lets go to my First vCenter (VC1-CCIEROOT)
Lets start the installation same way
Click Next

Accept the agreement and Click Next
this time choose Deployment type as (vCenter Server)

Specify the SSO Server FQDN name or IP Address and the SSO Administrator credentials (administrator@vsphere.local ) which will be the same system running your vCenter SSO service (192.168.200.250)
Make sure that all vCenter Servers in a Linked Mode group are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign On server.

Click OK to accept the SSO Certificate

choose to use the Windows Local Account and Click Next
Again Accept the default value and Click Next
and again accept the default value for ports and Click Next
Click Next 😀

and Finally Install

And Finish

you can see the software (vCenter Server with an External PSC)
Repeat the same Steps with VC2-CCIEROOT

Now to check your configuration go and browse to any of vCenter IP Address

Accept the Certificate

Login using the Administrator account
in the dashboard go to Hosts and Clusters
you can see in the right side both vCenter
Once selected the vCenter you can see the detail of it under the Manage > Settings > General
and the same for the second vCenter

Note:

A single vCenter can manage 300 ESXi host with 3000 virtual machines, while using linked mode can manage 1000 ESXi hosts with 10000 virtual machines.
You can create a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode group only during the deployment of vCenter Server Appliance or installation of vCenter Server. You cannot create a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode group after you install vCenter Server or after you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance.
from vSphere 6.5 U2 and vSphere 6.7 onwards, External PSC has been deprecated, Embedded PSC is recommended to manage multiple vCenter Servers and deploy VCSA with embedded PSCs will be used now and onward.

That is a Win ;D

VMware

Upgrade ESXi 5.5 to 6.0 using Update Manager

Last blog was upgrading the vCenter
now i will upgrade the ESXi using Sevres Update Manager

So First i will install the Server Update Manager
i will run the software from my CD (Windows vCenter) run it
Click on vCenter Update Manager > Server > Install
the process will start
First thing is the SQL will be upgraded to match compatibility matrix
then it will install the SQL
After Click on Run

Accept the English Language

the Wizard will start
Click Next

Accept the user agreement

Check the box to download the update from default source and click Next

Enter the IP Address of the vSphere vCenter Server information
Specify the Update Manager and click Next
i un-check the box for the internet

Accept the Directory location

click OK on the warning

Click Install

it will take couple of minute

Click Finish

Now login to the vCenter
ad as you can see under Home Page under Monitoring you can see the (Update Manager)
click on it
and as you can see my server showing there

First step is Uploading the ESXi Image
Click on Manage > ESXi images > Import
Click Browse to upload the new image
Select the image i downloaded from VMWare Web page
Upload will take a certain time
Done then click OK

now as you can see i have image available in my Server
Click on (Create baseline > name it ESXi 6.0)

now let me create a group baseline
go to Manage > Hosts Baselines > + create new baseline group
you can see the baseline i created in the previous step available here
Choose a name
Select the upgrade image
Click Next
Next again
and Finish
Done

Now go to Home > Inventories > Hosts and Clusters
Select my ESXi > Manage > update Managers > Attach Baseline 33A
Select the ESXi 6.0 Upgrade 33B
now click on Scan for Updates
Click OK

it say non-compliant
no problem i will try since it’s a lab

Now put the ESXi Machine in Maintenance mode
Right Click the ESXi > Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode 38A
Click OK
38B
Click OK
38C
Click on Remediate
Select the baseline
Select the host
Accept the EULA
Click Next
Click Next Again
I disable the removable hardware
Also i disable the FT and high availability
Click Finish
you can see from the progress the update state
Now Exit from the Maintenance Mode
Now if i highlight the ESXi host you can see the Version been upgraded to 6.0
Now i will HTTPS to the host
Accept the New certificate

and in the last couple of lines you can see it mention (ESXi 6.0 update 3)

I will open the Web Page and login
and as you can see the beautiful glamour of version 6.0 😀

6.0, VMware

Upgrade VMware vCenter 5.5 to 6.0

Hello again
i show you in the previous blog the Feature of vCenter Server Linked Mode
but that is an old feature available in Version 5.5 now to introduce the new features we need to go above a version
v 6.0

i will start the wizard to upgrade my vCenter first before upgrading the ESXi
i will choose > vCenter Server for Windows > Install

Click Run

Click Next
Accept the User License Agreement
Enter the Administrator Password and click Next
Here you accept the configured port and click Next
Accept the Destination Directory and click Next

Click Next
Check the box and start the UpgradeUpgrade will take it time so no rush
once it complete press Finish
Browse to the vCenter webpage and accept the Security Certificate
Confirm it

now login using the username and password from my LDAP
and that Simple
welcome to the vCenter version 6.0

