HOW TO: Install and Connect a VMware vCenter Server 7.0 in linked mode.

In my previous Experts Exchange Articles, most have featured Basic and Intermediate VMware and Virtualisation Topics.
 
If you would like to read my Basic VMware articles, they are listed at the end of this article for your convenience.

This article will show you HOW TO: Install and Connect a VMware vCenter Server 7.0 in linked mode.

You will need an additional license for every vCenter Server 7.0 you install.

Why use Linked Mode?

1. Allows a single pane of glass view to all objects across your organisation vSphere infrastructure.
2. vCenter Server per office installation.
3. Easier now with vSphere 7.0 to Link a new vCenter Server.
4. Multi-site deployment.
5. Hosts and Clusters Maximums reached.

Download the VMware-VCSA-all-x.y.z-abcdefg.iso (DVD image) from VMware. The filename used in this tutorial is called VMware-VCSA-all-7.0.0-16749653.iso, the build number and filename are likely to change in the future when it's been updated to a newer version. At the time of writing this article, the latest build of vCenter Server was vCenter Server 7.0.0d.
 
Burn or Mount the VMware-VCSA-all-7.0.0-16749653.iso (DVD image) on your Administration workstation. (The Personal Computer where you perform your daily server and network administration).
 
In the vcsa-ui-installer\win32 folder on the DVD, click the installer.exe file to start the installation the VMware vCenter Server 7.0.

Please follow this article HOW TO: Deploy and Install VMware vSphere vCenter Server 7.0 (VCSA 7.0) which will show you how to install vCenter Server 7.0, and follow the article up to  2. Configuring VMware vCenter Server 7.0, and then continue with this article.
 


Click next to continue.



We also selected an external NTP server for time synchronization and enabled SSH. Accurate time synchronization is very important for Single Sign-On. If vCenter Server time is not synchronised with ESXi host time, you will not be able to add them to vCenter Server!
 


The NTP settings are saved.
 


This is where the installation changes from completing a standalone vCenter Server 7.0 installation. This Linked Mode vCenter Server needs to be joined to the existing SSO domain running on the existing vCenter Server.

Please enter the FQDN for the vCenter Server, and the Administrator@vsphere.local username and password.



In this tutorial, I'm connecting to an existing vCenter Server - vcsa7.cyrus-consultants.co.uk. Make sure this server can be resolved! Click Next to continue.


 
 Select if you want to join VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).
 
 Click Next to continue.
 
 Review the summary screen, and click Finish.
 
You will not be able to pause or stop the install from completing once it's started. Click OK to continue, or Cancel to stop the install. If the FQDN you have used is NOT RESOLVABLE your configuration of the appliance WILL FAIL.
 
HINT: Make sure you have a working Domain Name Server (DNS). Your VMware vSphere infrastructure is only as good as your networking, and DNS.
 




After several minutes the configuration of this vCenter Server will be completed. You can either click close which will open up a browser to the new vCenter Server, or click the link.

Login to the new vCenter Server and the following will be shown.



The new vCenter Server and the Linked vCenter Server.



Congratulations you have successfully Installed and Connected a VMware vCenter Server 7.0 in linked mode.
 
Basic VMware Articles Series:

These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0, 5.5, 6.0.
 

• Part 1: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 2: HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client

 

• Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

 

• Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 6: HOW TO: Create your first Linux Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 7: HOW TO: Create your first Windows Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 8: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Windows on a VMware Windows virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 9: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Linux on a VMware Linux virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 10: HOW TO: Backup (Export) and Restore (Import) virtual machines to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 for FREE

 

• Part 11: HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues System logs on the host are stored on non-persistent storage

 

• Part 12: HOW TO: Configure and Replace the SSL Certificate on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 13: HOW TO: Configure basic networking on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

These articles are applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5.

• Part 1:  HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5)

• Part 2: HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) using the vSphere (HTML5 Web) Host Client 6.5

• Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5)

• Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) using the vSphere Host Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

• Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5)

• Part 6: HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues and Warnings Alert displayed in Summary status for ESXi 6.5 after enabling SSH or ESXi Shell

• Part 7: HOW TO: Create your first Windows Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) Host Server

• Part 8: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Windows on a VMware Windows virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.5 (ESXi 6.5) Host Server

• HOW TO: Deploy and Install the VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (VCSA 6.5)

These articles are applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7.

• Part 1: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7

• Part 2: HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7) using the vSphere (HTML5 Web) Host Client 6.7

• Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)

• Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7) using the vSphere Host Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

• Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 6.7 (ESXi 6.7)

• Part 6: HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues and Warnings Alert displayed in Summary status for ESXi 6.7 after enabling SSH or ESXi Shell.

• HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 6.7 GA to ESXi 6.7U3(a) in 5 easy steps.

• HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 6.7 GA to ESXi 6.7U3(a) direct from VMware.  
  

Previous articles in this VMware vSphere 7.0 series are here.

• Part 1: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0)

• Part 2: HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) using the vSphere (HTML5 Web) Host Client 7.0

• Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0)

• Part 4: HOW TO: Upload and Check the MD5 signature of an ISO CD/DVD image to a VMware datastore using the VMware Host Client, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0)

• Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0)

• Part 6: HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues and Warnings Alert displayed in Summary status for ESXi 7.0 after enabling SSH or ESXi Shell.

• Part 7: HOW TO: Create your first Windows Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) Host Server

• Part 8: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Windows on a VMware Windows virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) Host Server

• Part 9: HOW TO: Create your first Linux Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) Host Server

• Part 10: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Linux on a VMware Linux virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) Host Server

• Part 11: HOW TO: Install open-vm-tools package for Linux on a VMware Linux virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0) Host Server will show how to install open-vm-tools.

 

• Part 12: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 6.7 to ESXi 7.0 GA in 5 easy steps.

• Part 13: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 6.7 to ESXi 7.0 GA direct from VMware.

• HOW TO: What is a VMware vExpert?

• Part 14: HOW TO:  P2V a Windows XP computer to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0)

• HOW TO:  Make Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware Workstation function side by side.

• Part 15: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 7.0 GA to ESXi 7.0bs direct from VMware.

• Part 16: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 7.0 GA to ESXi 7.0b direct from VMware.

• Part 17: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 7.0 GA to ESXi 7.0bs in 5 easy steps.

• Part 18: HOW TO: Update VMware ESXi 7.0 GA to ESXi 7.0b in 5 easy steps

• Part 19: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 (ESXi 7.0 ARM) on a Raspberry Pi 4

• Part 20: HOW TO: Deploy and Install VMware vSphere vCenter Server 7.0 (VCSA 7.0)

• Part 21: HOW TO: Install and Connect a VMware vCenter Server 7.0 in linked mode.
  
  

If you found this tutorial helpful, please do click the Thumbs-Up icon below. This lets me know what is valuable for EE members and provides direction for future articles. If you have a related question based on this article, please click here.

Thank you very much! 

Regards, Andy