As part of the Advanced configuration, you have to clone the Active node to create the Passive and Witness nodes. Do not exit the Configure vCenter HA wizard while you perform the cloning tasks.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management vCenter Server, right-click the vCenter Server Appliance virtual machine (Active node), and select Clone > Clone to Virtual Machine.
  2. For the first clone, which will become the Passive node, enter the following values.
    Option Value
    New Virtual Machine Name Name of the Passive node. For example, use vcsa-peer.
    Select Compute Resource

    Select Storage

    		Use a different target host and datastore than for the Active node if possible.
    Clone Options Select the Customize the operating system and Power on virtual machine after creation check boxes and click the New Customization Spec icon on the next page.
    In the New Customization Spec wizard that appears specify the following.
    1. Use the same host name as the Active node.
    2. Ensure the timezone is consistent with the Active node. Keep the same AreaCode/Location with UTC as the Active node. If you have not specified AreaCode/Location with UTC while configuring the Active node, keep London in AreaCode/Location during cloning. London has 0.00 offset, so it keeps the clock to UTC without any offset.
    3. NIC1 IP must be same as the Management IP of the Active VCSA. Leave NIC1 IP as DHCP, there is no need to set up any static IP for the management interface as this is also a clone of Active VCSA. On the Configure Network page, specify the IP settings for NIC2, which maps to the vCenter HA interface. Leave the NIC2 Default Gateway blank.
  3. After the first clone has been created, clone the Active node again for the Witness node.
    Option Value
    New Virtual Machine Name Name of the Witness node. For example, use vcsa-witness.
    Select Compute Resource

    Select Storage

    		Use a different target host and datastore than for the Active and Passive nodes if possible.
    Clone Options Select the Customize the operating system and Power on virtual machine after creation check boxes and click the New Customization Spec icon on the next page.
    In the New Customization Spec wizard that appears specify the following.
    1. Use the host name of your choice.
    2. Ensure the timezone is consistent with the Active node. Keep the same AreaCode/Location with UTC as the Active node. If you have not specified AreaCode/Location with UTC while configuring the Active node, keep London in AreaCode/Location during cloning. London has 0.00 offset, so it keeps the clock to UTC without any offset.
    3. On the Configure Network page, specify the IP settings for NIC2, which maps to the vCenter HA interface. Leave the NIC2 Default Gateway blank.
  4. Ensure that the clone process completes and the virtual machines are powered on.

What to do next

Return to the vCenter HA wizard on the Active node to complete the setup. See Complete the vCenter HA Advanced Configuration.