Part1. Installation of ESXI Server 5.5
This is the baremetal hypervisor that will run our VMs and may be one of several servers you wish to build into a cluster managed by vCenter server to provide HA, DRS and vMotion features for VMs.
The ESXi server installation is straightforward, at this initial stage all we need to do is get the hypervisor installed, give it an IP address and password before proceeding with the various steps for the vCenter Server install.
Points to be consider before the installation.
1. Check the server hardware you are installing ESXi 5.5 onto is supported and on the VMware HCL.
2. Login to the VMware license portal to check/upgrade/buy your vSphere licenses.
3. Read the ESXi Setup Guide to ensure you understand the pre-requisites.
4. Download the VMware ESXi 5.5 U1 ISO file from the VMware download area.
5. Burn the ESXi 5.5 ISO to a CD.
6. Disconnect all Fibre Channel connections (if any) and boot the server from the CD.
7. Boot the server from the CD and Select “ESXi-5.5.0-20140302001-Standard-Installer”
8. Follow the installation wizard and accept T&C
9. Select the correct storage device to install ESXi on and press “Enter”
NOTE: Ensure it is not a fibre channel (FC) VMFS datastore or RDM! Make sure your fibre cables or disconnected or zoning excludes this host during the install/upgrade.
There is a tendency for local storage devices to show as remote (as in the case below). If this happens ensure it is local storage and not a fibre channel LUN.
10. Follow the instruction to install ESXI Server, Press F11 to start installation, choose password, once installed reboot the server.
11. Once the ESXi server has booted it will receive a DHCP lease (if applicable) you can now manage this with the vSphere client or continue to set a static IP for management (recommended)
To change IP Address, Press F2 and enter root username and password, Select configuration management network and choose appropriate static IP Address. You can also set VLAN ID here.
12. Create A records on your DNS Server for your ESXI server
Part2. vCenter Single Sign On (SSO) Installation and Configuration
vCenter Single Sign On (SSO) is a component of the VMware Cloud Suite. SSO deals with identity management for administrators and applications that interact with the vSphere platform.
SSO is based on identity management technology built by RSA and specifically tailored for VMware Cloud Infrastructure deployment. Now in vSphere 5.5 they have made a number of changes, most notably a database is not required and instead it uses AD LDS.
The next thing you might be thinking is where do I install this, do I need another server for SSO?
No SSO, vCenter, vSphere Client, vSphere Web Client and vSphere Update Manager can all be installed on a single server (and in most cases it is). Make sure server have static IP Address and should able to communicate with ESXI servers. If you want you can also install each one on its own dedicated server.
1. Run vSphere 5.5 installer and choose “Custom Install”, Install each component separately, It’s easy to find if any of the component have some problem.
2. Follow the installation wizard and accept agreement
3. Tick “Add as a native Active Directory identity source”.
4. Select “vCenter Single Sign On for your first vCenter Server” , Enter Password for Admin account “This is local user in the SSO database” if AD stop working this will still work.
5. Enter Site name, Keep the HTTPs port as the default 7444
6. Select the directory in which to install vCenter SSO.
7. Review installation options and wait to finish installation.
Part3. vCenter Inventory Service rInstallation and Configuration
vCenter Inventory Service reduces direct client requests to the vCenter server with query caching, reducing the load on core vCenter Server processes. The main use case of the vCenter Inventory Service is to manage the vSphere Web Client inventory objects and property queries that the client requests when users navigate the vSphere environment.
1. Click on vCenter inventory service and follow the wizard
2. Enter FQDN for the inventory service. VCENTER.myVI.co.uk
3. Keep the ports as it (Make sure these ports are open in your firewall)
4. Select JVM(Java Virtual Machine) memory size
5. Enter SSO username/password and lookup service URL (https:// VCENTER.myVI.co.uk:7444/lookupservice/sdk)
6. Accept SSO cert and wait to finish