6.7

Table Of Contents
You can replace the default certificates. For vCenter Server components, you can use a set of command-
line tools included in your installation. You have several options.
Replace With Certificates Signed by VMCA
If your VMCA certificate expires or you want to replace it for other reasons, you can use the certificate
management CLIs to perform that process. By default, the VMCA root certificate expires after ten years,
and all certificates that VMCA signs expire when the root certificate expires, that is, after a maximum of
ten years.
Figure 31. Certificates Signed by VMCA Are Stored in VECS
CA-Cert
VECS
Machine-Cert
Signed
VMCA
You can use the following vSphere Certificate Manager options:
n
Replace Machine SSL Certificate with VMCA Certificate
n
Replace Solution User Certificate with VMCA Certificate
For manual certificate replacement, see Replace Existing VMCA-Signed Certificates With New VMCA-
Signed Certificates.
Make VMCA an Intermediate CA
You can replace the VMCA root certificate with a certificate that is signed by an enterprise CA or third-
party CA. VMCA signs the custom root certificate each time it provisions certificates, making VMCA an
intermediate CA.
Note If you perform a fresh install that includes an external Platform Services Controller, install the
Platform Services Controller first and replace the VMCA root certificate. Next, install other services or add
ESXi hosts to your environment. If you perform a fresh install with an embedded
Platform Services Controller, replace the VMCA root certificate before you add ESXi hosts. If you do,
VMCA signs the whole chain, and you do not have to generate new certificates.
Platform Services Controller Administration
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