Deploying VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) manually is like watching paint dry. Actually the good old Windows version is now gone in 6.7 so you need to get started with the appliance soon or later. Let me teach you how to Automatically Deploy VMware VCSA 6.7.
You can Automatically Deploy VMware VCSA 6.7 using JSON or API, I’m going to show you the simplest method which in my mind is JSON, because it’s just a text file with your desired configuration.
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First download the VCSA ISO and extract the content to C:\VCSA. Then create the file C:\VCSA\vcsa-cli-installer\VCSA-Internal.json with the following content:
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{ "__version": "2.13.0", "new_vcsa": { "esxi": { "hostname": "192.168.5.201", "username": "root", "password": "P@ssw0rd", "deployment_network": "Internal", "datastore": "SSD" }, "appliance": { "thin_disk_mode": true, "deployment_option": "small", "name": "VCSAPoC" }, "network": { "ip_family": "ipv4", "mode": "static", "ip": "192.168.1.230", "dns_servers": [ "192.168.1.10" ], "prefix": "24", "gateway": "192.168.1.1", "system_name": "vcsapoc.ctxlab.local" }, "os": { "password": "P@ssw0rd", "ntp_servers": "time.nist.gov", "ssh_enable": true }, "sso": { "password": "P@ssw0rd", "domain_name": "vsphere.local" } }, "ceip": { "description": { "__comments": [ "++++VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)++++", "VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) ", "provides VMware with information that enables VMware to ", "improve its products and services, to fix problems, ", "and to advise you on how best to deploy and use our ", "products. As part of CEIP, VMware collects technical ", "information about your organization's use of VMware ", "products and services on a regular basis in association ", "with your organization's VMware license key(s). This ", "information does not personally identify any individual. ", "", "Additional information regarding the data collected ", "through CEIP and the purposes for which it is used by ", "VMware is set forth in the Trust & Assurance Center at ", "http://www.vmware.com/trustvmware/ceip.html . If you ", "prefer not to participate in VMware's CEIP for this ", "product, you should disable CEIP by setting ", "'ceip_enabled': false. You may join or leave VMware's ", "CEIP for this product at any time. Please confirm your ", "acknowledgement by passing in the parameter ", "--acknowledge-ceip in the command line.", "++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++" ] }, "settings": { "ceip_enabled": true } } } |
Open Command Prompt and navigate to C:\VCSA\vcsa-cli-installer\win32.
In the example above I’m setting up the VCSA on my isolated internal network, that way I can use my internal Microsoft DNS server to add a FQDN for the VCSA. This is where most people fail and give up.
Run the command below to Automatically Deploy VMware VCSA.
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vcsa-deploy.exe install --no-ssl-certificate-verification --accept-eula --acknowledge-ceip C:\VCSA\vcsa-cli-installer\VCSA-Internal.json |
Now for VCSA 6.5 you needed the FQDN prior to deployment, while in 6.7 you need to add the FQDN after the IpFqdnInUse pre-check has passed and before the appliance reboots.
When you see OVF Tool: Disk in progress it’s time to head over to DNS and create the FQDN for the vCenter appliance.
At the end you should have a VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x with an embedded Platform Services Controller running.
Final test is to log into the appliance.
And that’s your guide to Automatically Deploy VMware VCSA. Guess you have better things to do in life than watching paint dry.
Now make sure to also check out my previous post Automatically Install VMware ESXi 6.7 through PXE boot.