Repointing vCenter Server 6.0 to a new External Platform Services Controller (PSC)
Let’s say something happens to your existing external Platform Services Controller (PSC) and it becomes unrecoverable, if this is the case you can always spin up a new PSC and repoint your vCenter Server to the new external PSC! It’s actually very simple to accomplish this task. All you will need to do is run the following commands after installing the new PSC.
vCenter Server Appliance
1. Log into the vCenter Server appliance as root
2. Run the following command:
/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli set-dc-name --server-name localhost -dc-name <FQDN_of_new_PSC>
3. Recycle all services in the vCenter appliance by running the following two commands:
# service-control --stop --all # service-control --start --all
vCenter Server (Windows based)
1. Log into the vCenter Server with an Administrator
2. Run the following command:
# C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\vmafd-cli set-dc-name --server-name localhost —dc-name <FQDN_of_new_PSC>
3. Recycle all services in the vCenter Server (Windows OS) by running the following two commands:
# C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin\service-control --stop --all # C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin\service-control --start --all
That’s it! The only side note is that you can only do this if the new PSC is in the same vSphere Domain. You can now log into vCenter Server through the web client or the thick client to confirm vCenter is functional!
11 Comments
You can repoint VC from one PSC to another only in same vsphere domain.
I have two PCs configured with load balancing through KEMP.
Something does not work, because vcenter successfully connects via FDQN balancing and registers but many of the services that I see still be running, are not properly contacted by vcenter same.
Then I relinked vcenter directly to a real PSC but the service “vmware-invsvc” (inventory service) will not start …
I guess it’s an issue of certificates, is fixable?
Sorry for the google translation.
greetings
Hi Luca,
If it is a certificate issue, you can try to reset the certificates using the certificate-manager tool. Check out my post here on implementing certificates in vsphere 6.0. Instead of running any of those options, you can just use option 8 – reset certificates, run this on the PSCs.
Thanks,
Sean
The command for vCenter Server Appliance is missing a additional “-” before “server-name”
eg : /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli set-dc-name –server-name localhost –dc-name
the double hyphen is merged as one i suppose because of the font.
Hi Avinash,
Thank you for catching that! It was definitely the font, I resolved it.
Sean
so i have tried to run this command and i am getting the following error
Error 1: Possible errors:
LDAP error: Operations error
Win Error: Incorrect function.
When i run the above command for a windows vCenter. I get the following
Error 1: Possible errors:
LDAP error: Operations error
Win Error: Incorrect function.
Hey Erik,
You’ve probably already worked this out, but since I went through the same problem, I thought I would go ahead and post a response. I encountered this exact issue and then I realized it was because I was on an embedded psc.
To repoint from an embedded PSC to an External PSC, follow the steps outlined here:
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc%2FGUID-E7DFB362-1875-4BCF-AB84-4F21408F87A6.html
Erik –
Were you able to resolve this error? I am getting the same when trying to repoint to a new PSC in the same site as my vCenter.
Were you able to to resolve this? I am getting the same when trying to point back to the original PSC.