Install VCSA 6.0 on VMware Workstation

I am trying to setup a VMware home lab on my computer, I have installed the ESXi 6.0, AD DNS server. Now, I need to install the vCenter Server Appliance. But I don’t want to install it on the ESXi Host. I wanted to install it directly on the VMware Workstation.

If you try to use the default method, you will not be able to install it directly on Workstation. You will need .ova file to import it into Workstation. The .ova file is available in the ISO, but it’s kind of hidden and we need to find it.

Requirements:

• Download VMware vCenter Server Appliance from VMware (.iso file)
• VMware Workstation 12 Pro.

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Let’s get started:

1. Download the VCSA 6.0 iso from the above link.

2. Extract the ISO file using 7-Zip.

3. Browse to the extracted folder and go to path vcsa\vmware-vcsa and rename it to vmware-vcsa.ova.










4. Right click on vmware-vcsa.ova click open with workstation.

5. Import it to Workstation. “Do Not Power ON”. It’s not time yet. We have to configure the new VM before we can Power ON.



6. Locate where your Virtual Machines files are stored and open the .vmx file with a text editor.

7. Add the below parameters to the end of VMX file and update the colored parameters as per your network settings.

guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.addr.family = "ipv4"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.mode = "static"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.addr = "192.168.72.15"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.prefix = "24"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.gateway = "192.168.72.1"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.net.dns.servers = "192.168.72.2"    guestinfo.cis.vmdir.password = "Root@123"    guestinfo.cis.appliance.root.passwd = "Root@123"

8. Save the .vmx file. Below is the sample of the modified vmx file.



9. Edit the VM setting of the VC-01(my vcenter vm name) and configure the appropriate network. I am running the lab on isolated network, hence I am choosing as per it.

10. Now Power On the VM and wait for ~10 to 15 mins to complete the installation.



11. Login to the vCenter with the below credentials:

Username: administrator@vsphere.local
Password: VMware1! (Configured in the vmdir.password)

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Install/Uninstall/Validate VMware Tools in CentOS

VMware Tools is a software that enhances the performance of the virtual machine. If it is not installed then virtual machine performance is decreased and managing the virtual machine is little difficult.

It is very easy to install the VMware tools. We are going to take a look of installing it from online and offline mode(CD-Rom).

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Install - Online Mode:

Use the below command to install VMware on Centos.

# yum install –y open-vm-tools

Once installed

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Install - Offline Mode:

Login in to your virtual machine console with the root account or equivalent.

1. Mount the VMware tools ISO from the VMware Workstation or vSphere Client VM console.
This will connect a virtual CD-Rom device with the VMware tools image to your virtual machine.

# mount /dev/cdrom /media

2. Change directory to your mount folder, in this case its media.

# cd /media

3. Now copy the VMware Tools archive file to temp folder.

# cp VMwareTools-10.0.6-3560309.tar.gz

4. Change directory to the temp folder now.

# cd /tmp

5. Extract the archive copied to temp folder.
This will extract the all files to the temp folder.

# tar –xvzf VMwareTools-10.0.6-3560309.tar.gz

6. Now switch to the folder which contains the install/uninstall script.

# cd vmware-tools-distrib

7. Now run the script which will install the VMware Tools.

# ./vmware-tools-install.pl –d

The VMware tools will install with default selections and you will see a confirmation message on your screen.

8. Now proceed with the cleanup and reboot the virtual machine.

# cd /tmp # rm –rf vmware-tools-distrib # rm –rf VMwareTools-10.0.6-3560309.tar.gz

9. Reboot your server to finish the installation.

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Uninstall the VMware Tools:

Login in to your virtual machine console with the root account or equivalent.

