Before you run the CLIs to reconfigure a vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller, or decommission a Platform Services Controller, you must prepare a JSON file with configuration parameters and their values for your specification.

The converge.json and decommission_psc.json sample templates are located in vcsa-converge-cli\templates\converge and vcsa-converge-cli\templates\decommission. Save the templates to your workspace.

These sample templates contain the most frequently used options.

Converge Configuration Parameters

The configuration parameters in the converge.json configuration file are organized in parts, sections, and subsections.

Table 1. Configuration Parameter for the converge.json File
Part Section Subsection Description
vCenter description comments Describes the vCenter Server Appliance and ESXi host on which the appliance is running.
managing_esxi_or_vc hostname FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host of vCenter Server where the vCenter Server resides.
username User ID with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example, root for the ESXi host and administrator@SSO_domain for vCenter Server.
password Password of the user with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
vc_appliance hostname FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server Appliance.
username administrator@SSO_domain where SSO_domain is the vCenter Single Sign-On domain for the vCenter Server Appliance.
password vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
root_password vCenter Server Appliance root password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
ad_domain_info
Note: If the external Platform Services Controller is not joined to Active Directory, remove this section from the JSON template.
domain_name FQDN or IP address of the Platform Services Controller appliance's active directory domain.
username Active directory domain user ID with privileges to join any machine to the provided domain.
password Active directory domain password with privileges to join any machine to the provided domain.
dns_ip (Optional) DNS IP address which resolves the active directory domain name. Required only when the existing DNS setting cannot resolve the provided active directory domain.
replication description Describes the vCenter Server Appliance that is in replication with the provided Platform Services Controller.
partner hostname FQDN or IP address of the target Platform Services Controller node.

Converge Configuration File Template

Sample converge.json template: 

{
    "__version": "2.11.0",
    "__comments": "Template for VCSA with external Platform Services Controller converge",
        "vcenter": {
            "description": {
               "__comments": [
                    "This section describes the vCenter appliance which you want to",
                    "converge and the ESXi host on which the appliance is running. "
                ]
            },
            "managing_esxi_or_vc": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the ESXi or vCenter on which the vCenter Server Appliance resides.>",
                "username": "<Username of a user with administrative privilege on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example 'root' for ESXi and 'administrator@<SSO domain name>' for vCenter >",
                "password": "<Password of the administrative user on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>"
            },
            "vc_appliance": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server Appliance>",
                "username": "administrator@<SSO domain name>",
                "password": "<vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
                "root_password": "<Appliance root password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
            },
            "ad_domain_info": {
                "__comments": [
                    "Important Note: This section is needed only when PSC (Platform Services Controller) appliance is joined to a domain.",
                    "Remove this section if PSC appliance is not joined to a domain.",
                    "Keeping this section without valid values results in JSON validation errors."
                ],
                "domain_name": "<Domain name of the Platform Services Controller appliance's AD domain>",
                "username": "<AD domain username with privileges to join any machine to the provided domain>",
                "password": "<AD domain password with privileges to join any machine to the provided domain>",
                "dns_ip": "<DNS IP which resolves AD domain name. This is an optional field and is required only when the provided AD domain cannot be resolved by the existing DNS setting of the VCSA node.>"
            }
        },
    "replication": {
            "description": {
               "__comments": [
               "Important Note: Make sure you provide the information in this section very carefully, as this changes the replication topology.",
               "Refer to the documentation for complete details. Remove this section if this is first converge operation in your setup.",
               "This section provides details of the PSC node which will be set up as a replicated node for a new PSC on the target VCSA node."
            ]
                },
            "partner": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the target VCSA PSC node>"
            }
        }
}

Decommission Configuration Parameters

The configuration parameters in the decommision_psc.json configuration file are organized in parts, sections, and subsections.

Table 2. Configuration Parameter for the decommisision_psc.json file
Part Section Subsection Description
psc description comments Describes the Platform Services Controller appliance you want to decommission and the Platform Services Controller host on which the appliance is running.
managing_esxi_or_vc hostname FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host or vCenter Server on which the Platform Services Controller resides.
username User ID with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example, root for the ESXi host and administrator@SSO_domain for vCenter Server.
password Password of the user with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
port (Optional) Port for the host. Default port is 443.
psc_appliance hostname FQDN or IP address of the external Platform Services Controller appliance that you wish to decommission.
Note: Ensure that no other solutions are currently using this external Platform Services Controller before you decommission it.
username administrator@SSO_domain where SSO_domain is the vCenter Single Sign-On domain for the vCenter Server Appliance.
password vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
root_password vCenter Server Appliance root password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
vcenter description comments Describes the embedded vCenter Server Appliance that is in replication with the provided Platform Services Controller.
managing_esxi_or_vc hostname FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host or vCenter Server on which the vCenter Server Appliance resides.
username User ID with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example, root for the ESXi host and administrator@SSO_domain for vCenter Server.
password Password of the user with administrator privileges on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
port (Optional) Port for the host. Default port is 443.
vc_appliance hostname FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server Appliance .
username administrator@SSO_domain where SSO_domain is the vCenter Single Sign-On domain for the vCenter Server Appliance.
password vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.
root_password vCenter Server Appliance root password. If omitted, you are prompted to enter the password on the command console during the template verification.

Decommission Configuration File Template

Sample decommission.json template: 

{    
"__comments": "Template for decommissioning PSC node with converge CLI tool.",
    "__version": "2.11.0",
        "psc": {
            "description": {
               "__comments": [
                   "This section describes the PSC appliance which you want to",
                    "decommission and the ESXi host on which the appliance is running. "
                ]
            },
            "managing_esxi_or_vc": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the ESXi or vCenter on which the Platform Services Controller appliance resides.>",
                "username": "<Username of a user with administrative privilege on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example 'root' for ESXi and 'administrator@<SSO domain name>' for vCenter >",
                "password": "<Password of the administrative user on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
                "port": "This section may be removed, if default port is 443. If not, custom port have to be specified"
            },
            "psc_appliance": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the Platform Services Controller appliance>",
                "username": "administrator@<SSO domain name>",
                "password": "<vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
                "root_password": "<Appliance root password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
            }
        }
        "vcenter": {
            "description": {
               "__comments": [
                    "This section describes the embedded vCenter appliance which is in ",
                    "replication with the provided PSC"
                ]
            },
            "managing_esxi_or_vc": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the ESXi or vCenter on which the vCenter Server Appliance resides.>",
                "username": "<Username of a user with administrative privilege on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. For example 'root' for ESXi and 'administrator@<SSO domain name>' for vCenter >",
                "password": "<Password of the administrative user on the ESXi host or vCenter Server. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
                "port": "This section may be removed, if default port is 443. If not, custom port have to be specified"
            },
            "vc_appliance": {
                "hostname": "<FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server Appliance>",
                "username": "administrator@<SSO domain name>",
                "password": "<vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>",
                "root_password": "<Appliance root password. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.>"
            }
        }
}