In the vSphere Client, you can add hosts under a data center object, a folder object, or a cluster object. If a host contains virtual machines, those virtual machines are also added to the inventory.
Prerequisites
- Verify that a data center or a folder exists in the inventory.
- Obtain the user name and password of the root user account for the host.
- Verify that hosts behind a firewall are able to communicate with the vCenter Server system and all other hosts through port 902 or another custom-configured port.
- Verify that all NFS mounts on the host are active.
- Verify that you have the proper privileges. Different sets of privileges apply when you add multiple hosts to a cluster and a single host to a cluster or a data center. For more information, see Required Privileges for Common Tasks in the vSphere Security documentation.
- If you want to add a host with more than 512 LUNs and 2,048 paths to the vCenter Server inventory, verify that the vCenter Server instance is suitable for a large or an x-large environment.
Procedure
- In the vSphere Client, navigate to a data center or folder within a data center.
- Right-click the data center or folder and select Add Host.
- On the Name and location page, enter the IP address or the name of the host and click Next.
- On the Connection settings page, enter administrator credentials and click Next.
- On the Host summary page, review the summary of the host details and click Next.
- On the Host lifecycle page, the check box Manage host with an image check is selected by default.
- If you want to manage the host with an image, leave the check box selected and click Next.
For more information about using an image to manage the lifecycle of a standalone ESXi host that is part of your vCenter Server inventory, see Managing Standalone ESXi Hosts with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images in the Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle documentation.
- If you do not want to manage the host with an image, deselect the check box and click Next.
- If you want to manage the host with an image, leave the check box selected and click Next.
- If you manage the host with an image, on the Image page, set up the desired image and click Next.
- Select an ESXi version.
- (Optional) Select a vendor add-on and the version of the add-on.
- On the Assign license page, add a license to the host.
- Assign an already existing license and click Next.
- Assign a new license.
- Click Create New Licenses. The Add Host wizard minimizes in Work in Progress and the New Licenses wizard appears.
- Enter or copy and paste the new license key from My VMware and click Next.
- Enter a new name for the license and click Next.
- Review the new license and click Finish.
- On the Assign license page, click Next.
- (Optional) Select a lockdown mode option to deactivate the remote access for the administrator account after vCenter Server takes control of this host and click Next.
- (Optional) On the VM location page, select a location for the virtual machines that reside on the host and click Next.
- Review the summary and click Finish.
Results
A new task for adding the host appears in the Recent Tasks pane. It might take a few minutes for the task to complete.