Migrating a Windows vCenter with an external SSO to the new vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller is a 2-step process.  If you choose to, the process will enable you to migrate everything (Configuration, events, tasks, and perfromance metrics) to the new vCenter Server Appliance.  This is optional and may impact migration's length of time to complete.

Prior to this tool, a manual migration like this would result in a new Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) and new Managed Object Reference (MoRef) ID, thus causing challenges for external applications.

This vCenter Server Appliance migration process consists of two stages (for each source):

Stage 1: Deploy a fresh appliance / OVF

Stage 2: Setting up the appliance server

1. Click Google Chrome on the desktop (The default startup page is the login screen for the 5.5 Windows vCenter Server "vc-01a")
2. User name: administrator@vsphere.local
3. Password: VMware1!
4. Click Login

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to Help
2. Click on About VMware vSphere (The existing version of vSphere Web Client will be 5.5 displayed)
3. Click X in upper right corner of the window to exit out of Google Chrome

1. Click the sso-01a shortcut on the dekstop to access the SSO server via RDP

1. Click the VMware-Migration-Assistant executable
2. Enter password VMware1! for Administrator@vsphere.local and press enter
3. When the initialization is complete, Click the "_" in the right corner of the RDP window to minimize it

WE DO NOT CLOSE ANYTHING HERE AS THE MIGRATION ASSISTANT NEEDS TO BE RUNNING THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take a few minutes to complete.

1. Click win32-Shortcut on the desktop
2. Click installer.exe

1. Click Migrate

1. Click Next

1. Click I Accept the terms of the license agreement
2. Click Next

1. Provide Target sever or hostname esx-01a.corp.local
2. HTTPS default port is 443
3. User name is root
4. Password is VMware1!
5. Click Next and Yes to Certificate Warning

Here we provide a name for the appliance VM.  This name will be displayed within vSphere.  The identity of the appliance will be restored to the host name of the migrated Windows SSO Server once the migration is completed.

1. Target appliance VM should be psc-01a
2. Root password is VMware1!
3. Confirm password
4. Click Next

Here we provide the source server's information that we want to migrate.

1. Enter the FQN of the Source SSO Windows Server sso-01a.corp.local
2. Migration assistant port: Leave default 9123
3. SSO user name is administrator@vsphere.local
4. SSO password is VMware1!
5. Click Next and Yes when Certificate Warning presents itself

This simulation contains only one datastore.  In typical environments there would be multiple datastores available.

FreeNAS:NFSA datastore is already selected

1. Click Enable Thin Disk Mode
2. Click Next

For this simulation we are using DHCP, however in a typical environment you would use a static IP assignment.  The VM Network is pre-configured as part of this lesson we are leaving the default IP version as IPv4.  The IP address used here will be replaced when the appliance is configured with source IP.  That is why this is a temporary setting.

1. Click and select DHCP as the IP assignment (System Name remains blank in this lesson)
2. Click Next

1. Review the summary
2. Click Finish to start Deployment of the appliance

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take several minutes to complete.

1. Click Continue to begin Stage 2 of the SSO migration to the Platform Services Controller Appliance

Stage 2 involves configuring the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance by copying the configuration data from the source Windows Single Sign-On server.

1. Click "Next to begin Stage 2 and set up the Platform Services Controller Appliance

In a previous step we left the Migration Assistant running on the Windows Single Sign-On server, so that source installation will be displayed here.

1. Enter the SSO Password: VMware1!
2. Click Next

The installer runs a Pre-Migration check and in this example provides some information warnings about network placement as shown.  It is ok to proceed here.

1. Click Close to continue

1. Enter AD User name Administrator
2. Enter AD Password VMware1!
3. Click Next

1. Click the box for Join the VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)
2. Click Next

Review the settings, as information about the Source, Target and Migration Data will be listed here

1. Click and select I have backed up the source Single Sign-On server and all the required data from the database
2. Click Finish
3. Click Ok on the Shutdown Warning

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take several minutes to complete. There will be 3 steps displayed as completed, review this screen to learn more about them.  

1. Click Close and Google Chrome will open with a Welcome screen
2. Click Platform Services Controller Web Client to open it
3. Click Advanced
4. Click Proceed to sso-01a.corp.local

Let's login to the new Platform Services Controller Appliance.

