Repoint vCenter Server to External Platform Services Controller in a Different Domain

You can move one vCenter Server to a Platform Services Controller in another vSphere domain. You can also move all vCenter Servers in one vSphere domain one at a time to another domain, which provides a way to perform domain consolidation. Services such as tagging, and licensing, are migrated to the new Platform Services Controller.

In addition to consolidating vSphere domains, you can also split an existing domain. The following use cases are supported:

• You can move one or more vCenter Server instances that point to separate external Platform Services Controller to point to a new Platform Services Controller in a different domain.
• You can move one or more vCenter Server instances that point to one external Platform Services Controller to point to different Platform Services Controller in a different domain.
• You can move a vCenter Server that is part of an embedded Platform Services Controller to an external Platform Services Controller in a different domain. You must first reconfigure the node to an external Platform Services Controller node before repointing to a Platform Services Controller in a different domain.

Prerequisites

• Cross domain repointing is only supported with Platform Services Controller 6.7 and vCenter Server 6.7.

• Each vCenter Server and vCenter Server node must be in a healthy state.
• To ensure no loss of data, take a snapshot or backup each node before proceeding with repointing the vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller.

Procedure

1. (Optional) Run the pre-check mode command. The pre-check mode fetches the tagging (tags and categories) and authorization (roles and privileges) data from the Platform Services Controller. Conflicts can be checked for tagging and authorization data. Pre-check does not migrate any data, but checks the conflicts and writes them to a JSON file. For example, run the pre-check with the following CLI:

   cmsso-util domain-repoint --mode pre-check --src-psc-admin source_PSC_admin_userid --dest-psc-fqdn target_PSC_FQDN --dest-psc-admin target_PSC_admin_userid --dest-domain-name target_FQDN --dest-vc-fqdn target_vCenter_server

   You are prompted for the administrator password.
   The pre-check writes the conflict details to a JSON file with the location provided after pre-check.
2. (Optional) Edit the conflict file and apply resolutions for all conflicts or apply a separate resolution for each conflict.
   The conflict resolutions are:

   • Copy: Create a duplicate copy of the data in the target Platform Services Controller.
   • Skip: Skips copying the data in the target Platform Services Controller.
   • Merge: Merges the conflict without creating duplicates.

   To check conflicts of tag authZ data, you must provide a vCenter Server part of the target Platform Services Controller or the conflicts are not checked.

3. Run the execute mode command. In the execute mode, the data generated during the pre-check mode is read from the JSON file and imported to the target Platform Services Controller. Licensing data is exported from the original Platform Services Controller. Then, the vCenter Server is repointed to the target Platform Services Controller. For example, run the execute command with the following:

   cmsso-util domain-repoint --mode execute --src-psc-admin Source_PSC_admin_userid --dest-psc-fqdn target_PSC_FQDN  --dest-psc-admin target_PSC_admin_userid --dest-domain-name target_FQDN --dest-vc-fqdn target_vCenter_server

   You are prompted for the administrator password.

   Note: If you do not run the pre-check command, the data is exported first and then imported to the target Platform Services Controller. You cannot edit the conflicts during the execute mode. With the pre-check command, you can look at the conflicts in detail and edit the conflicts file to provide detailed input on how to handle various conflicts. To avoid any conflicts, run the pre-check mode first to understand the conflicts and then run in execute mode.
   Check that the tags and categories are migrated and all the required services are up and running.

   Note:

   If the repointing fails, collect the support bundle and revert to the snapshot taken before this process.

   After vCenter Server is repointed to the target Platform Services Controller, the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) participation preference is updated to the target domain preference.

What to do next

If you repointed a vCenter Server Appliance that is configured in a vSphere High Availability cluster, you can reconfigure the vSphere HA cluster. See vSphere Availability for information about configuring vSphere HA.

Solutions or plugins registered with vCenter Server must be registered again after a successful repoint.

Identity sources must be manually migrated. SSO configuration is not migrated. Users and policies require manual intervention.