VMware vCenter Server Appliance - 6.0 User Manual

Technical Note

Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

This technical note describes the command-line deployment process of the VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™.

The vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machine that is optimized for running vCenter Server.

The command-line installer is intended for advanced users who are familiar with vSphere. The main purpose of the command-line installer is to enable automation, and prevent user input errors.

Overview

The command-line deployment process includes downloading the ISO installer, setting the deployment templates using the command parameters, and following the procedure described in this technical note.

Software Included in the vCenter Server Appliance Package

The vCenter Server Appliance package contains the following software:

 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Update 3 for VMware, 64-bit edition

 PostgreSQL

 vCenter Server 6.0 and vCenter Server 6.0 components

vCenter Server Appliance Components

The vCenter Server Appliance consists of the following components.

 VMware Platform Services Controller

A group of infrastructure services such as vCenter Single Sign-On, License service, and VMware Certificate Authority

 vCenter Server

A group of services such as vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, vSphere Auto Deploy, vSphere ESXi Dump Collector, and vSphere Syslog Service for vCenter Server Appliance

vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Models

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance in one of the following two deployment models - a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller, or a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller.

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Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

Tab le 1. summarizes the characteristics of the two deployment models.

Table 1. vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Models

vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Model Description

vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller

All services bundled with the Platform Services Controller are deployed together with vCenter Server in the same appliance.

IMPORTANT vCenter Server with an embedded Platform

Services Controller is standalone. You cannot use it to replicate vCenter Single Sign-On data. Setting up replication partners between multiple vCenter Server instances with embedded Platform Services Controllers is not supported in this release.

vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller

All services bundled with the Platform Services Controller are deployed as one appliance and vCenter Server is deployed as another appliance.

IMPORTANT You must first deploy the Platform Services

Controller.

For more information about vCenter Server Appliance deployment models, see the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation at http://pubs.vmware.com.

Requirements

Supported Operating Systems for the Command-Line Installer

You can run the vCenter Server Appliance command-line installer from any virtual or physical server in the vSphere network. The vCenter Server Appliance command-line deployment is supported on the following operating systems:

 Windows 7

 Windows Server 2008/2012

 Windows 8

 SUSE Linux 11 SP3

 Mac OS 10.9

Hardware Requirements

When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, select to deploy an appliance that is suitable for the size of your vSphere environment.

The hardware requirements, such as the number of CPUs and memory, depend on the size of your vSphere inventory.

Tabl e 2. Hardware Requirements

Resources Number of CPUs Memory

Platform Services Controller 2 2 GB RAM

Tiny environment

up to 10 hosts, 100 virtual machines

Small environment

up to 100 hosts, 1,000 virtual machines

Medium environment

up to 400 hosts, 4,000 virtual machines

Large environment

up to 1,000 hosts, 10,000 virtual machines

28 GB RAM

4 16 GB RAM

8 24 GB RAM

16 32 GB RAM

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OTE For instances of vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller, the

required memory size and number of CPUs are the sum of the values for the Platform Services Controller and the values for the environment you want to deploy.

Storage Requirements

The host on which the vCenter Server Appliance is to be deployed must meet minimum storage requirements, depending on the selected deployment model.

Tabl e 3. Storage Requirements

Tiny environment

up to 10 hosts, 100 virtual machines

Small environment

up to 100 hosts, 1,000 virtual machines

Medium environment

up to 400 hosts, 4,000 virtual machines

Large environment

up to 1,000 hosts, 10,000 virtual machines

Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller

101 GB 86 GB 25.5 GB

146 GB 108 GB 25.5 GB

270 GB 220 GB 25.5 GB

445 GB 280 GB 25.5 GB

vCenter Server Appliance with an External Platform Services Controller

External Platform Services Controller Appliance

Database Requirements

Each vCenter Server Appliance must have its own database to store and organize server data.

You can use the embedded PostgreSQL database that is included in the vCenter Server Appliance. The PostgreSQL database supports up to 1,000 hosts and 10,000 virtual machines.

For external databases, the vCenter Server Appliance supports only Oracle database. The Oracle database is of the same version shown in the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix for the version of the vCenter Server 6.0. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

ESXi Host Requirements

You can deploy vCenter Server Appliance on a host running ESXi 5.0 or later.

Command-Line Deployment Steps

You can run the command-line deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance from a virtual or physical machine that is running Windows, Linux, or Mac operating systems that meets the operating system requirements. See section “Supported Operating Systems for the Command-Line Installer” on page 2.

Command-Line Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance from a Windows Machine

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine that is running on Microsoft Windows.

Prerequisites:

 Download the ISO installer file from the VMware Web site.

 Prepare the deployment templates as described in section “Prepare the Templates” on page 6.