1. Type administrator@vsphere.local
2. Password: VMware1!
3. Click Login to validate the Platform Services Controller is is accessible
4. Close Google Chrome and proceed with this lesson by clicking the X in the upper right corner of Google Chrome

This concludes Stage 2 of migrating the Windows Single Sign-On Server to the Platform Services Controller Appliance.  Keep the simulation window open as we migrate vCenter Server next

Next we need to migrate and upgrade the Windows vCenter Server

1. Click the vc-01a shortcut on the dekstop to access the vCenter Server via RDP

1. Click the VMware-Migration-Assistant executable
2. Enter password VMware1! for Administrator@vsphere.local and press enter
3. When the initialization is complete, Click the "_" in the right corner of the RDP window to minimize it

WE DO NOT CLOSE ANYTHING HERE AS THE MIGRATION ASSISTANT NEEDS TO BE RUNNING THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take a few minutes to complete.

The vCenter Server Appliance WIN32 installer directory will still be visible since we ran it for the Platform Services Controller Appliance migration. The installer needs to be executed again.

1. Click installer.exe

1. Click Migrate

1. Click Next

1. Click I Accept the terms of the license agreement
2. Click Next

1. Provide Target sever or hostname esx-02a.corp.local
2. HTTPS default port is 443
3. User name is root
4. Password is VMware1!
5. Click Next and Yes to Certificate Warning

Here we provide a name for the appliance VM. This name will be displayed within vSphere.  The identity of the appliance will be restored to the host name of the migrated Windows vCenter Server once the migration is completed.

1. Target appliance VM should be vca-01a
2. Root password is VMware1!
3. Confirm password
4. Click Next

Here we provide the source server's information that we want to migrate.

1. Enter the FQN of the Source Windows server vc-01a.corp.local
2. Migration assistant port: Leave default 9123
3. SSO user name is administrator@vsphere.local
4. SSO password is VMware1!
5. Click Next and Yes when Certificate Warning presents itself

For the purposes of this lab, we chose to use the smallest footprint for the recovered vCenter Server Appliance

1. Deployment size for this lesson will be "Tiny vCenter Server". Click Next

This simulation contains only one datastore. In typical environments there would be multiple datastores available.

FreeNAS:NFSA datastore is already selected

1. Click Enable Thin Disk Mode
2. Click Next

For this simulation we are using DHCP, however in a typical environment you would use a static IP assignment. The VM Network is pre-configured as part of this lesson we are leaving the default IP version as IPv4.  The IP address used here will be replaced when the appliance is configured with source IP.  That is why this is a temporary setting.

1. Click and select DHCP as the IP assignment (System Name remains blank in this lesson)
2. Click Next

1. Review the summary
2. Click Finish to start Deployment of the appliance

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take several minutes to complete.

1. Click Continue to begin Stage 2 of the Windows vCenter Server migration to the vCenter Server Appliance

Stage 2 involves configuring the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance by copying the configuration data from the source Windows vCenter Server.

1. Click "Next to begin Stage 2 and set up the vCenter Server Appliance

The installer runs a Pre-Migration check and in this example provides some information warnings about network placement as shown.  It is ok to proceed here.

1. Click Close to continue

1. Enter AD User name Administrator
2. Enter AD Password VMware1!
3. Click Next

As mentioned previously in the Migration Overview, the process will enable you to migrate everything (Configuration, events, tasks, and perfromance metrics) to the new vCenter Server Appliance.  THREE options are presented for how much data to migrate.

1. For this simulation select the third option "Configuration, events, tasks, and perfromance metrics"
2. Click Next

Review the settings, as information about the Source, Target and Migration Data will be listed here

1. Click and select I have backed up the source vCenter machine and all the required data from the database
2. Click Finish
3. Click Ok on the Shutdown Warning

This process was sped up as part of the simulation. In a typical environment this could take several minutes to complete. There will be three steps displayed as completed, review this screen to learn more about them.

1. Click Close and Google Chrome will open with a Welcome screen
2. Click Log in to the vSphere Web Client to open it
3. Username: administrator@vsphere.local
4. Password: VMware1!
5. Click Login

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to Help
2. Click on About VMware vSphere (The NEW version of vSphere Web Client will be displayed)

This concludes Stage 2 of migrating the Windows vCenter Server to the vCenter Server Appliance.

The upgrade and migration to the vCenter Server Appliance was successfully completed by using the Migration Assistant.  This is part of the new vSphere toolset. We migrated the external Single Sign-On server first, followed by the Windows vCenter Server.  When this concluded, we were left with new vSphere versions of an external Platform Services Controller Appliance and the vCenter Server Appliance.