Installing, upgrading, and uninstalling VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1

Products

VMware VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps for installing, upgrading, and uninstalling vCenter Support Assistant in your vCenter Server environment.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x

Resolution

The vCenter Support Assistant is packaged as a virtual appliance that is available in OVF and OVA formats.

Installing/deploying vCenter Support Assistant

To install vCenter Support Assistant:

Download the virtual appliance to a directory of your choosing. Extract the OVF .zip file, if applicable.
Access the File menu in the vSphere Client and select Deploy OVF Template. To deploy an OVF Template in the vSphere Web Client, select any inventory object that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, such as a datacenter, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host. Select Actions > All vCenter Actions > Deploy OVF Template.

Note: For more information on deploying OVF templates, you can reference the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide.
Browse to the file and folder location of the downloaded virtual appliance.
Confirm the appliance configuration details.
Select the desired datacenter, cluster, and host for the virtual appliance to be deployed to.
On the Disk Format step, select a desired disk format. Thin disk is recommended to conserve datastore space.
Click Finish to begin deployment of the virtual appliance.

Note: When the virtual appliance has been deployed successfully, it appears as a virtual machine in the environment.

To configure the virtual appliance and register it to vCenter Server:

Power on the vCenter Support Assistant and open a console for the virtual appliance.
Accept the EULA and input a root password when prompted.
When presented a Network configuration menu, complete the IP networking configuration as necessary. If you are using a static IP address, start with option 5 to specify the IP address before completing other configuration options.
When completed, press option 7 and Enter to exit the menu and continue booting.
When instructed, use a web browser to browse to the virtual appliance IP address presented on the console to register the virtual appliance to the vCenter Server.
In the vCenter Support Assistant - virtual appliance setup page:
1. The new Support Assistant virtual machine, once deployed, displays the URL for its management page in the console. Navigate to this URL using a web browser.
2. Log in to the Virtual Appliance Management Infrastructure (VAMI) using the root account and the default password vmware. The currently registered vCenter Servers are listed in the left pane. From the right pane, you can register new vCenter Servers to this virtual appliance.
  
  Note: When you access VAMI the first time, it does not show any currently registered vCenter Servers, even if you had registered the older instance of Support Assistant 5.1.0 in the past.
3. Enter the vCenter Server's IP or FQDN and click + Add. This adds vCenter Server to the list of vCenter Server(s) that are going to be registered.
  
  Note: You can remove a vCenter Server from the list of vCenter Server(s) being registered by clicking the red cross against the vCenter Server.
4. Click Register Plugin.
5. When prompted, enter the user name and password for the vCenter Server(s) that are being registered. If multiple vCenter Servers are being registered, the user name and password should be the same for all of them. For vCenter Server(s) with different authentication, each vCenter Server should be registered one at a time, with appropriate user name and password.
6. Click Register plugin to register the Support Assistant plugin to the vCenter Server(s).
  
  Successfully registered vCenter Server(s) are now listed in the left pane.
Note: The vCenter Support Assistant Plugin should now be accessible in the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client.

Upgrading or uninstalling vCenter Support Assistant

To remove the vCenter Support Assistant, unregister then remove the virtual appliance from the vCenter Server. If you are upgrading, you can then re-deploy using the steps in Installing, upgrading, and uninstalling VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1 (2042454).

Note: If you are redeploying the same version or a minor update release of the vCenter Support Assistant, as long as the network settings of the new appliance are the same as the original, you do not need to re-register the plugin to your vCenter Server host or hosts. However re-registration is required when there is a complete version change (for example, if you upgrade from 5.1.0 to 5.1.1).

To unregister the existing vCenter Support Assistant virtual appliance from each vCenter Server:

Log in to the VAMI using the root user account providing the relevant password.
Currently registered vCenter Server(s) are listed on the left side.
There is a check box next to each vCenter Server.
Check the vCenter Server(s) that need to be unregistered.
Click on “Unregister plugin” button which will popup a dialog requesting user name and password.
Enter the valid user name and password for the vCenter Server. If unregistering from multiple vCenter Server(s) at the same time, all the selected vCenter Server(s) should have the same user name and password for authentication and removal of the registered plugin from them. For vCenter Server(s) with different authentication, each vCenter Server should be unregistered one at a time with the proper user name and password as appropriate.
Click on “Unregister plugin” button in the dialog which will unregister the plugin from the vCenter Server(s).
Successfully unregistered vCenter Server(s) will be removed from the left side where currently registered vCenter Server(s) are listed.

To remove the existing vCenter Support Assistant virtual appliance:

Using the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client, log in to the vCenter Server to which the existing Support Assistant virtual appliance has already been deployed or registered.
Power off the Support Assistant virtual machine in the inventory.
Right-click the Support Assistant virtual machine and click Delete from Disk. In the vSphere Web Client, this option is under All vCenter Actions.
Click OK to confirm.

To deploy and register the updated vCenter Support Assistant appliance, see Installing, upgrading, and uninstalling VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1 (2042454).

Additional Information

For more information about virtual appliances and deployment, see Virtual Appliances in the VMware Technical Resource Center.

Installing, upgrading, and uninstalling VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1
VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1 troubleshooting references
VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1 のインストール、アップグレード、アンインストール
安装、升级和卸载 VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.1.1