Run the below command to uninstall –

# /usr/bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

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Validate the VMware Tools running status:

# ps -ef | grep vmtools root 2740 1 0 Dec09 ? 00:00:42 /usr/sbin/vmtoolsd # service vmware-tools status vmware-guestd is running

Collect EMC Grabs on ESXi hosts

Requirements:
1. EMC Grab (can be downloaded from support.emc.com).
2. Java must be installed. We can check using the command “java –version”.
3.
Process:
1. Download the EMC grab.
2. Browse to the EMC grab downloaded folder in command prompt.
3. Enter the below command:
emcgrab.exe –host <IP_Address_of_ESXi> -user <username_of_ESXi> -password <password_of_ESXi> -vmsupport

4. Accept the Legal Agreement by typing Y.
5. Enter the following information – Party Number,  Company Name, Phone, Email, SR Number etc. for Identification information.
6. Now the tool will start to collect the data and wait for it to finish.
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Download link for EMC GRAB for ESXi: ftp://ftp.emc.com/pub/emcgrab/ESXi/
Download link for EMC GRAB for ESX: ftp://ftp.emc.com/pub/emcgrab/ESX/

VMware ESXi 6.5 Step by Step Installation and Configuration

Requirements:

1. We need to download the ESXi-6.5.0-4564106(Build 4564106) ISO from VMware. We can download from VMware. 
2. A host machine with at least 2 CPU cores (supports 64-bit x86 processors).
3. A host machine with at least 4 GB RAM.
4. Requires the NX/XD bit to be enabled for the CPU in the BIOS.
5. To support 64-bit virtual machines, support for hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI) must be enabled on x64 CPUs.

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vCenter Server New Maximums:

In this release we have a new maximums guide that can be found here: 
Note that these maximums are specific to vSphere 6.5 Update 1 and are _not_ retroactive. vSphere 6.5 releases prior to Update 1 are still bound by the maximums published here.

Here are some of the increased vSphere 6.5 Update 1 numbers:

• Maximum vCenter Servers per vSphere Domain: 15 (increased from 10)
• Maximum ESXi Hosts per vSphere Domain: 5000 (increased from 4000)
• Maximum Powered On VMs per vSphere Domain: 50,000 (increased from 30,000)
• Maximum Registered VMs per vSphere Domain: 70,000 (increased from 50,000)

Hopefully these new scale numbers are welcome improvements!

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Step by Step Installation and Configuring of ESXi 6.5:

1. Boot from the downloaded ISO and the boot menu appears. Select VMware ESXi 6.5.0 installer from the menu.

2. Now the installer will load the files in preparation for the installation.

3. Setup now displays the welcome screen, press Enter to continue installation.

4. Accept the EULA.

5. Setup will scan for the hardware devices available.

6. Select the hard disk in which the ESXi to be installed. I have assigned 2 drives for the host.

7. Select the Keyboard layout US Default.

8. Now you need to set the root password for the host. Ensure that password meets the complexity criteria set by the system.

9. Installer will scan for additional components present in the machine.

10. Once we confirm the install here, the disk will be repartitioned and the installation will begin.

11. Now the installation is in progress.

12. Installation is now completed and its prompting for reboot. Press Enter to Reboot.

13. Reboot is completed and we now start the configuration of the host. Login using the root credentials. (Press F2 key to get the login prompt).

14. The DCUI(Direct Console User Interface) menu looks the same, there is no changes in submenus or design from the previous ESXi versions. Here we only need to concentrate on "Configure Management Network" option. Use arrow keys to navigate and hightlight the menu and press enter.

15. Under the Mangement Network Configuration, we have submenus and lets configure them one by one. IPv4 address, SubnetMask and Gateway is assigned.

16. I am choosing to disable IPv6 here as I am not using it in this environment.

17. Next assign the Primary and Secondary DNS Servers and the hostname for the ESXi.

18. Assign the DNS Suffix and we are done with the configuration part. Reboot once to complete the setup.

19. We have now successfully Installed and Configured an ESXi 6.5 host.

 
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This was a routine ESXi installation steps from the previous versions. There is no changes as to installation process, looks, menu options at all. The only changes we can see is the capactiy of the ESXi host (I have given the new numbers at the top). 

Thanks.  Please share your feedback and comments.