What Is vCenter?

Introduction

In previous sections, we installed ESXi and explored its interface along with host management basics. Now, we’ll dive into vCenter—understanding what it is and why it's essential. While we briefly touched on vCenter earlier, this article will give a more comprehensive overview.

Why vCenter?

Imagine managing 10 to 15 ESXi hosts one by one—nearly impossibly time-consuming. vCenter allows for centralized management of multiple hosts from one platform.

Deployment Options

There are two ways to deploy vCenter:

• As software installed on Windows.

• As an appliance (vCSA).

Most organizations prefer vCSA (vCenter Server Appliance), a Linux-based appliance built on Photon OS and equipped with an integrated PostgreSQL database.

vCSA comprises three main components:

• Platform Services Controller (PSC)

• vCenter Server

• And optionally, both can be deployed together or separately.

Deployment Types:

1. Embedded Deployment – PSC and vCenter Server reside on the same VM.

2. External Deployment – PSC and vCenter Server are separated onto different machines.

Using active–passive PSCs ensures high availability—if the active PSC fails, the passive one takes over immediately.

Hands-on: Embedded Deployment on ESXi

We’ll use an embedded deployment for this walkthrough. Here’s the roadmap:

1. Deploy vCSA as a VM on an ESXi host (ESXi1)

2. Configure vCSA post-deployment step-by-step

Steps to follow:

• Download the ISO file from the ITGUYS AL site.

• Right-click, open with Explorer, and run the installer from the win folder (installer.exe).

• Choose Install → select Embedded → proceed to the next stage.

• Enter details: name, port (default), username (root), and password.

• Accept any security warnings after verifying the certificate via ESXi1’s DCUI.

You’ll specify appliance details like VM name and root password again. For practice purposes, select the Tiny deployment size (supports up to 10 ESXi hosts and 100 VMs), which uses minimal resources.

• Choose a datastore and enable Thin Disk Mode if continuing on the same machine.

• Configure network options: FQDN or DHCP.

• Review all settings and confirm to deploy.

Once stage one completes, click Continue to start stage two (configuration).

• Set the NTP server, disable SSH, and configure domain settings (e.g., vSphere.local, admin username/password).

• Skip CEIP (Customer Experience Improvement Program).

• Acknowledge that the installation can’t be canceled once started—grab a coffee while it runs!

• After installation, log in via the appliance interface.

Navigating the vCenter Interface

From the Navigator menu:

• Click Monitor → CPU to inspect usage. For detailed VM performance, go to Virtual Machine.

• Explore charts, hardware configuration, and performance overviews.

In the Manage tab under AutoStart, enable auto-start, adjust timings (e.g., reduce stop delay to 15 seconds), and set Stop Action to “Shut down”—this ensures clean shutdowns and reduces crash risks when stopping the appliance.

Right-click on the vCenter Server Appliance → Autostart → Enable. Confirm links to vSphere Web Client and Appliance Getting Started Page.

Verifying from ESXi Host Client

Access the ESXi host client via its IP (e.g., https://172.25.10.1), click through the certificate warning, then navigate to Manage → AutoStart, and enable Autostart with similar settings.

Right-click the vCenter Server VM, enable Autostart if not already enabled, and configure start/stop behavior with delays and correct shutdown actions. This ensures that upon lab environment reboot, the ESXi hosts and vCenter appliance automatically come online.

Summary Recap

• vCenter provides centralized management for multiple ESXi hosts.

• vCSA is the preferred deployment model—compact, Linux-based, and powered with PostgreSQL.

• You can deploy vCSA either embedded or with separate components. Embedded is simpler for labs.

• Proper configuration, including AutoStart and network settings, ensures seamless operations and quick recovery.