In this article, I will Create a Datacenter, HA/DRS Cluster and Adding a Host with (vSphere Web Client).
Datacenter HA/DRS Cluster
Create a Datacenter
Create an HA and DRS cluster
Add an ESX/ESXi host
1- Login to the vSphere Web Client
2- Select Action tab > click New Datacenter.
3- Type the Datacentre name and click ok.
4- Next we need to create a cluster within our Datacenter > click Actions and then select New Cluster.
5- Type cluster name > Select Turn ON, DRS and Turn ON, vSphere HA and then click ok to create the Cluster.
6- Now the cluster is ready we need to add ESXi servers (hosts) to the cluster.
Select the cluster then Add Host.
7- Enter the FQDN of your ESXi server you want to add or type the IP address and click next.
Note: If you missed the step at the beginning to create an A record in DNS you can Create.
8- Enter the username (root) and password for your ESXi server and then click Next.
9- Click Yes to accept the certificate.
10- Check the host details and then click next.
11- Assign a license key for the ESXi server (vSphere) or do this later and run in evaluation mode and then click Next.
12- Do not enable lockdown mode (default is to leave it disabled)
Note: If you enable lockdown mode you can’t manage the host directly if vCenter is unavailable.
13- Any VMs on the host can be either added to the root resource pool or placed into a new one for this host’s resource pools and VMs and then click next.
14- Click Finish to add the host to the datacenter HA/DRS cluster.
15- After a couple of minutes the host will be successfully added to the HA/DRS cluster. So, you can add more hosts one by one.
In this guide, I will provide a step by step VMware vCenter Server 5.5 installation and configuration using the Simple Install method.
VMWare vCenter 5.5 installations and Configuration
Minimum System requirements: Processor – Intel or AMD x64 bit processor with two or more logical cores, each with a speed of 2GHz
Memory – 4GB Minimum Disk Storage – 7GB a minimum of Network – 1Gbps Recommended
VMware vCenter Single Sign-On vCenter Inventory Service vCenter Server vSphere Web Client
vCenter 5.5 installation Single Sign-On
1- Insert DVD or .iso ” VMware-VIMSetup-all-5.5.0-1623099-20140201-update01.iso”
Click the autorun.exe file within the root of the cd or folder > click vCenter Single Sign-On and click on Install.
2- Click Next, to start out the installation.
3- Select I accept the terms within the License Agreement and click on next.
4- Select Add …….. as a native Active Directory identity source and click on next.
5- Select vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server and click on next.
6- A password for the vCenter SSO administrator account
Note: this is often an area user within the SSO database, it’s neither an area windows user or AD user. If Active Directory authentication stops working you’ll still login with the [email protected] and click on Next.
7- Enter a reputation for your site or leave it the default and click on next.
8- Keep the HTTPS port because the default 7444 recommended and click on next.
9- Select the directory during which you would like to put in vCenter SSO and click on next.
10- Confirm the installation options and click on Install.
11- vCenter SSO installation completed and click on Finish.
vCenter 5.5 Installation Inventory Service
1- Back to the installer for vCenter Inventory Service and choose vCenter Inventory Service and click on Install.
2- Click ok.
3- Click Next.
4- Select I Accept the terms within the license agreement and click on next.
5- Select the specified installation location and click on the next.
6- Enter the FQDN and click on next.
7- Keep the ports defaults and click on next.
8- Select the VM memory size and click on the next
9- Enter your Single Sign-On (SSO) username & password and click on next.
10- Click Yes to simply accept the SSO certificate.
11- Click Install Certificates.
12- Click Install.
13- Inventory Service successfully installed and click on Finish.
vCenter 5.5 Installation
1- Once Back to the vCenter installer and choose vCenter Server and click on Install.
2- Click ok.
3- The vCenter Server installer will start and click on next.
4- Select I Accept the license agreement and click on next.
5- Enter your license (if you don’t it’ll run during a 60 full evaluation). and click on next.
6- If deploying a little scale deployment (5 hosts and up to 50 VMs) you’ll prefer to use SQL Server 2008 Express and click on next.
7- The account is going to be grated go online as a service and then click on next.
8- it’ll be the primary vCenter installation prefer to create a standalone VMware vCenter Server Instance and then click on next.
9- Verify the ports to use for the vCenter server and then click on next.
10- Select Maximum Memory inventory size to properly size and then click on next.
11- Type your vCenter Single Sign-On administrator credentials ([email protected]) to register the vCenter Server with VMware vCenter SSO and then click on next.
12- Click Yes.
13- that’s an area administrator on this server who can manage vCenter and then click on next.
14- make sure the correct vCenter Inventory Service address is entered and then click on next.
15- Change your installation location if required and then click on next.
16- Click Install.
17- Default Running Process (It will install SQL Server first).
In this blog, I am going to Install and Configure VMware ESXi 5.5
Install and Configure VMware ESXi 5.5
Requirements: Ram 4GB. Minimum of two cores. 1 Gigabit or More Requires the NX/XD bit to be enabled for the CPU within the BIOS 1- Boot from USB or DVD and select Esxi-5.5.0-1331820-standard installer – Press Enter.
2- This screen detects all the hardware and then loads the drivers.
3- Press Enter to start the installation.
4- Press (F11) to Accept and continue.
5- Select the correct storage device to install ESXi on and then press Enter to continue.
6- Select the keyboard layout US Default and then press (Enter).
7- Type a secure password for the root account and then Press (Enter).
8- Press (F11) to start installing ESXi 5.5.
9- This will take several minutes to complete.
10- Installation completed press (Enter) to reboot the ESXi 5.5 server.
11- Once the ESXi 5.5 server has booted, it will receive a DHCP (if applicable) you can now manage this with the vSphere client or continue to set a static IP for management (recommended) so Press F2.
Configure ESXi 5.5
12- Type your root username, password and then press enter.
13- Select Configure management network.
14- Select the IP Configuration.
15- Change to Static IP
Enter your IP address, mask, gateway and then Press Enter.
16- Now select DNS Configuration.
17- Enter your DNS information and then press (Enter) to OK.
18- Now select Custom DNS Suffices and type your DNS name. then press (Enter) to OK.
19- Press ESC to get back to the main menu. You will be asked to Apply changes and restart the management networks? so Press (Y) to yes.
20- Now test your network. you ought to have created A records on your DNS server for your ESXi 5.5 servers.
21- The initial configuration portion of your ESXi 5.5 host is now complete. For our final step, we are going to go to our browser and enter in the IP and press enter you will be presented with an unsafe connection and then click Go on to the webpage (not recommended)
