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 "vcsa-01a").
2. User name: administrator@vsphere.local.
3. Password: VMware1!.
4. Click the Login button.

1. Click the help drop-down.
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 the Enter key.
3. When the initialization is complete, Click the _ in the right corner of the RDP window to minimize the RDP session.

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 tom complete.

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

1. Click Migrate.

1. Click Next.

1. Click the I Accept the terms of the license agreement checkbox.
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 by re-typing VMware1!.
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 the Enable Thin Disk Mode checkbox.
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.

The SSO Password VMware1! was pre-entered.

1. 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.

The checkbox for Join the VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is already checked.

1. Click Next.

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

1. Click and select the I have backed up the source Single Sign-On server and all the required data from the database checkbox.
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 tom 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 to the next version of vCenter Server.

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 the Enter key.
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 tom 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 executable.

1. Click Migrate.

1. Click Next.

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

1. Provide Target sever or hostname esx-02a.corp.local.
2. HTTPS default port is 443.
3. Type root for the User name.
4. Type VMware1! for the Password.
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. Re-type VMware1! to confirm the 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 the Enable Thin Disk Mode checkbox.
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 the I have backed up the source vCenter machine and all the required data from the database checkbox.
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 tom 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 Log in to the vSphere Web Client to open it.
3. Type administrator@vsphere.local for the username.
4. Type VMware1! for the password.
5. Click Login.

1. Click the Help drop-down.
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.

This concludes the Hands-on Labs Interactive Simulation: vCenter Server Appliance Migration

1. Click the Return to the lab link or close the windows to continue with this lab.