Replacing a server under Essentials Plus licensing?

[Lumee]

VMWare Essentials plus licensing question: We have 3 servers, one of them is old and we bought a replacement. When I try to add the new server to vCenter it won't let me because we have our limit of 3 already. So it's asking me to remove one of my 3 servers before I can add the new one.  If I remove the old server from vCenter what will happen to the VMs running on it? They are production VMs.  The vm's running on it are using local storage, there is no shared storage.

[a_p_]

The VM's will continue to run if you disconnect and remove the host from vCenter Server. However, when it's removed you will not be able to migrate the VMs to the new host, so you to find a solution for this. Maybe temporarily removing one of the other hosts, adding the new host, migrating the VMs, removing the "old" host and re-adding the temporarily removed host will do!?

André

[pmorin40]

can anyone confirm that this works???  I'm in the same situation.  One of my three hosts is starting to throw memory errors and I need to replace it soon.  The only VM left running on that box is one that accesses local storage and I would like to migrate that VM and its datastores to the new machine when it arrives.  The local store is too large to temporarily move to the SAN. 

[mdegand]

Hi,

i'm in this exact case.

what should be the best way for doing this?

Edit:

maybe i can give more precisions :

situation :

3 physical host with some VM

1 vCenter running as a VM

licence : vsphere essential kit 5.5 with 3 hosts on it

need:

replace a physical host (the one with the vCenter running) by a new one and migrate the 2 VM on it.

What shoud be the basics steps to do that?

thanks a lot.

[salkarkhi]

The Safest way is not to disconnect the host without informing or preparing the other hosts for this disconnection, if you do so the other hosts will still try to communicate with disconnection host which will create many errors because they are unable to find the 3rd host in the cluster, Solution is to make the host that you want to disconnect enter Maintenance Mode, after that disconnect. 

[salkarkhi]

For the Storage ... Can you please let me know the storage of the 3rd host you want to replace is it healthy ?

and do you have NAS ? and what is the amount of data that you are using on the host that you want to replace ?

the available storage ?

[mdegand]

yes all storage devices are healthy

i have space available on all host and a nas to operate

what i plan to do :

1) connect trought vSphere Client to the host i want to replace

2) shut down vCenter VM

3) export vCenter VM to NAS

4) connect trought vSphere Client to one of the other host

5) import the vCenter VM from the NAS

6) Power on the vCenter VM

7) connect trought vSphere Client to vCenter

😎 transfert the other VM from the host i want to replace

9) enter the host in maintenance host

10) remove the host

11) add my new host

is this correct?

thanks.

[salkarkhi]

Why you don't migrate Vcenter to other host has same portgroup and subnet ?

[mdegand]

sorry but i don't understand what it means exactly

[salkarkhi]

As I understood,

- You Have Vcenter ?

- how many hosts do you have in this Vcenter?, are the hosts connected to ISCSI or NFS ?

- can you do VMotion ?

[mdegand]

- You Have Vcenter ?  --> yes, as VM on the host i want to replace

- how many hosts do you have in this Vcenter?, are the hosts connected to ISCSI or NFS ? --> NFS, 3 hosts --> that's my problem, want to add a new one but my licence doesn't allow, have to replace one (the one with vCenter) by a new one

- can you do VMotion ? --> do i?

thanks

[salkarkhi]

2 Solutions,

first to move Vcenter VM to NFS or ISCSI "Shared Storage" can be accessed by any host,  then login into any host through VSphere webClient and then register Vcenter VM and turned on.

and  thats it.

If you Don't want long downtime,

You can install Vcenter on any of ESXI's host 1 or 2, turn on the vcenter use it as Eval license , configure it make it ready, go to each host one by one,"not all of them in the same time"

log in into Vsphere web client for host1

- disconnect the host from old Vcenter,

- open the NEW Vcenter web page, add the first Host.

first one is done.

- disconnect host 2 from old Vcenter,

- open Vcenter web page, add the 2nd host Host.

If you have any questions, please let me know

[mdegand]

thanks a lot.

the downtime should not be very long to transfert the VM between host trought the nas.

i will choose this solution

it is not so far from what i wrote right?

[salkarkhi]

Yes it is,  you can go for this solutions, in case you don't want to install new VCenter.

Good Luck!