6.7

VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts monitor designated
ports for data from vCenter Server. If a built-in firewall exists between any of these elements, the installer
opens the ports during the installation or upgrade process. For custom firewalls, you must manually open
the required ports. If you have a firewall between two managed hosts and you want to perform source or
target activities, such as migration or cloning, you must configure a means for the managed hosts to
receive data.
Note In Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and later, firewall is enabled by default.
Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components
Port Protocol Description Required for
Used for Node-to-Node
Communication
22 TCP System port for SSHD.
Important This port must be open
during the upgrade of the appliance. The
upgrade process establishes an SSH
connection to transfer the data from the
existing to the new appliance.
Appliance deployments
of
n
vCenter Server
n
Platform Services
Controller
No
53 DNS service Windows installations
and appliance
deployments of
Platform Services
Controller
No
80 TCP vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct
HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects
requests to HTTPS port 443. This
redirection is useful if you accidentally
use http://server instead of https://server.
WS-Management (also requires port 443
to be open).
If you use a Microsoft SQL database that
is stored on the same virtual machine or
physical server as the vCenter Server,
port 80 is used by the SQL Reporting
Service. When you install or upgrade
vCenter Server, the installer prompts you
to change the HTTP port for
vCenter Server. Change the
vCenter Server HTTP port to a custom
value to ensure a successful installation
or upgrade.
Important You can change this port
number during the vCenter Server and
Platform Services Controller installations
on Windows.
Windows installations
and appliance
deployments of
n
vCenter Server
n
Platform Services
Controller
No
vCenter Server Upgrade
VMware, Inc. 74