6.5.1

vCenter High Availability 4
vCenter High Availability (vCenter HA) protects vCenter Server Appliance against host and hardware
failures. The active-passive architecture of the solution can also help you reduce downtime signicantly
when you patch vCenter Server Appliance.
After some network conguration, you create a three-node cluster that contains Active, Passive, and Witness
nodes. Dierent conguration paths are available. What you select depends on your existing conguration.
1 Plan the vCenter HA Deployment on page 58
Before you can congure vCenter HA, you have to consider several factors. A
vCenter Server Appliance deployment can use an internal or external Platform Services Controller. A
browneld deployment with components that use dierent versions of vSphere requires dierent
considerations than a greeneld deployment that includes only vSphere 6.5 components. Resource
and software requirements and the networking setup must also be considered carefully.
2 Congure the Network on page 63
Regardless of the deployment option and inventory hierarchy that you select, you have to set up your
network before you can start conguration. To set the foundation for the vCenter HA network, you
add a port group to each ESXi host, and add a virtual NIC to the vCenter Server Appliance that later
becomes the Active node.
3 Congure vCenter HA With the Basic Option on page 64
When you use the Basic option, the vCenter HA wizard creates and congures a second network
adapter on the vCenter Server Appliance, clones the Active node, and congures the vCenter HA
network.
4 Congure vCenter HA With the Advanced Option on page 65
If you congure the vCenter HA cluster with the Advanced option, you have more control over the
environment, and you do not have to meet some of the prerequisites for the Basic conguration.
However, you are responsible adding a second NIC to the vCenter Server Appliance, cloning the
Active node to the Passive and Witness nodes, and conguring the clones.
5 Manage the vCenter HA Conguration on page 68
After you congure your vCenter HA cluster, you can perform management tasks. These tasks include
certicate replacement, replacement of SSH keys, and SNMP setup. You can also edit the cluster
conguration to disable or enable vCenter HA, enter maintenance mode, and remove the cluster
conguration.
6 Troubleshoot Your vCenter HA Environment on page 73
In case of problems you can troubleshoot your environment. The task you need to perform depends on
the failure symptoms. For additional troubleshooting information, see the VMware Knowledge Base
system.
VMware, Inc.
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