Convergence is the process of reconfiguring or converting a vCenter Server instance with an external Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller.

Convergence Internal Workflow illustrates the process of converging a single standalone vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller.

Figure 1. Convergence Internal Workflow
Table 1. Legend for Single Convergence
Stage Description
Stage 0 Stage 0 represents the original vCenter Server A with external Platform Services Controller A node.
Stage 1 In Stage 1, the converge process performs the following tasks:
  1. Deploys the new embedded Platform Services Controller B on the vCenter Server A and sets it up so that all the data in the original Platform Services Controller A is replicated in the new embedded Platform Services Controller B.
  2. Configures the new embedded Platform Services Controller B so that it works on the vCenter Server A node.
  3. Repoints vCenter Server A to the new embedded Platform Services Controller B.
Stage 2 Stage 2 shows the new node which contains vCenter Server A with embedded Platform Services Controller B.

The original Platform Services Controller A can be decommissioned.

You can perform the converge process using the vcsa-util command-line utility or with the vSphere Client.

Converging with Platform Services Controller High Availability

If you want to converge to a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller with a Platform Services Controller HA environment, see the VMware knowledge base article at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/65129.