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How to Install a VMM Management Server

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedure to install a Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) management server. To install a VMM management server from a command prompt, see Installing VMM from a Command Prompt.

Before you begin the installation of the VMM management server, review the system requirements. As part of this, ensure that you have a computer that is running a supported version of Microsoft SQL Server software. Setup will not automatically install an Express edition of SQL Server. For information on system requirements, including supported versions of SQL Server, see the following:

In some organizations it might be necessary to pre-create the VMM database before installing VMM. For more information about pre-creating and then using the pre-created database, see Pre-Creating the VMM Database.

To help ensure high availability of the VMM database, you can use failover clustering, as described in AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances (SQL Server). Also, in System Center 2012 SP1 and in System Center 2012 R2, you can take advantage of AlwaysOn Availability Groups in Microsoft SQL Server 2012 to help ensure availability of the VMM database. However, be sure to review important details about AlwaysOn Availability Groups in System Requirements: VMM Database in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1. To configure SQL Server to use AlwaysOn Availability Groups, complete both of the following procedures.

To complete this procedure, you need, at a minimum, membership in the local Administrators group (or equivalent) on the computer that you are configuring.

To install a VMM management server

  1. To start the Virtual Machine Manager Setup wizard, on your installation media, right-click setup.exe, and then click Run as administrator.

    Note

    Before you begin the installation of VMM, close any open programs and ensure that no restarts are pending on the computer. For example, if you have installed a server role by using Server Manager or have applied a security update, you may need to restart the computer and then log on to the computer by using the same user account to finish the installation of the server role or the security update.

  2. On the main setup page, click Install.

    If you have not installed the Microsoft .NET Framework, VMM will prompt you to install it now.

  3. On the Select features to install page, select the VMM management server check box, and then click Next.

    Note

    The VMM console is automatically installed when you install a VMM management server.

    If you are installing the VMM management server on a computer that is a member of a cluster, the wizard will ask whether you want to make the VMM management server highly available. For more information about installing a highly available VMM management server, see Installing a Highly Available VMM Management Server.

  4. On the Product registration information page, provide the appropriate information, and then click Next. If you do not enter a product key, VMM will be installed as an evaluation version that expires in 180 days after installation.

  5. On the Please read this license agreement page, review the license agreement, select the I have read, understood, and agree with the terms of the license agreement check box, and then click Next.

  6. On the Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page, select either option, and then click Next.

  7. If the Microsoft Update page appears, select whether you want to use Microsoft Update, and then click Next.

    Note

    If you previously chose to use Microsoft Update on this computer, the Microsoft Update page does not appear.

  8. On the Installation location page, use the default path or type a different installation path for the VMM program files, and then click Next.

    The setup program checks the computer on which you are installing the VMM management server to ensure that the computer meets the appropriate hardware and software requirements. If the computer does not meet a prerequisite, a page that contains information about the prerequisite and how to resolve the issue appears. For information about hardware and software requirements for VMM, see System Requirements: VMM 2012 and VMM 2012 SP1 or see System Requirements for System Center 2012 R2.

    If the computer meets all prerequisites, the Database configuration page appears.

  9. On the Database configuration page, perform one of the following sets of steps:

    • If you are using AlwaysOn Availability Groups in SQL Server—which are supported in System Center 2012 SP1 and System Center 2012 R2, and have other requirements as described in System Requirements: VMM Database in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1—complete the following steps:

      1. On the Database configuration page, in the Server name box, type the name of the availability group listener.

      2. Leave Instance name empty.

      3. Create a new database.

    • If your VMM database is not clustered, or is clustered but does not use AlwaysOn Availability Groups, complete the following steps:

      1. On the Database configuration page, specify the name of the computer that is running SQL Server. If you are installing the VMM management server on the same computer that is running SQL Server, then in the Server name box, either type the name of the computer (for example, vmmserver01) or type localhost. If the SQL Server is in a cluster, type the cluster name.

      2. Ensure that the port on the computer that is running SQL Server is open. Then, specify the port that you want to use to communicate with the computer that is running SQL Server. Do not do this unless all of the following conditions are true:

        • SQL Server is running on a remote computer.

        • The SQL Server Browser service is not started on that remote computer.

        • SQL Server is not using the default port of 1433.

        Otherwise, leave the Port box empty.

      3. Select or type the name of the instance of SQL Server that you want to use.

      4. Specify whether to create a new database or to use an existing database. If the account to which you are installing the VMM management server does not have the appropriate permissions to create a new SQL Server database, select the Use the following credentials check box, and then provide the user name and password of an account that has the appropriate permissions.

  10. Click Next.

  11. On the Configure service account and distributed key management page, specify the account that the VMM service will use. Realize that you cannot change the identity of the VMM service account after installation. For more information about which type of account to use, see Specifying a Service Account for VMM.

    Under Distributed Key Management, select whether to store encryption keys in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). For more information about key management, see Configuring Distributed Key Management in VMM.

    After you select an account and, if necessary, enter AD DS information, click Next.

  12. On the Port configuration page, use the default port number for each feature or provide a unique port number that is appropriate in your environment, and then click Next.

    Important

    You cannot change the ports that you assign during the installation of a VMM management server unless you uninstall and then reinstall the VMM management server. Also, do not configure any feature to use port 5986, because that port number is preassigned.

  13. On the Library configuration page, select whether to create a new library share or to use an existing library share on the computer.

    Note

    The default library share that VMM creates is named MSSCVMMLibrary, and the folder is located at %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ProgramData\Virtual Machine Manager Library Files. ProgramData is a hidden folder, and you cannot remove it.

    After the VMM management server is installed, you can add library shares and library servers by using the VMM console or by using the VMM command shell.

    After you specify a library share, click Next.

  14. On the Installation summary page, review your selections and do one of the following:

    • Click Previous to change any selections.

    • Click Install to install the VMM management server.

    After you click Install, the Installing features page appears and displays the installation progress.

  15. On the Setup completed successfully page, click Close to finish the installation.

    To open the VMM console, ensure that the Open the VMM console when this wizard closes check box is selected. Alternatively for VMM in System Center 2012 SP1 or in System Center 2012 R2, you can click the Virtual Machine Manager Console icon on the desktop.

During Setup, VMM enables the following firewall rules. These rules remain in effect even if you later uninstall VMM.

  • Windows Remote Management

  • Windows Standards-Based Storage Management

Note

If Setup does not finish successfully, consult the log files in the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ProgramData\VMMLogs folder. ProgramData is a hidden folder.

For System Center 2012 SP1 and System Center 2012 R2 only: To configure SQL Server to use AlwaysOn Availability Groups

  1. Complete the Virtual Machine Manager Setup wizard to install the VMM management server, as described in the previous procedure.

  2. Add the VMM database to the availability group.

  3. On the secondary SQL Server node, create a new logon that has the following characteristics:

    • The login name is identical to the name of the VMM service account.

    • The login has the user mapping to the VMM database.

    • The login is configured with the credentials of the database owner.

  4. Initiate a failover to the secondary SQL Server node, and verify that you can restart the VMM service (scvmmservice).

  5. Repeat the previous two steps for every secondary SQL Server node in the cluster.

  6. If this is a high-availability VMM setup, continue to install other high-availability VMM nodes.