5.5, VMware

VMware 5.5 Configuring vCenter Server Linked Mode (Single Console Multiple vCenter)

Now who wouldn’t love to manage his VMware Infrastructure using a single management console. And you can do this with VMware vCenter Linked Mode. it’s available since vSphere 5.1 but im doing it here in 5.5 but let me warn you, there is a degradation in your scalability which i will not Discuss but you always need to check this feature is supported for how many vCenter and how many Hosts

i took this picture from kendrickcoleman which explain my design for this scenario and to to tell you the truth i learn alot from this site, even CBTNuggets didnt mention the way to configure vCenter in Linked mode in their Nugget so i had to test alot and here is the way
one of the most important requirement of Linked Mode is that both vCenter Server is Registering to the Same Single Sign-on Server which force me to change my LAB.

My LAB:
Single Sign-on Server (SSO): 192.168.200.250
vCenter 1 (VC1-CCIEROOT): 192.168.200.251
vCenter 2 (VC1-CCIEROOT): 192.168.200.252

I configured my DNS resolution (forward / reverse working) on all my Windows servers.

Now similar to my second blog where i install vCenetr i will follow the same procedure.
I will choose Custom Install > vCenter Single Sign-On > Install
Click Next

Check the Box to Accept the License Agreement

Check the Box to add the AD as my identity source

Choose the standalone vCenter Single Sign-On Server

Choose a password

Use the default Site name

Click Next for the default port

Click Next

Choose Install

it will take couple of minute to finish the installation

Click Finish

and here i finish the first part on the first server

Now we move to the first vCenter (VC1-CCIEROOT) to configure the features
But this time we will Choose vSphere Web Client
Click OK

Click Next

Accept the License Agreement

Click Next

Click Next to accept the default port

Now the Most Important step is to define the SSO Server
Choose a password

and before you press next also put the IP Address of the SSO Server
Click Yes to accept the SSL SHA fingerprint

Click Install Certificates

Click Install

Click Next and it will proceed with the installation

Click Finish

and this is a message to let you know the installation is finish successfully

Second step install the vCenter Inventory Service > Install
Click OK

Click Next

Accept the License Agreement

Click Next to accept the location of the installation

Enter the FQDN for the first vCenter
(VC1-CCIEROOT.mynaghi.com)

Click Next

Select the Small and click Next

Also again here you enter the SSO Credential and the IP Address of the SSO Server

Select Yes

Click Install to start the installation

it will take time to finish

Click Finish

Last but not least Select the vCenter Server > Install
Click OK

Click Next

Accept the Agreement

no need to input any license since this is a LAB just click Next and it will install the evaluation License
Choose to install the Database

Check the box to use the Administrator Account since i’m login with the Domain Admin Credential
Create a standalone vCenter

Click Next to Accept the Default Ports

Choose the Small Size

and again Enter the Credential of the SSO Server

Click Yes

Click Next

make sure the name is the correct one

Click Next

Click Install

it will take couple of minute

and the database will take more time too
once the SQL is finish the Server will progress with the vCenter Installation

Click Finish

and as you can see all my servers are installed

Now we will repeat the same step in the second vCenter (VC2-CCIEROOT) for both feature Web Client and Inventory but for vCenter Server there is a little change so i will show it to you here
so select vCenter Server > Install
Click OK

Click Next

Accept the Agreement

Click Next on the License

Select to install the SQL Database

Also use the Local Admin here

Now this is the most important Step
Choose to join a VMware vCenter Server group using Linked Mode

Click OK

ENter the DNS FQDN for the first vCenter
(VC1-CCIEROOT.mynaghi.com)
and click Next

Click Next

Select Small Size Deployment

Enter the Credential of the SSO Server

Click Yes to Accept the SSL SHA1 fingerprint

Click Next

Enter the FQDN of the Server
(VC2-CCIEROOT.mynaghi.com)

Click Next

Click Install

Give it time

and more time
and more more time 😀
and just more more more time
i promise this is the last time

and Finish

now let’s browse to the vCenter page
vCenter 1 (VC1-CCIEROOT): 192.168.200.251
Click Advanced to accept the Certificate
Confirm it

and now i will login to the vCenter page
and as the page of vCenter show up click on vCenter
and as you can see it show two vCenter in my page
VC1-CCIEROOT.mynaghi.com & VC2-CCIEROOT.mynaghi.com
As Easy As It Get 😀

