Category: vCenter
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vCenter Reduced Downtime Upgrade
Reading Time: 5 minutesvCenter Reduced Downtime Upgrade shows how to perform a vCenter Server upgrade with reduced downtime. First and foremost, what is the Reduced Downtime Upgrade? Reduced downtime upgrade (RDU) is a migration-based approach to upgrade vCenter Server between major and minor versions that reduces downtime to less than 5 minutes under ideal network, CPU,…
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Changing the Hostname on a Production vCenter Server
Reading Time: 6 minutesChanging the Hostname on a Production vCenter Server shows all the steps I have used to change the vCenter Server hostname. Disclaimer: All steps shown here were performed in a lab environment. Before applying them to your environment, make sure to understand everything and, if possible, replicate them in a lab or…
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Creating a Custom vSphere Alarm
Reading Time: 4 minutesCreating a Custom vSphere Alarm will show all the necessary steps to create a custom vSphere Alarm to monitor the CPU usage of all virtual machines. First Things First, What is an Alarm? An alarm is a notification sent in response to an event or condition with an object in the inventory.…
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Monitoring vCenter Server Certificate Status
Reading Time: 3 minutesMonitoring vCenter Server Certificate Status is an article that shows some ways to monitor vCenter Server Certificate status. As we know, the vCenter Server has a lot of certificates. Managing all of this can be hard, mainly when talking about a big environment with many vCenter Servers. First and foremost, I would…
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Do you know how systemd-resolved works on the vCenter Server?
Reading Time: 3 minutesThis provoking question “Do you know how systemd-resolved works on the vCenter Server?” aims to show, in a basic way, how the daemon “systemd-resolved” works on the vCenter Server. At least for me, I did not have any knowledge about this service and how it works (even in a basic way). So,…
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Upgrading vCenter 7 to vCenter 8
Reading Time: 7 minutesUpgrading vCenter 7 to vCenter 8 is an article that shows, step by step, how to migrate the vCenter Server from version 7 to version 8. In our lab environment, we are using the following vCenter Server versions: From: vCenter Server 7.0 Update 3n (version 7.0.3.01600, build 21958406)To: vCenter Server 8.0 Update…
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Restoring a vCenter Server through Backup
Reading Time: 4 minutesRestoring a vCenter Server through Backup is an article that shows how to restore a vCenter Server Appliance using a valid backup. Firstly, to have the possibility to restore the vCenter Server using a backup, you need to have configured the backup schedule on your vCenter Server. Without it, you cannot perform…
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Accessing vCenter with MFA
Reading Time: 5 minutesAccessing vCenter with MFA is an article that shows how to configure MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) for accessing the vSphere Client. First and Foremost, What is “MFA”? MFA is an acronym for Multi-Factor Authentication. In simple words, MFA is a security approach to prevent data breaches caused by stolen or compromised credentials and…
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Creating a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode Group
Reading Time: 5 minutesCreating a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode Group is an article that shows how to group two or more vCenter Server instances to work as a group, having a single point-of-glass for managing all inventories for all vCenter Server instances. First and Foremost, What is the vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode? Simply put, vCenter…
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Integrating vCenter with Windows ADFS
Reading Time: 6 minutesIntegrating vCenter with Windows ADFS is an article that shows how to change the Identity Provider used by the vCenter Server and integrate with Windows ADFS. Basically, What is the IDP? The Identity Provider (IDP) is a service running on the vCenter Server responsible for interacting with the end-user and providing authentication…
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Increasing the heartbeat timeout in vCenter
Reading Time: 2 minutesIncreasing the heartbeat timeout in vCenter is an article that explains how to set up a new timeout value in the vCenter Server’s advanced configurations. Before we get started, we have an article that explains how to debug the heartbeat communication between vCenter and ESXi host. Click HERE to read this article.…
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Debugging vCenter and ESXi Heartbeat
Reading Time: 3 minutesDebugging vCenter and ESXi Heartbeat is an article that explains how to debug the ESXi heartbeat communication with the vCenter Server. We will use the tool “tcpdump” to help us in this troubleshooting. The ESXi host (vpxa) sends UDP heartbeats packets to the vCenter Server (vpxd) every 10 seconds. This traffic uses…