Manually Setting Cluster IP Address for Clustered VirtualCenter Server
Details
When installed on Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) (or other
clustered-Windows configuration), VirtualCenter disseminates its
node IP address rather than the cluster’s IP address to the hosts
that it manages, which can lead to connectivity issues during
fail-over situations. This article provides a couple of
workarounds.
Solution
When installed on Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) (or other
clustered-Windows configuration), VirtualCenter disseminates its
node IP address rather than the cluster’s IP address to managed
hosts, which can lead to connectivity issues during fail-over
situations. To circumvent this issue, you can add a String key,
managedip, comprising the cluster IP address to the Virtual Center
Windows Registry key:
Alternatively, you can manually set the proper cluster IP
address in VirtualCenter server’s configuration file,
vpxd.cfg.
To manually set the cluster’s IP address in
vpxd.cfg:
Navigate to the location of the vpxd.cfg file. By default, the
vpxd.cfg file is located in this directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware
VirtualCenter
Use a text editor (such as Notepad) to open the vpxd.cfg file.
The vpxd.cfg file is an XML-formatted text file that contains
various configuration details for the VirtualCenter server.
Add <managedip> opening tag (as a child of the
<vpxd> element) to the file.
Enter the IP address of the cluster.
Add the </managedip> closing tag.
When you’ve finished, the section of the vpxd.cfg file should look
similar to the following: <managedip>
nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn
</managedip>
Save the file and exit the text editor.
From the Windows Start menu, select Administrative Tools from
the Programs menu.
Select Services from the Adminstrative Tools menu.
Scroll through the Services menu until you find the VMware
VirtualCenter Server service control panel, select it, and then
click Restart.
Find the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Web Access service
control panel, select it, and click Restart.
In addition, you must copy the SSL certificate files from the
primary VirtualCenter server to all other nodes in the cluster so
that ESX hosts in the VirtualCenter inventory can automatically
reconnect to VirtualCenter cluster in the event of a failover. The
SSL certificate files are located in:
C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware
VirtualCenter\SSL
Keywords
2195771; VirtualCenter on MSCS (clusters); configure cluster IP
address
