Moving Vcenter Server to another Domain(with SAME FQDN and IP)

[SimonVirt]

Hello all,

           Is there any option to migrate vcenter server to another domain controller? I am deploying a Vcenter server for one of my clients. The customer is having their own Domain Controller but they can't share the image of their domain controller. So they want me to install the Vcenter server for testing. Later, when it is approved. They want me to ship the hardware without doing any changes .

Since Domain is the pre-requisite for Vcenter. So, will the below option work?

1) I create a new Domain server(for installation purpose) with same FQDN name, users, and IP as that of the site .

2) Install Vcenter Server and then once the Vcenter server is approved by the customer.

3)Disjoin the vcenter server, shut it down.

4)When hardware reaches the site, add it to the customer's domain controller.

My Vcenter Server is 6.0.

Please let me know if its possible or not.

Thanks in advance

[daphnissov · Accepted solution]

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean when you keep referring to "domain controller" like that. As in, are you referring to one specific machine acting as a domain controller, or are you referring to the entire domain itself?

In any case, I infer from your statement that you're envisioning deploying a vCenter for Windows, is that correct? If so, I'd strongly recommend you reconsider and go with the vCSA. Not only is it the only path forward, but there's no requirement for reliance upon a Windows Active Directory to get deployed and be totally functional. As long as you have consistent time keeping, static IPs, and functional forward and reverse DNS resolution, you can deploy the vCSA and ship the hardware to the customer's site without having any reliance upon external identity sources. Once on site, the vCSA can either be joined to the local AD to allow for SSO login, or you can just use AD as an LDAP source which doesn't require it be joined to the domain. This flexibility comes with the vCSA, so if you're thinking about deploying a Windows vCenter, don't.

[SimonVirt]

At present, the customer has two machines which are acting as Domain Controller. One is the master with FSMO roles and the other is Peer domain Controller.

We have offered Vcenter server instead of appliance because of our product restriction. So now the appliance is not supported for us.

Is there any other workaround?

[daphnissov]

In what way is your product dependent upon the vCenter form factor?