Change of IP for ESX4 Hosts and VCenter Server

[Gav0]

Hello folks,

I'm about to relocate my C3000 enclosure to another site so it will be getting new IP addresses assigned.  The VCenter server is a VM on one of the hosts.  If i change the IP addresses of the ESX4 hosts then power up the VCenter VM and change its IP via the console is there any additional configuration required or will it pick up the ESX hosts as before?

The hosts show in the cluster by their FQDN so i'll be manually updating DNS at the same time.

Thanks in advance!

[damieng01]

You will have to "reconnect" your hosts again into the VC after the change of address. ESXi hosts store the ip address of the vCenter in their config.

I mapped out some steps previous for a vc and c-class move that occured in work, have a look may be of use to you. :smileyhappy:

*Assumptions
• VC/VUM/SQL reside inside the cluster being moved and must continue to do so
• The target network IP segment cannot be presented to the source chassis/cluster nodes prior to the move
• All relevant DNS changes for hostnames etc are out of scope of this document

1. Ensure that the VC server is running on the first ESXi host in the cluster.
2. Ensure that the VUM server is running on the first ESXi host in the cluster.
3. Ensure that the SQL server is running on the first ESXi host in the cluster.
4. Create backup of required SQL databases
5. Disable lockdown mode on first ESXi host.
6. Disable DRS on the cluster
7. Shutdown all VM Guests (except VC/VUM/SQL)
8. Shutdown all ESXi hosts except first host

9. Connect to first ESXi server directly using vSphere client and root account
10. Stop VC/VUM services manually and disable the services
11. Shutdown VC/VUM/SQL servers
12. Create VMware snapshot for VC/VUM/SQL servers
13. *Perform physical move of equipment to new location

14. Power on first ESXi cluster node
15. Connect via iLO management interface to ESXi console, change management IP network settings via ESXi console - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
16. Connect to first ESXi server on new IP address directly using vSphere client and root account
17. Power on SQL server
18. Change SQL server IP address details and validate - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
19. Power on vCenter Server
20. Change vCenter  IP address details and validate - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
21. Re-enable the VC services and start
22. Ensure no legacy management server IP address details are stored in vCenter configuration “Administration > vCenter Server Settings > Runtime Settings > managed IP Address”
23. Power on VUM Server
24. Change VUM  IP address details and validate - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
25. Re-enable the VUM services and start

26. Connect to vCenter using vSphere client
27. All ESXi cluster hosts will be in a disconnected state
28. Reconnect first ESXi host in cluster, root username and password are required
29. Validate new network configuration on first ESXi host
30. Update port group configuration for guests as required to reflect any new VLAN(s)
31. Power on and test a guest machine on first node and test functionality as required.

32. Repeat step 14 for required remaining ESXi host nodes in cluster
33. Repeat steps 25-28 for each remaining ESXi host nodes after modification.
34. Ensure vMotion functionality is also intact.
35. After some time and move has been deemed a success the snapshots of VC/VUM/SQL can be deleted.

[Gav0]

thanks for the detailed response.  I've used this as a template and also included some steps for the C3000 too.  I have created a new DHCP scope and added reservations for interconnect bays and device bays so these should be picked up when the chasis moves.  The shared storage is moving in a few months so i have managed to migrated the existing VM's off this enclosure with the exception of the vcenter server (has local DB) and some test VM's.

appreciated any feed back on these steps (particulary step 6) 

1. Ensure that the VC server is running on the first ESX host in the cluster.
   
2. Move VC storage to first ESX host local disk
   
3. Disable DRS & HA on the cluster
   
4. Shutdown all ESX hosts except first host
   
5. Connect to first ESX server directly using vSphere client and root account
   
6. Stop VC services manually and disable the services – is done in Windows and which services?
   
7. Create VMware snapshot for VC server
   
8. Shutdown VC servers
   
9. Power down ESX Host
   
10. Backup Virtual Connect Domain Config
    
11. Change Virtual Connect Domain IP Addresses
    
12. Power down C3000 enclosure
    
13. Update all DNS entries
    
14. Perform physical move of equipment to new location
    
15. Power on C3000 enclosure
    
16. Change OA IP Address on console
    
17. Device bays and Interconnect bays should have new IP’s from DHCP
    
18. Test connectivity to all Device Bays and Interconnect Bays
    
19. Test connectivity to Virtual connect domain
    
20. Power on first ESX Host
    
21. Connect via iLO management interface to ESX console, change management IP network settings via ESX console - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
    
22. Power on vCenter Server
    
23. Change vCenter  IP address details and validate - * ensure DNS records updated to reflect new IP address
    
24. Re-enable the VC services and start
    
25. Ensure no legacy management server IP address details are stored in vCenter configuration “Administration > vCenter Server Settings > Runtime Settings > managed IP Address”
    
26. Connect to vCenter using vSphere client
    
27. All ESX cluster hosts will be in a disconnected state
    
28. Reconnect first ESX host in cluster, root username and password are required
    
29. Validate new network configuration on first ESX host
    
30. Update port group configuration for guests as required to reflect any new VLAN(s)
    
31. Power on and test a guest machine on first node and test functionality as required.
    
32. Repeat step 17-18 for required remaining ESX host nodes in cluster
    
33. Repeat step 25 -28 for remaining ESX hosts
    
34. Leave DRS and HA disabled until shared storage is moved and connected.
    

[damieng01]

Re point 6:

yes done in windows, so vCenter services are

VMware VirtualCenter Server (vpxd)

VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (vctomcat)

VMwareVCMSDS (ADAM_VMwareVCMSDS)

although disabling just the core "VMware VirtualCenter Server" would probably be enough, the webservices cant start withouth it and VCMSDS wont really get upset :smileyhappy:

[Gav0]

**UPDATE**

The above process worked a treat and the move went pretty smoothly.  The enclosure Interconnect and Device bays picked up their reservered IP's (once i realized IP helper wasnt configured on the new vlan:smileyshocked:) and everything came back good including the Virtual Connect domain.

I could then connect to the 1st esx host via ilo and change its IP info, eg:

#change IP

esxcfg-vswif -i 192.168.0.1 -n 255.255.255.0 -b 192.168.0.255 vswif0

#change service console vlan

esxcfg-vswitch -v 3 -p "Service Console" vSwitch0

#change default gateway

nano /etc/sysconfig/network file

#disable/enable interface

esxcfg-vswif -s vswif0

esxcfg-vswif -e vswif0

Then as per listed out steps, connected to this host and bring up the vcenter VM.  One thing to note was that the VC services wouldnt restart until i changed the VM Network vlan tag to match its new vlan.
Didnt need to re-add the hosts into VC, once the ip's were changed they all appeared in maintenance mode.

Will reconfigure HA & DRS once the shared store is moved.

thanks for your help

[damieng01]

late repsonse! glad it helped! :smileyhappy:

[idle-jam]

as long as the hostname did not chance, then the vcenter is safe (mssql is hostname sensitive), once you have power up the vcenter in the new location, just readd each of the host with new IP address and reconfigure the ha and drs ..