If you have deployed or installed a standalone vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller and you want to extend your vCenter Single Sign-On domain with more vCenter Server instances, you can reconfigure and repoint the existing vCenter Server instance to an external Platform Services Controller.

Figure 1. Reconfiguration of a Standalone vCenter Server Instance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller and Repointing it to an External Platform Services Controller
Deploying or installing an external Platform Services Controller instance in the same vCenter Single Sign-On site aand repointing the vCenter Server instance to this external Platform Services Controller instance
Table 1. Legend
Arrow or line Description
Two-pointed blue arrow representing the replication agreement between two Platform Services Controller instances. Replication agreement between two Platform Services Controller instances
Green line representing the registration of a vCenter Server instance with an external Platform Services Controller. vCenter Server registration with an external Platform Services Controller
Big blue arrow, representing the transition from one state of the system to another. Transition step
Note: The reconfiguration of a vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller and repointing it to an external Platform Services Controller instance is a one-way process after which you cannot switch back to vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller.

Prerequisites

  • Deploy or install the external Platform Services Controller instance as a replication partner of the existing embedded Platform Services Controller instance in the same vCenter Single Sign-On site.
    Note: You can determine the current vCenter Single Sign-On site by using the vmfad-cli command.
    • For a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller, log in to the appliance shell as root and run the command. 
      /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-site-name --server-name localhost
    • For a Windows installation of vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller, log in to the Windows machine as an administrator, open the Windows command prompt, and run the command. 
      C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\vmafd-cli get-site-name --server-name localhost
  • Create snapshots of the vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller and the external Platform Services Controller instance, so that you can revert to the snapshots if the reconfiguration fails.
  • If you want to reconfigure a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller that is configured in a vCenter HA cluster, remove the vCenter HA configuration. For information about removing a vCenter HA configuration, see vSphere Availability.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller.
    Option Steps
    For a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller Log in to the appliance shell as root.
    • If you have direct access to the appliance console, press Alt+F1.
    • If you want to connect remotely, use SSH or another remote console connection to start a session to the appliance.
    For a Windows installation of vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller Log in to the Windows machine as an administrator, open the Windows command prompt, and navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin.
  2. Verify that all Platform Services Controller services are running.
    Run the service-control --status --all command.
    The Platform Services Controller services that must be running are VMware License Service, VMware Identity Management Service, VMware Security Token Service, VMware Certificate Service, and VMware Directory Service.
  3. Run the cmsso-util reconfigure command.

    cmsso-util reconfigure --repoint-psc psc_fqdn_or_static_ip --username username --domain-name domain_name --passwd password [--dc-port port_number]

    where the square brackets [ ] enclose optional items.
    Here, psc_fqdn_or_static_ip is the system name used to identify the external Platform Services Controller instance. This system name must be an FQDN or a static IP address.
    Note: The FQDN value is case-sensitive.

    The options username and password are the administrator user name and password of the vCenter Single Sign-On domain_name.

    Use the --dc-port option if the external Platform Services Controller runs on a custom HTTPS port. The default value of the HTTPS port is 443.

    For example, if the external Platform Services Controller runs on a custom HTTPS port 449, you must run:

    cmsso-util reconfigure --repoint-psc psc.acme.local --username administrator --domain-name vsphere.local --passwd Password1! --dc-port 449

  4. Log in to the vCenter Server instance by using the vSphere Web Client to verify that the vCenter Server instance is running and can be managed.

Results

The vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller is demoted, and the vCenter Server is redirected to the external Platform Services Controller.

What to do next

  • You can deploy or install additional vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller instances in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
  • If you reconfigured a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller that was configured in a vCenter HA cluster, you can reconfigure the vCenter HA cluster. For information about configuring vCenter HA, see vSphere Availability.