Now that I have my new 7.0 vCenter stood up in my solution center I figured it was time to add in the datacenter and my management cluster. Since I’m playing around in 7.0 I thought I would give the cluster quickstart method a try.
Step by step process
Right click on the vCenter name > New Datacenter
Put in the name of the Datacenter – I normally put the state or the name of the colo location
Right click your new Datacenter > New Cluster
Provide the cluster a name and you can enable vSphere DRS, vSphere HA, or even pre-select this cluster for vSAN
If the hosts you are adding are already on 7.0 you can select Manage all hosts in the cluster with a single image
With this option, all hosts in a cluster inherit the same image, thus removing variability between hosts. It also brings more features like hardware compatibility checking, cluster-wide remediation and easier upgrades.
Note:
- Requires hosts to already be running ESXi 7.0 or above
- Replaces baselines. Once enabled, baselines cannot be used in this cluster
With the new Cluster quickstart, I like to take advantage and click add under 2. Add hosts
This is where you supply the IP or FQDN of the ESXi hosts, username, and password and click next
Clear any warnings that may come up and then click NEXT
Confirm your hosts are good and click finish
Under 3. Configure cluster > CONFIGURE
This is where you setup your distributed switch
Time to select your first uplink port and physical adapter
Select the associated VLAN and Protocol and IP type > NEXT
In this next section you get to choose all the advanced feature options > NEXT
The awesome summary page > FINISH
Now comes patience while the cluster is having it’s network and advanced options configured
I do like the Nice work! Your cluster is now successfully configured and ready to run workloads. In the future you can add more hosts to your cluster by doing Step 2: Add Hosts again.
Summary:
As you can see the new quickstart feature allows setting up a new cluster in 7.0 to be a piece of cake. Now you have the option to go in and add other networks to your new virtual distributed switch or play with setting and features. As always, I hope y’all found this useful.
Prepare vCenter before Quickstart: deploy a new VCSA 7 appliance, or upgrade an existing VCSA 6.7 appliance.