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Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

To deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine with a Windows OS:

1 At the command prompt, navigate to the vcsa-cli-installer\win32 directory.

2 Deploy the appliance.

 Deploy the appliance from the template:

vcsa-deploy



Deploy the appliance from the template by using command-line options:

vcsa-deploy Optional_Argument

path-to-templates-directory\name-of-the-template

.json

For example, the following command string deploys the appliance as specified in the JSON template. If the vCenter Single Sign-On password that you enter in the command string is different from the vCenter Single Sign-On password in the template, the command-line installer sets up vCenter Single Sign-On with the password provided in the command string.

vcsa-deploy --sso-password

path-to-templates-directory\name-of-the-template

SSO-PASSWORD

.json

Command-Line Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance from a Linux Machine

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine that is running on Linux.

Prerequisites:

 Download the ISO installer file from the VMware Web site.

 Prepare the deployment templates as described in section “Prepare the Templates” on page 6.

To deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine with Linux OS:

1 At the command prompt, navigate to the vcsa-cli-installer/lin64 directory.

2 Deploy the appliance.

 Deploy the appliance from the template:

./vcsa-deploy



Deploy the appliance from the template by using command-line options:

vcsa-deploy Optional_Argument

path-to-temlpates-directory/name-of-the-template

path-to-templates-directory/name-of-the-template

.json

vcsa-deploy --sso-password

path-to-templates-directory/name-of-the-template

SSO-PASSWORD

.json

Command-Line Deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance from a Mac Machine

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine that is running on Mac.

Prerequisites:

 Download the ISO installer file from the VMware Web site.

 Prepare the deployment templates as described in section “Prepare the Templates” on page 6.

To deploy the vCenter Server Appliance from a machine with Mac OS:

1 At the command prompt, navigate to the vcsa-cli-installer/mac directory.

2 Deploy the appliance.

 Deploy the appliance from the template:

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Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

./vcsa-deploy



Deploy the appliance from the template by using command-line options:

vcsa-deploy Optional_Argument

path-to-templates-directory/name-of-the-template

.json

vcsa-deploy --sso-password

SSO-PASSWORD path-to-templates-directory/name-of-the-template

Options and Arguments That the Command-Line Installer Supports

Tabl e 4. Optional Arguments Supported by the Command-Line Installer

Optional Argument Description

-h, --help Displays the help message.

--template-help Displays the help for template settings.

-v, --verbose Adds debug information in the log file.

-l LOG, --log LOG Shows the file path to the log file.

--esx-host-password

--sso-password

--db-password

--appliance-root-password

--no-esx-ssl-verify Skips the SSL verification for ESXi connections.

--verify-only Performs parameter verification but does not deploy the template.

--skip-verification Deploys the template without performing parameter verification.

your-esx-password

password

database-password

linux-os-password

Sets the ESXi password. After it is set, the esx.passsword setting in the JSON template is ignored.

Sets the vCenter Single Sign-On password. Once set, the vCenter Single Sign-On password setting in the JSON template is ignored.

The external database password, if applicable. After it is set, the database password setting in the JSON template is ignored.

The root account password of the deployed appliance. After it is set, the root.password setting in the JSON template is ignored.

Do not use this option because it might cause problems during deployment or after deployment because of invalidated values passed to the appliance.

.json

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Preparing the Deployment Templates

This section provides details about the vCenter Server Appliance deployment templates. You must prepare the templates to deploy the vCenter Server Appliance.

The vCenter Server Appliance ISO installer file contains five JSON templates:

Tabl e 5. vCenter Server Appliance Template JSON Files

Template JSON File Description

full_conf.json The full_conf.json file lists all deployment parameters that are used in the

templates.

embedded.example.json The embedded.example.json is a sample template with the minimum

required configuration settings for deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller. The template is displayed in Example 1.

VC.example.json The VC.example.json is a sample template with the minimum required

configuration settings for deployment of vCenter Server. The template is displayed in Example 2.

PSC.example.json The PSC.example.json is a sample template with the minimum required

configuration settings for deployment of the Platform Services Controller. The template is displayed in Example 3.

PSC_replication.example.json The template is displayed in Example 4.

Command-Line Deployment of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

NOTE The deployment templates are located in the templates subfolder in the vcsa-cli-installer directory.

You use the template JSON files to provide the parameters needed for the customization and deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance.

Template Files for Common Setup

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with minimum configuration settings by using the predefined deployment templates included in the ISO installer file. The settings not included in the template files are set to their default values.

NOTE Before you start the deployment procedure, you must enter the values of parameters in the template files.

Template Files for Custom Setup

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with custom configuration settings by adding command parameters in the predefined deployment templates included in the ISO installer file. The settings not included in the template files are set to their default values.

NOTE Before you start the deployment procedure, you must enter the additional parameters and the parameter values in the template files.

Prepare the Templates

The process for editing and preparing deployment templates is the same for common and custom setups.

To prepare the deployment templates:

1Open the templates subfolder that is located in the vsca-cli-installer directory.

2 Copy the template files to your workspace.

3 Open a template file in a text editor.

4 Fill in the required fields and, optionally, add new parameters to the template.

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