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vSphere in a paradox
JDMurray
Admin Posts: 13,035 Admin
A theoretical chicken-and-the-egg question: Can vSphere operate properly in a VM on an ESX/i server that it itself is managing, or does this configuration create limitations in it operation?
I'd prefer not to have a separate box for only running vSphere, and having it live in a VM in a server that it is managing is my only other option. I don't see why not, but I thought I'd ask.
I'd prefer not to have a separate box for only running vSphere, and having it live in a VM in a server that it is managing is my only other option. I don't see why not, but I thought I'd ask.
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Optionstiersten Member Posts: 4,505You can do it if you want but it is a bit of a hassle since you may need to juggle it around. vMotion of the vSphere VM works. I've never tried storage vMotion of the vSphere VM though.
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Optionskalebksp Member Posts: 1,033 ■■■■■□□□□□You can do that no problem. In fact I think it's VMware's recommendation to do so because you can leverage things like HA and vMotion.
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Optionskalebksp Member Posts: 1,033 ■■■■■□□□□□This is for VI3 but much of it should apply to vSphere: Running VirtualCenter in a Virtual Machine
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OptionsHeroPsycho Inactive Imported Users Posts: 1,940ESX servers cache down HA "rules of engagement from vCenter" and will continue to use them if it loses connection. So with that, yes, you can virtualize the vCenter instance on the servers it manages.Good luck to all!
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Optionsastorrs Member Posts: 3,139 ■■■■■■□□□□Yes as others have said vCenter (not vSphere ) in a VM is recommended these days. There are some caveats if you want to use distributed virtual switches, but I'm guessing you don't have vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses for your hosts anyway.
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Optionspennystrader Member Posts: 155I am currently running Vcenter as a virtual machine because it take 3gb (recommended but I give it 2gb and it is fast). VMware definitely suggest it can be virtualized for HA and FT purposes. I am studying about it now as I prepare for the VCP 4.0 upgrade this month so I don't have to take training. Anyways I am running it virtually and it works great and doesn't waste more hardware.
The more knowledge one obtains the more there is too accumulate..... -
OptionsJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,035 Adminpennystrader wrote: »Anyways I am running it virtually and it works great and doesn't waste more hardware.
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OptionsHyper-Me Banned Posts: 2,059Sortve related. You can run SCVMM in a hyper-v VM and manage the host on its on without a hitch.
I did this to lab SCVMM once. -
OptionsJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,035 AdminSortve related. You can run SCVMM in a hyper-v VM and manage the host on its on without a hitch.
I did this to lab SCVMM once.
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Optionsblargoe Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□I've been running vCenter in a VM and have been mostly satisfied with some caveats. Just this weekend I was having intermittent problems with one of my hosts, the one that just happened to be running vCenter, and that was causing me not to have access to vCenter, so I had to log in to each host individually to chase it down.
VMotion and SVMotion work fine for a vCenter VM.
If you have everything configured perfectly you should be OK most of the time, but there will be a time or two that you need to connect to vCenter to resolve a problem, to find that you can't reach the vCenter server, because it is impacted by the problem.
If I had it to do over I probably would continue using it in a VM. I have read that vCenter can be run as a clustered service in MSCS, which might give you a little more resiliency. I haven't tried it.IT guy since 12/00
Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
Working on: RHCE/Ansible
Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands... -
OptionsNightShade03 Member Posts: 1,383 ■■■■■■■□□□We run our SAP servers in a VMware setup and the vCenter is installed in a virtual machine. Like others have stated all the engineers I talked to when building the project recommended doing it virtually.
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Optionsastorrs Member Posts: 3,139 ■■■■■■□□□□Just this weekend I was having intermittent problems with one of my hosts, the one that just happened to be running vCenter, and that was causing me not to have access to vCenter, so I had to log in to each host individually to chase it down.
Also if you have your vCenter database stored on a separate VM (common in larger environments) make sure you set the same settings for it - they should both be collocated on the same host since most of the communication between them can occur within the hosts memory and not need to hit the network. -
OptionsJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,035 AdminIf you have everything configured perfectly you should be OK most of the time, but there will be a time or two that you need to connect to vCenter to resolve a problem, to find that you can't reach the vCenter server, because it is impacted by the problem.
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OptionsNightShade03 Member Posts: 1,383 ■■■■■■■□□□I'll have to keep that in mind. The only time I haven't been able to connect to a VM using vSphere Client is when the VM's files were damaged, didn't convert properly, or the guest OS itself was hosed. What type of problem might prevent vCenter from communicating with VM hosts?
We have 3 blades and the first two contain all sorts of vm machines (the VM hosts). On the third blade is a single VM which runs vCenter. If the third blade dies (from hardware failure) vCenter will lose touch will all hosts. Just an example of how we run.