Deploying vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller

Deploying vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller

 

From vSphere 6.0,There are 2 different Deployment Models (vCenter with an embedded Platform Services Controller & vCenter with an external Platform Services Controller)introduced with the vCenter Server deployment.Platform Services Controller contains all of the services necessary for running the products, such as vCenter Single Sign-On, License Service and VMware Certificate Authority. The services bundled with the Platform Services Controller and virtual center Server are deployed on different host machines.You must deploy the VMware Platform Services Controller first on one virtual machine or host and then deploy virtual center Server on another virtual machine or host. The Platform Services Controller can be shared across many products. In this post, We are going to take a look at the detail procedure to deploy vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller.

Deploying vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller

With vSphere 6.5, you no need to worry about installing Client integration plugin to deploy vCenter server appliance. The new VCSA 6.5 installer can be used to deploy vCenter appliance 6.5 either from Windows, Linux and also from Mac. I am deploying it from Windows Server.  So double click the “Win32” folder and Double click on Installer. Click on Install to start the deployment.

Installing the vCenter appliance 6.5 is a two stage process. First stage is deploying a new appliance to the target new vCenter server or ESXi host and second stage is to setup and configure the deployed vCenter appliance.

Deployment Type:

Under the Deployment type, select the option Platform Services Controller under External Platform Services controller.

Install Platform Services Controller – this option will only deploy Platform services controller on appliance

Install vCenter Server – This will deploy only vCenter server on the appliance, during deployment you will need to point vCenter server to existing PSC server.

Specify the target ESXi host or vCenter server instance location on which vCenter 6.5 External Platform services Controller appliance to get deployed. Specify the username and password for the ESXi or vCenter Server.

Specify the VM name and root credentials for the  Platform Services Controller (PSC) appliance and click on Next.

Select the datastore location for deploying vCenter 6.5 External platform Services controller appliance and click on Next.

Under the Network Settings Page, Define the below settings for PSC appliance:

A.Select the Virtual machine PortGroup from the drop down  under Choose a Network
B.Select IP Address family – IPv4 or IPv6
C.Network Type –  Select Static or dynamic
D. Network Address – Type the IP Address to be assigned to the PSC appliance
E.System Name – Enter fqdn name or IP address  for your PSC appliance. Ensure you have created the DNS forward and reverse lookup record.
F. Enter subnet mask and Gateway address
G. DNS servers – Enter IP address of DNS servers separated by commas

Review the settings before starting the deployment of vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller and click on Finish.

Once the deployment of Platform Services Controller is completed, Click on Continue to start configuring the vCenter 6.5 External Platform services controller.

Installing the vCenter 6.5 PSC is a two stage process. First stage is deploying a new appliance to the target new vCenter server or ESXi host and second stage is to setup and configure the deployed PSC appliance. Click on Next.

Select the option “Synchronize time with NTP servers” and Specify the NTP servers IP address. Select Enabled from SSH access to enable the SSH for the PSC appliance. Click on Next.

Specify the SSO domain settings under create a New SSO domain. Specify the SSO domain name, Username and password for SSO administrator account. Define the Site name and click on Next.

If you would like to provide the feedback to the VMware about their products, Join VMware Customer Experience improvement program and click on Next.

Review the Configuration information of vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services controller appliance and Click on Finish.

PSC appliance is successfully configured and you will be able to access the Platform Services Controller Web Client using URL https://PSC-IP:443/psc/

Access the Platform Services Controller Web Client using URL https://PSC-IP:443/psc/  and Login with your SSO administrator credentials.

We have logged in to the Platform Services Controller client  and you will be able to mange all the PSC related functionalities.