VMware

VMware High Availability

(OMG we lost everything)

i don’t think there is any manager in this world want to hear this
losing all the VM and you have to wait for hours to restore your backup
so the solution is high availability
from this picture below there is VM Registered to each hosts (BTW the picture is borrowed from another web :D)
host1
Once the host fail the VM will move to the other Hosts
host2
so let’s deploy this and test it
GO to Home > Host and Clusters
Select Datacenter > CCIEROOT Cluster > Manage > Settings > vSphere HA choose Edit
Check the box (Turn ON vShere HA) and then you choose from the Menu in the right
Select Host Monitoring > VM Monitoring Status > Choose Option (VM Monitoring Only)
Select Datastore heartbeating > choose to Automatically Select Datastore accessible from the host

Under vSphere DRS > select Fully Automated

Now go to Datacenter > CCIEROOT Cluster > Monitor > vSphere HA > click on Summary

Then select the Related Object > Virtual Machines and you can see each VM reside under which host

i will need to install VMware tools under all machines

Click Mount

then double click on the DVD Drive (D:)

Choose Yes
Complete the Installation
Select Next

Choose Typical

Click Install

The installation will take less than 1 Minute

Click Finish

and click yes to restart the machine and repeat this on all your machines

now the Machine is up
now for testing let’s shutdown our host (192.168.208.209) which VM (windows 10-B) reside on
Just click OK

and you can see the shutdown initiated

As you can see the machine windows10-B is disconnected
3 minute and the machine moved to the new host (192.168.208.210)
and just like that we establish High Availability 😀

5.5, VMware

VMware Storage DRS

So im finally back with a new blog
i know i been sleeping during the corona pandemic, so lets get to it
i previously explain how to configure the DRS in VMware Level and now we will do it in the Storage level
so in my previous blog i show you how to install Storage
so the reason for Storage DRS is to move machine from an over utilized storage to a none busy storage
here i will show you only how to install it and the result is similar to the VMware DRS
similar to the VMware DRS i will create a new Cluster

Go to vCenter – Datacenter – New Datastore Cluster

Choose a name and check the box to Turn ON Storage DRS

Choose the DRS storage Automation to be Fully Automated

Leave this section as it’s but sometimes this I/O check box could cause Error but this is a lab so i would leave it as it’s
and i played the thresholds a little bit so it triggered the storage automation

I selected the cluster here that need connecting to the Storage DRS

in this step i selected the 3 Storage that will be under this cluster (ISCSI-A, ISCSI-B & ISCSI-C)

At the summary page press Finish

and now i can see all my storage is under the Datastore Cluster

now let me add a new Virtual Machine

Select Create a new Virtual Machine

Select the Datacenter

Choose the Cluster were you want to install the VM

Now the BIG Step, no need to choose a specific storage, i can select the Storage Cluster and automatically the system will choose the storage

Choose ESXi 5.5 and later

Select the Guest Machine

In the Customization page just press Next

Now in the summary page you can see under the Datastore
the Machine chooses the ISCSI-B as (Recommended) by the ESXi DRS Storage
Click Finish to start deployment

From Recent Task you can see the Task been Deployed

Finally the Machine created under the Cluster and in the Summary page you see the Storage (Storage Cluster)

5.5, VMware

Converting a Physical Server to VMware Machine (P2V)

VMware vCenter Converter transforms your Windows- and Linux-based physical machines and third-party image formats to VMware virtual machines, So
Bayan Senur whom is the manager of Jaguar & Land Rover Contact Center have a recording server that almost crashing and there is no enough storage on server and she need that space so the best thing is to move it to Virtual environment were we can add space and back up the system without worrying any more

I have the EXE in my folder so lets get to it

Choose Next

Select agree to the terms

Choose the default folder to save the installation

I choose Local Installation

i checked the box to join the VMware which is optional

Now select Install to start the instalation

Select Finish to run the Converter
First step Select Convert Machine option

Now select the machine option
in my case my machine is powered on
then enter the detail of machine IP address (which is Jaguar Company Speechlog recording system ;D Sorry Bayan i had to test on something ) and username and password for the machine

The Agent will be deploy to the machine remotly

you can check if the Agent been deployed by going to Control Panel – Program and Feature

Now next step is select the Infrastructure that im using which is VMware infrastructure then Enter the IP Address of the vCenter with the admin login
Next step is to chose the Datacenter were you want the machine to be
then you choose the cluster and host that you will be installed on and the VM version

you can see there is an (X) error showing on the Data to Copy option and as you see the F: Drive have 368 G which bigger than our Host
Select Advanced
i made sure that i will not use the F drive in this process But in real life you need to have a bigger HD

and i made the C Drive as Thin

Also an optional i change the vCPU
In Advanced i made sure to remove any system restore point so it will not utilize more space

Press Finish

Converting process will start
and its completed

you can check the job process

Now Lets check our vCenter
Select Host and Cluster

and here under the Host that we choose earlier our Speechlog-PC Machine
i will use the credential to login
;D

Thanks to an easy Converting