You start the management components for a VI workload domain in a specific order to provide the necessary infrastructure, networking, and management services.

You start the management components for the management domain first. Then, you start the management components for the VI workload domains and the customer workloads.

If the NSX Manager cluster and NSX Edge cluster are shared with other VI workload domains, follow this general order:

  1. Start the other VI workload domains.
  2. Start the VI workload domain that runs the shared NSX Edge nodes.
  3. Start the customer workloads that rely on NSX-T Data Center services.

Startup Order for a VI Workload Domain

Table 1. Startup Order for a VI Workload Domain

Startup Order

SDDC Component

1

vCenter Server for the VI workload domain *

2

ESXi hosts for the VI workload domain *

3

vSAN for the VI workload domain *
4 vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) virtual machines in the VI workload domain *

5

NSX Manager nodes for the VI workload domain *

6

NSX Edge nodes for the VI workload domain *
7 vSphere Replication for the VI workload domain
8 Site Recovery Manager for the VI workload domain
9 Virtualized customer workloads

* For information on the startup steps, see below.

Verify the Operational State of the VI Workload Domain

After you start up the VI workload domain, verify that the main functionality of the management components is working according to the requirements. See Operational Verification of VMware Cloud Foundation. If your environment runs vSphere Replication and Site Recovery Manager, see also Site Protection and Disaster Recovery for VMware Cloud Foundation.

Start vCenter Server for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain

Use the vSphere Client to power on the vCenter Server appliance in the management domain. If the VI workload domain contains a vSAN cluster, check its health status too.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management domain vCenter Server at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as [email protected].
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the management domain vCenter Server tree and expand the management domain data center.
  3. Start vCenter Server.
    1. Locate the vCenter Server virtual machine for the VI workload domain.
    2. Right-click the virtual machine and select Power > Power on.

    The startup of the virtual machine and the vSphere services takes some time to complete.

Start the ESXi Hosts in a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain

You start the ESXi hosts using an out-of-band management interface, such as, ILO or iDRAC to connect to the hosts and power them on.

Procedure

  1. Power on the first ESXi host in the workload domain.
    1. Log in to the first ESXi host in the workload domain by using the out-of-band management interface.
    2. Power on the ESXi host according to the hardware vendor guide.
  2. Repeat the previous step to start all the remaining ESXi hosts in the workload domain.

    This operation takes several minutes to complete.

Restart the vSAN Clusters in a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain

You start vSAN in a VI workload domain by restarting the vSAN cluster.

You perform this operation on all vSAN clusters in all VI workload domains.

Prerequisites

Verify that all ESXi hosts in the cluster are connected to the workload domain vCenter Server.

Procedure

  1. Log in to vCenter Server for the management or VI workload domain at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as [email protected].
  2. In the Hosts and clusters inventory, expand the tree of the VI workload domain vCenter Server and expand the data center for the VI workload domain.
  3. Restart the vSAN cluster.
    1. Right-click the vSAN cluster and select vSAN > Restart cluster.
    2. In the Restart Cluster dialog box, click Restart.
      The vSAN Services page on the Configure tab changes to display information about the restart process.
  4. After the cluster has restarted, check the vSAN health service and resynchronization status, and resolve any outstanding issues.
    1. Select the cluster and click the Monitor tab.
    2. In the left pane, navigate to vSAN > Skyline health and verify the status of each vSAN health check category.
    3. In the left pane, under vSAN > Resyncing objects, verify that all synchronization tasks are complete.
  5. If you have added the root user of the ESXi hosts to the Exception Users list for lockdown mode during shutdown, remove the user from the list on each host.
    1. Select the host in the inventory and click the Configure tab.
    2. In the left pane, select System > Security Profile.
    3. In the Lockdown Mode pane, click the Edit button.
    4. On the Exception Users page, from the vertical ellipsis menu in front of the root user, select Remove User and click OK.
  6. If your VI workload domain has multiple vSAN clusters that you shut down, for each cluster, activate the restart option and perform the restart operation.
    1. To be able to restart the next vSAN cluster in the domain, follow Scenario 3 in VMware knowledge base article 87350.
      After the first cluster is started by using the vSAN shutdown cluster wizard, all the other vSAN clusters are labelled as Started. As a result, the vSAN shutdown cluster wizard is not available for them.
    2. Repeat Step 3 to Step 5.

Start the vSphere Cluster Services

You start the vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) virtual machines in a VI workload domain to provide the availability of vSphere DRS and vSphere HA to the workloads running on the clusters in the workload domain.

Procedure

  1. Log in to vCenter Server for the management or VI workload domain at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as [email protected].
  2. In the Hosts and clusters inventory, expand the tree of the VI workload domain vCenter Server and expand the data center for the VI workload domain.
  3. Select the cluster on which vCLS must be started.
  4. Copy the cluster domain ID domain-c(cluster_domain_id) from the URL of the browser.

    When you navigate to a cluster in the vSphere Client, the URL is similar to this one:

    https://<fqdn-of-vCenter-server>/ui/app/cluster;nav=h/urn:vmomi:ClusterComputeResource:domain-c8:eef257af-fa50-455a-af7a-6899324fabe6/summary

    You copy only domain-c8.

  5. In the Host and Clusters inventory, select the vCenter Server instance for the VI workload domain and click the Configure tab.
  6. Under Advanced Settings, click the Edit Settings button.
  7. Locate the config.vcls.clusters.domain-c(number).enabled property for the domain cluster ID from Step 4 and set it to true.
  8. Click Save
  9. Repeat the procedure on all clusters in the other workload domains.

Start the NSX Manager Virtual Machines

You begin powering on the NSX-T Data Center infrastructure in the management domain or in a VI workload domain by starting the three-node NSX Manager cluster by using the vSphere Client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management domain vCenter Server at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as [email protected].
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the management domain vCenter Server tree and expand the management domain data center.
  3. Power on the NSX Manager nodes for the management domain or the VI workload domain.
    1. Right-click the primary NSX Manager node and select Power > Power on.
    2. Repeat the steps to power on the remaining NSX Manager nodes.

    This operation takes several minutes to complete until the NSX Manager cluster becomes fully operational again and its user interface - accessible.

  4. Log in to NSX Manager for the management domain or VI workload domain at https://<nsxt_manager_cluster_fqdn> as admin.
  5. Verify the system status of NSX Manager cluster.
    1. On the main navigation bar, click System.
    2. In the left pane, navigate to Configuration > Appliances.
    3. On the Appliances page, verify that the NSX Manager cluster has a Stable status and all NSX Manager nodes are available.

Start the NSX Edge Nodes

You continue powering on the NSX-T Data Center infrastructure in the management domain or in a VI workload domain by starting the NSX Edge nodes by using the vSphere Client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to vCenter Server for the management or VI workload domain at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as [email protected].
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the tree of workload domain vCenter Server and expand data center for the workload domain.
  3. Right-click an NSX Edge virtual machine from the edge cluster and select Power > Power on.

    This operations takes several minutes to complete.

  4. Repeat these steps to power on the remaining NSX Edge nodes.