Registering VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.5.x plug-in manually

Products

• VMware

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to register the Heartbeat plug-in manually in vCenter Server.

Symptoms:

• During setup of vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.5.x, the Heartbeat plug-in fails to register
• Cannot register the Heartbeat plug-in

Cause

During installation, if proper credentials are not provided, the setup continues but the system recommends that the Heartbeat plug-in be registered manually.

Resolution

To manually register the vCenter Server Heartbeat plug-in manually when vCenter Server is running on a virtual machine:

1. With the vCenter Server Heartbeat pair in sync, on the active server, open an elevated command prompt and navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\bin.
2. Run the command:
   
   RegExt -register vcenterServer[:port] username password hbconf.xml HeartbeatPublicServiceName
   
   Where:
   • vCenterServer is the Principal Public (shared) vCenter Server hostname. If vCenter Server is non protected by Heartbeat, this is simply the hostname.
   • port is the https port on which vCenter Server is running. By default, the port is 443.
   • username is the valid username with administrator privileges on the vCenter Server.
   • password is the password of the user with administrator privileges on the vCenter Server.
   • HeartbeatPublicServiceName is the Principal Public (shared) hostname of the server where Heartbeat is running.
     
     
3. Copy the hbconf.xml file created in step 2 to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\webapps\vcshb.
4. Perform a switchover to make the Secondary server active.
5. Repeat Steps 1-3 on the Secondary server.

To register the vCenter Server Heartbeat plug-in manually when vCenter Server is running on a physical machine:

1. With the vCenter Server Heartbeat pair in sync, on the Primary/active server, open an elevated command prompt and navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\bin (the default location).
2. Run the command:
   
   RegExt -register localhost username password C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\webapps\vcshb\hbconf.xml
   
   Where:
   • username is a valid username with administrator privileges on the vCenter Server
   • password is the password of the user with administrator privileges on the vCenter Server
     
     
3. Copy the hbconf.xml file created in step 2 to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\webapps\vcshb.
4. Perform a switchover to make the Secondary server active.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 on the Secondary/active server.

To manually register the Web Client plugin:

1. On the Primary/active server, navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\tomcat\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\webapps\ROOT.
2. Copy the hbwc.zip file to C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphereWebClient\plugin-packages.
3. Unzip the hbwc.zip file and delete or move the hbwc.zip file leaving hbwc as the folder at this level.
4. Restart the VMware Web Client.
   
   Note: Ensure that the machine on which the browser is running has internet access.
   
   
5. Log in to the Web Client. Under vCenter Server, the Monitor/Heartbeat tab should be visible.