How to bootstrap vCenter 6.7 on single node vSAN cluster

In this blog post we will deploy vCenter appliance on a single node vSAN cluster and look at vSAN configuration. I am assuming that ESXi host has been configured and host has SSD & HDD attached to configure it as vSAN node in the installation process.

Deploy virtual machine on the same ESXi network & attach the vCenter 6.7 CD/DVD ISO and explore the ISO contents. Access the path \vcsa-ui-installer\win32\installer & double click on installer to run

 

VC deployment would be done in two stages – Stage 1 is deploy appliance on the target and Stage 2 is configuring SSO domain.

Click on Next

Accept the End user license agreement and click Next

In this step, select the deployment type

There are two types of vCenter deployments: Embedded vCenter & vCenter with external PSC

We have selected default deployment which is vCenter with embedded PSC

Put the deployment target details which means ESXi host where VC has to be deployed

Accept the certificate warning and click on yes

Enter VM name and set the root password for vCenter appliance & Click Next

In this stage, set the deployment size

In lab environments we can select Tiny which needs minimum 2 CPU & 10 GB memory. Make sure you fulfill the requirement otherwise you mat get error at this stage “ESXi host has less memory, need minimum 10GB”

Click Next

As, we want to install vCenter appliance on vSAN datastore, select 2nd option to create single node vSAN Cluster

At this stage, ESXi hosts local disks need to be claimed as cache & capacity disks

Check on “Enable thin disk mode” and click on Next

Now, configure the network settings & check the default port list

Click on next to confirm

Click on finish to complete stage 1

Stage 1 has been successfully completed and we can continue to stage 2 for SSO configuration

Stage 2 has been initiated and click on Next to continue

At this stage, create SSO domain and set credentials for the same

Join the CEIP and click on Next

Click on finish & ok to complete stage 2

vCenter appliance deployment has been completed successfully and able to access the URL

Click on flex client and login with SSO domain credentials

We can clearly see, vc is installed on single node vSAN cluster. We have to add more nodes in order to fulfill basic vSAN requirements of 3 node cluster.

New nodes have to be introduced to form permanent vSAN cluster as per below:

• Add the hosts in VC
• Check the storage devices and mark them if needed
• Enable vSAN network on all the hosts
• Add the remaining hosts in vSAN cluster & claim the disks
• It will automatically form vSAN clustering network and datastore size will be increased to full capacity of cluster
• Click on cluster ⇒ monitor ⇒ vSAN ⇒ health ⇒ retest the cluster health to load vSAN health status again

 

I hope this post has been informative to you. Please feel free to share it with your friends on social media.

Thanks for reading!!