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aj800
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Need assistance moving the VCSA 6.7 to a new network IP and domain

I've posted about this before but have since made some changes in anticipation of this part:

So far, I've upgraded the VCSA to 6.7U3 (from 6.5), I've introduced the new management network into the environment (with a vDS port group available for it), I've opened FW rules up from the new IP of the VCSA to all the hosts (any port), and I've reserved the new IP and new DNS name on the new network:

Current Configuration:

VCSA 6.7: myvcsa.old.management.network; Subnet A

ESXi 1/2/3: esxi[1/2/3].old.management.network; Subnet A

Target Configuration:

VCSA 6.7: myNEWvcsa.NEW.manegement.network; Subnet B

ESXi 1/2/3: old.manegement.network; Subnet A

I tried to move the VCSA using the following steps from a post on this page but ran into a few issues...

1) Backup the Vcenter config. You can do that inside the VAMI by connecting to FTP server.

2) Add an extra network adapter to the vcenter applicance

3) go into the VAMI and assign the new ip address to the newly added Adapter.

4) Add new record in the DNS.

5) Log into the vcenter with the new ip

6) Remove the old network adapter and restart the vcenter appliance

7) After  restart go to DCUI and change the management network IP for the vcenter appliance .

The pings stopped on the old IP and the new IP picked up, but it was slow to start all services, and eventually, I tied to log in and got an error (Failed to connect to VMware Lookup Service) where it was looking for the old URL:443.

How can successfully I move my VCSA to a new IP, with a new hostname, new domain and new network?  What am I missing?

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ashilkrishnan
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi

Please check the information provided here and see if it helps --> Changing your vCenter Server's FQDN - VMware vSphere Blog

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aj800
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I've seen that page before and it seems to assume the new FQDN will be on the same subnet or network as the FQDN being changed.  What it fails to mention or include steps for, and what I'm not clear on, is when the new FQDN is on a different network than the current one.  That would also mean having to use a different Port Group / Network Adapter on the vDS that the VCSA is connected to.

If you change the FQDN in the VAMI, and also the IP to one on that new network, how could the new IP/FQDN work for both the VAMI and the web UI if it doesn't also offer a network adapter change at that same time?  Wouldn't it disconnect?  The only way I'm aware of to change the adapter is through the vCenter web UI (maybe CLI?).  Those instructions appear to make the changes necessary to allow all internal registrations to work under the new FQDN name, but at what point do you change the adapter of the VM for the networking to pick back up on the new network?  There's no adapter option in the VAMI.

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Lalegre
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hey,

To be honest I tested this procedure and it works always that is on the same network and not changing the subnet, however maybe you could test the next to see if it works but I am not sure if the logic inside vCenter supports the next:

  1. Deploy a VM in the same destination subnet as where you are updating the vCenter Server.
  2. Connect from that VM to the vCenter Server into the VAMI.
  3. Update the IP and FQDN to the desired one.
  4. Change the portgroup of the vCenter to the new one.
  5. Connect with the VM on the same subnet to verify the services.

What I am not sure here is what is going to happen in Step 3 when you update everything, if the process will finish or it will fail because of not having connectivity.

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