VmWare vSphere vCenter Server Installation Lab
IP Addressing
You will be assigning static IPs to your systems in this lab. Please use these settings:
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
- Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
- DNS Server 192.168.1.1
| System | IP |
|---|---|
| HV-A | 192.168.1.20 |
| HV-B | 192.168.1.21 |
| VCSA | 192.168.1.22 |
Instructions
- VMs are located on the https://ihcc-netlab.campus.ihitc.net Netlab system, be sure you are connected to the ITCnet VPN before attempting to access this system
- NOTE: You will need to make a reservation for the Proxmox Labs in this class before you are able to access the VMs. Changes will be saved between your reservations so you will be able to make multiple reservations over several days as needed to complete labs.
- NOTE: If you need to split your work up across multiple reservations be sure to safely shutdown your Proxmox VMs before ending your Netlab reservation. Otherwise when your reservation ends Netlab will simply power off your VMs (without shutting them down first) which could cause data corruption.
- NOTE: If you make a mistake and need to have one or both of your HV VMs erased so you can re-install Proxmox you will need to contact your instructor or the ITC lab assistant to have them reset.
- Boot your ESXi Server systems (the two HV systems)
- Obtain static IP addressing information from the table above and change the IP address of each ESXi server in your pod to a unique static IP address.
- Use the PC-C VM to mount the VCSA installation ISO file by double clicking on it.
- The VCSA ISO file is named "VMware-VCSA-all-6.7.0-15976714.iso" and can be found on the Windows SMB fileshare "\\172.17.139.70\Student Files\ITC2300" which you can access from PC-C. Use your VPN login credentials but with @campus.ihitc.net on the end like username@campus.ihitc.net to access the files.
- Open the installer.exe file found in the vcsa-ui-installer\win32 directory of the VCSA ISO image and click install to begin the installation process. If you're unfamiliar with the installation process you can refer back to your readings as well as a VMware walk-through.
- Note that the readings and walkthough may be for vCenter Server 6.5 and we are installing 6.7 but the process is substantially the same.
- During the installation you will need to select ONE of your pod's ESXi servers to install the vCenter appliance onto. Only one VCSA installation per pod!
- Set a root password for your VCSA server during the installation process, be sure to write this down! It is strongly suggested you use "VCSA#itc2300" as the administrative password so that you can reference it here and your instructor can assist with issues in your lab.
- When given the option you should install vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller
- When asked about the appliance size choose a "Tiny" installation and "Default" storage size.
- Select the checkbox to enable "Thin-Disk Mode"
- Use the correct static IP address for the VCSA from the allocation you received for your pod above and choose to synchronize time with the ESXi appliance host. The IP address should also be used as the system name.
- The first phase of the installation will take quite a while to complete. Once it is done you will be prompted to start stage 2
- Choose to synchronize time with the ESXi host and enable ssh access
- When creating a new SSO domain use "podX.local" (where X is replaced by your pod letter) as your SSO Domain Name
- Set the site name to Pod-X (where X is replaced by your pod letter)
- After the installation completes use your credentials (administrator@podX.local) to log in to the VCSA web client at the address provided.
- Note: You do not need to access the web interface through the remote PC client system. Because it's just a web interface you can connect from the browser on your home system.
- Spend a few minutes exploring the VCSA web client interface
- Create a new Datacenter and give it a name
- Add the all the ESXi hosts in your pod to the datacenter
- Create a few more VMs through VCSA on both ESXi hosts.
- NOTE: You will need to upload the ISOs to the datastore on the ESXi system which you are creating the VM on before you can install the systems. This uploading can be done through VCSA from PC-C.
- Various OS installation ISO files can be found on the Windows SMB fileshare "\\172.17.139.70\Student Files\ITC2300" which you can access from PC-C. Use your VPN login credentials but with @campus.ihitc.net on the end like username@campus.ihitc.net to access the files.
- Safely shutdown all running VMs except VCSA
- Safely shutdown the VCSA appliance
- Safely shutdown all ESXi hosts
- Disconnect from the VPN
- End your Netlab Reservation