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Migrating VMWare vCenter Server 5.0.0.29542 to Another Server

Hi! I'm looking to migrate VMWare vCenter Server 5.0.0.29542 from a win 2008 R2 server called W1 to another win 2008 R2 server called W2. Reason being we're looking to decommission W1. W1 is the vcenter manager and I do not want to shut down any of the production VMs in order to complete the migration. I was told this can be done using the VC the Linux appliance. I'm not sure how exactly. What's the best way to complete the migration with minimal downtime?

Would someone help me out?

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parmarr
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

1. Stop the services on the vCenter Server and take a backup of the vCenter database.

2. Shutdown the main vCenter server.

3. Rename the new server to have the same FQDN and IP address.

4. Freshly install SSO, IS, Web Client on the new server.

5. Install vCenter pointing to all the newly installed components. During the install make sure to point to the old database server. (Create the DSN beforehand) It will detect the previous installation and ask to upgrade it.

6. The hosts may all disconnect due to the SSL certificate change due to the disconnect between the two management agents. (vpxd on the vCenter server and vpxa on the host.

7. To restore the host connections simply right click and add host to inventory. You will have to supply the root username and password.

8. There won’t be any impact to the production VM’s. All VM’s will be in powered on state with no changes ever.

9. During this change window, you won’t be able to utilize the vCenter features like HA, DRS etc

Sincerely, Rahul Parmar VMware Support Moderator
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