6.7
Table Of Contents
- vCenter Server Installation and Setup
- Contents
- About vCenter Server Installation and Setup
- Introduction to vSphere Installation and Setup
- Overview of the vSphere Installation and Setup Process
- vCenter Server Components and Services
- Overview of the vCenter Server Appliance
- vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller Deployment Types
- Understanding vSphere Domains, Domain Names, and Sites
- Deployment Topologies with External Platform Services Controller Instances and High Availability
- vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode
- Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- System Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Hardware Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Storage Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Software Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Required Ports for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller
- DNS Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- vSphere Web Client Software Requirements
- Preparing for Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Prerequisites for Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance
- GUI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Required Information for Deploying a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller by Using the GUI
- Deploy a Platform Services Controller Appliance by Using the GUI
- Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with an External Platform Services Controller by Using the GUI
- CLI Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- System Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- vCenter Server for Windows Requirements
- Pre-Install Checks for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Storage Requirements for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Software Requirements for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Database Requirements for vCenter Server on Windows
- Required Ports for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller
- DNS Requirements for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- vSphere Web Client Software Requirements
- Preparing for Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Download the vCenter Server Installer for Windows
- Preparing vCenter Server Databases for Install
- vCenter Server Database Configuration Notes
- Configure Microsoft SQL Server Databases
- Configure Oracle Databases
- Database Permission Requirements for vCenter Server
- Verify That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database
- Maintaining a vCenter Server Database
- Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network
- Using a User Account for Running vCenter Server
- Installing vCenter Server on IPv6 Machines
- Running the vCenter Server Installer from a Network Drive
- Required Information for Installing vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller on Windows
- Installing vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows
- vCenter Server for Windows Requirements
- File-Based Backup and Restore of vCenter Server Appliance
- Image-Based Backup and Restore of a vCenter Server Environment
- After You Install vCenter Server or Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance
- Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Web Client
- Install the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in
- Collect vCenter Server Log Files
- Repoint vCenter Server to Another External Platform Services Controller in the Same Domain
- Repoint vCenter Server to External Platform Services Controller in a Different Domain
- Reconfigure a Standalone vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller
- Troubleshooting vCenter Server Installation or Deployment
- Uninstall vCenter Server
Collect Installation Logs by Using the Installation Wizard
You can use the Setup Interrupted page of the installation wizard to browse to the generated .zip file of
the vCenter Server for Windows installation log files.
If the installation fails, the Setup Interrupted page appears with the log collection check boxes selected by
default.
Procedure
1 Leave the check boxes selected and click Finish.
The installation files are collected in a .zip file on your desktop, for example, VMware-VCS-logs-
time-of-installation-attempt.zip, where time-of-installation-attempt displays the year, month,
date, hour, minutes, and seconds of the installation attempt.
2 Retrieve the log files from the .zip file on your desktop.
What to do next
Examine the log files to determine the cause of failure.
Retrieve Installation Logs Manually
You can retrieve the installation log files manually for examination.
Procedure
1 Navigate to the installation log file locations.
n
%PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\vCenterServer\logs directory, usually
C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs
n
%TEMP% directory, usually C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp
The files in the %TEMP% directory include vc-install.txt, vminst.log, pkgmgr.log, pkgmgr-
comp-msi.log, and vim-vcs-msi.log.
2 Open the installation log files in a text editor for examination.
Collect Deployment Log Files for the vCenter Server Appliance
If the vCenter Server Appliance deployment fails, you can retrieve the log files and examine them for the
reason of the failure.
The full path to the log files is displayed in the vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard.
In case of firstboot failure, you can download the support bundle on a Windows host machine and
examine the log files to determine which firstboot script failed. See Export a vCenter Server Support
Bundle for Troubleshooting.
vCenter Server Installation and Setup
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