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ramiusdh
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Recovering vSphere management after vCenter crash

vCenter server hardware has failed and two vSphere server are still associated with that server.  Looking to disassociate both servers with the old vCenter and establish a new connection with the new vCenter server.

Environment:

ESXi 5.1 server (production)

ESX 4.1 server (production)

vCenter 5.1 server (no longer exists/dead) appliance running on separate ESXi 5.1 server

Scenario:

vCenter 5.1 server managing both production vSphere servers above.  The hardware which housed the vCenter server failed and is unrecoverable.  Both servers are accessible using the vSphere client.

The ESX 4.1 server I receive the following message when using the vSphere client:  "This host is currently being managed by the vCenter Server with IP address X.X.X.X. Changes made to this host during this session may now be reflected in vSphere Client sessions currently viewing the vCenter Server."  Host Management, under the Summary tab displays:  "This host is currently managed by vCenter Server X.X.X.X."

The ESXi 5.1 server did received the same message when using the vSphere client until I chose an option under Host Management to disassociate or disconnect with the vCenter server (can't remember exactly what the option was).  This was successful, to a degree.  When logging into the ESXi 5.1 server, it does not present the message stated with the ESX 4.1 server.

Another vCenter server was installed in an attempt to restore centralized management with no success.  Adding either server as a host to the datacenter yields the following error message:  "Cannot contact the specified host (server7). The host may not be available on the network, a network configuration problem may exist, or the management services on this host may not be responding."

Goal:

To disassociate both servers with the old vCenter and establish a new connection with the new vCenter server.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

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a_p_
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Can you confirm the new vCenter Server is properly registered in DNS and is able to resolve the ESXi host's FQDN names, i.e. the vCenter Server's IP settings including its DNS server entry are correct? Are you able to connect the hosts using their IP addresses, just to test whether this works.

André

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a_p_
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Can you confirm the new vCenter Server is properly registered in DNS and is able to resolve the ESXi host's FQDN names, i.e. the vCenter Server's IP settings including its DNS server entry are correct? Are you able to connect the hosts using their IP addresses, just to test whether this works.

André

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ramiusdh
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Andre,

Yes, the vCenter is properly registered in the DNS; but, fails to connect when using the host server(s) names.  Using the IP address works.  Going to go back and verify the DNS server settings in the new vCenter server.  I believe you nailed it.  Thank you.

Ramius

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