How to Add a VMware VirtualCenter Server

Applies To: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1

Use the following procedure to add a VMware VirtualCenter server to Virtual Machine Manager so that you can manage your VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) environment in VMM.

Important

For detailed end-to-end procedures for configuring security for the VirtualCenter server and ESX Server hosts, see Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145051).

Requirements

Virtual Machine Manager supports management of VI3 environments managed by VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.

You cannot manage a VirtualCenter server by using more than one VMM server. If you add the VirtualCenter server to more than one VMM server, VMM creates a duplicate object for each VMware virtual machine, and each duplicate virtual machine is permanently in a Missing state.

Before You Begin

  • For communications between the VMM server and VirtualCenter, encryption using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) requires a certificate to verify the identity of the VirtualCenter server. If you are using a self-signed certificate for the VirtualCenter server, you must import the certificate to the Trusted People certificate store on the VMM server. This step is not required if the certificate is a third-party, verified certificate.

To add a VMware VirtualCenter server to VMM

  1. In any view of the VMM Administrator Console, click Add VMware VirtualCenter server.

  2. In the Computer name field of the Add VMware VirtualCenter Server dialog box, specify which VirtualCenter server to add.

  3. In the TCP/IP port field, specify the TCP/IP port to use for connections to the VirtualCenter server. The default port is 443.

  4. Under Administrative account, enter the account for VMM to use for connecting to the VirtualCenter server.

    You can use a local account or an Active Directory domain account as long as the account has administrative rights in VirtualCenter at the Host and Cluster level. The account does not need to be a local administrator on the operating system. You should use a dedicated account that is not used by any other user or process.

    Note

    When adding a VirtualCenter server by using the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and an account with local credentials, leave the Domain field blank. If you enter the NetBIOS name in the Domain field, the job will fail.

  5. Under Security, specify whether or not to communicate with the ESX Server hosts in secure mode.

    When you manage a VMware environment in secure mode, VMM authenticates each ESX Server host on all protocols used for communication. In secure mode, for hosts running ESX Server 3i, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) over HTTPS (for ESX Server 3i) requires certificate authentication. For hosts running either ESX Server 3.5 or ESX Server 3.0.2, SFTP over Secure Shell (SSH) requires host public key authentication. Clear this option if you want to trust communications and require only credentials for the hosts.

  6. If you are using a self-signed certificate for the VirtualCenter server, and you have not manually copied the certificate into the Trusted People certificate store on the VMM server, verify and import the certificate, which VMM will then add to the Trusted People certificate store. This step is not required if the certificate is a third-party, verified certificate.

    1. To view the certificate, click View Certificate.

    2. After verifying the certificate’s authenticity, click Import.

After you complete the preceding steps, VMM begins adding the VirtualCenter server. After the server is added to VMM, the ESX Server hosts are added to VMM in their own host group hierarchy. This operation may take several minutes while VMM adds the ESX Server hosts and then refreshes virtual machine data on the new hosts.

Note

Newly discovered ESX Server hosts initially have OK (Limited) status in VMM. To be able to perform all supported management tasks in VMM, you must enter security information in the host properties. If you are managing your VMware environment in secure mode, you also must provide a certificate. For hosts running either ESX Server 3.5 or ESX Server 3.0.2, secure mode also requires a public key. For information about the restrictions that apply while a host has OK (Limited) status, see Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts. For information about configuring security for ESX Server hosts, see Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145051).

See Also

Concepts

How to Set Credentials for Communicating with a Host

Other Resources

Configuring VMM to Manage a VMware Infrastructure 3 Environment
Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM