ESX Host not connecting to VC server

[AmitKatkar]

Hi Team,

We are having LAB for VMWare testing purpose. I have below mentioned setup for doing POC to work.

We have Physical server with 8 GB RAM, Intel i3 Processor,

The OS installed on the Physical server is Windows7.

VMWare Workstation 8 is installed on Win7

Added VMs in workstation 8 as below

VM1 -- OS type is ESXi5.0 ( Say Host 1 )

VM2 -- OS type is ESXi5.0 ( Say Host 2 ) -- Clone of VM1.

VM3 -- OS Type is win2k8 with vCenter server.

All are having same IP segment including win7.

Now, we are trying to add host 1 in vCenter server, and able to connect it into VC.

The issues will start from here when tried to add host 2 in vCenter server.

When i click on finish button in Add Host wizard in VC server, the existing host 1 will get replaced with host 2 and the error message will pop up saying this Host is already managed by this vCenter server.

Now, if here, we tried to add host 1, then it will be replaced with Host2 with same error message and only one host will be visibale in vCenter console at any given time.

Please suggest on resolution.

Thanks in Adv.

[sparrowangelste]

your esx hosts are vms in your lab test.

your problem is that you cloned host1.

virutal host2: is the name and ip different from host1?

you might be just better off isntalling a fresh host2 rather than cloning host1

[AmitKatkar]

Thanks for your response ...

your esx hosts are vms in your lab test. -- Yes .. these are VM only.

your problem is that you cloned host1.-- Yes. Host 2 is the clone of Host 1

virutal host2: is the name and ip different from host1? -- Yes, Hostname and IP are different.

you might be just better off isntalling a fresh host2 rather than cloning host1 -- My peers also suggested me to install new Host rather than cloning. I want to know whats wrong with this and how can i make it working. If i get the answer then it may help me in future.

Please suggest...

[sparrowangelste]

did you just copy and paste the vm or clone?

that would make snese why it doesnt work.

[AmitKatkar]

No, I didnot copy it... I used Clone option from Workstation 8 and provided the different VM name and different storage location on local drive.

[iw123]

Hi,

this is because there is identifiable information on the host - changing the IP and Hostname isnt enough. Your best bet is to do a clean install of each ESX host. In your example, you can keep host 1 but build a new host 2. 

[AmitKatkar]

Thanks IW123,

Can you please confirm what identifiable information is there ?

In this case, can we change it ?

Installing fress copy of ESX on this VM is my last option.

[iw123]

well, for example, if you have cloned it, your second host will have the same private key/certificate as the first one. This is the reason why you can't add the second to vcenter, because vcenter thinks it is the same machine due to it having the same cert.

To be honest, given that esx is a very fast install, I don't really see any reason why you would want to clone it. For provisioning esxi servers in general, there are many options, such as autodeploy, custom installs etc. 

[AmitKatkar]

Thanks Ian for your response...

We will proceed with new ESX Host installation.

[PramodKhalate]

Hey Amit,

I was successfully added cloned ESXi hosts in VC Server.

First I have added one ESXi 5 Host in Workstation 8, after i had cloned this ESXi host then I assigned IP's on both ESXi Servers.

after i have tried to add ESXi 5 to my exising VC and able to add both ESXi host.