VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.5 Stage 2 configuration

The following post is going to be a demo of the VCSA 6.5 Stage 2 configuration. To complete the installation of a fully deployed VCSA complete the steps below:

Step #1 - Open an Internet browser of your choice and browse to the IP address that you assigned to the appliance during stage #1 follow by the :5480 port number. Example: 10.10.10.120:5480.

Step #2 - As per the image above once you browse over to the IP address assigned to the appliance during stage 1, you will be presented with a window in which you will be given the option to Setup the vCenter Server Appliance, Upgrade a vCenter Server Appliance, Migrate over from a Windows version or Restore from Backup. For the purpose of this demo we will select the first option. After selecting the first option, you will be presented with the below window:

Step #3 - Click on Stage 2 at the Window above and then click on the Next Button to continue with the setup process.

Step #4 - At the Window below review your Appliance IP setting to make sure that they are correct. select the option to enable SSH access and select the option to Synchronize the appliance time settings with the ESXi server. By selecting the appliance to synchronize its time with the ESXi server allows you to prevent configuration errors. This setting can be changed once the setup is completed.

Step #5 - By clicking on the Next button located on image above, you will be presented with a window in which you need to populate the password for administrator account in your SSO domain. At the same time you can rename the site name to anything appropriate to your deployment. In this case I have rename it to SPLAB. Once complete click on the Next button to continue with the configuration.

Step #6 - After clicking on the Next button in the image above, the next window that will be presented is the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). In this window you can select if you will like to join or not in the program. For the purpose of this demo I will not join the program and click on the Next button to continue forward.  

Step #7 - The next window that will be displayed will be a summary of the configuration information you have entered in the stage 2 process. After reviewing the information and making sure that everything looks correct, click on the Finish button to launch the configuration procedure.

As per the image below the Stage 2 procedure will launch the configuration of the appliance using the information populated above.

Once the procedure completes successfully, you will be presented with a window displaying the procedure completion and the URLs you can use to login into the new vCenter server.

Thank you!