How to reinstall vCenter Server 5.x and 4.x

Products

• VMware

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to cleanly reinstall vCenter Server 5.x and 4.x.

Resolution

To perform a clean reinstall of vCenter Server 5.5.x:

1. Back up the vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) database. For more information, see Backing up and restoring the VMware vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 configuration (2057353).
2. Back up your SSL key files for later use:
    
   • Server 2003: C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Center\SSL
   • Server 2008: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Virtual Center\SSL
      
3. Stop all vCenter Server Services. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).
4. Uninstall vCenter Server and its components. For more information, see Best practices for uninstalling vCenter Server (1030559).
5. Remove or rename these folders if they still exist:
    
   • C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure
   • C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Virtual Center
   • C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphereWebClient
   • C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Inventory Service
   • C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Tomcat
   • C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server
   • C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphereWebClient
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure
      
6. Reboot the vCenter Server.
7. Install the latest version of vCenter Server 5.5 from VMware Downloads.
8. When prompted during install, click Use Existing SQL Server Database.

 

To perform a clean reinstall of vCenter Server 4.x/5.0.x/5.1.x:

1. Back up the vCenter Server database. You need to re-attach to this database during the reinstall.
2. Backup your SSL key files for later use:
    
   • Server 2003: C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Center\SSL
   • Server 2008: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Virtual Center\SSL
      
3. Stop all vCenter Server Services. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).
4. Uninstall vCenter Server. For more information, see Best practices for uninstalling vCenter Server (1030559).
5. Remove or rename these folders if they still exist:
    
   • C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter
      
6. Remove this registry key, if it still exists. You may create a backup if needed:
   
   HKLM\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware VirtualCenter
    
7. Reinstall vCenter Server and choose your existing SQL Server database file during the install process. For more information, see:
    
   • Installing ESX 4.1 and vCenter Server 4.1 best practices (1022101)
   • Installing vCenter Server 5.1 best practices (2021202)
   • Installing vCenter Server 5.5 best practices (2052334)
8. To reuse your SSL certificates backed up in step 2, see Replacing vCenter Server Certificates.

Additional Information

For information related to post installation issues, see Post installation issues with vCenter Server 4.1 (1000153).

Post installation issues with vCenter Server 4.1 and vCenter Server 4.0
How to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server services
Installing ESXi/ESX 4.1 and vCenter Server 4.1 best practices
Cannot log in to vCenter Server after editing the ADAM database
Best practices for uninstalling vCenter Server 4.x / 5.x
Installing vCenter Server 5.1 best practices
Installing vCenter Server 5.5 best practices
Backing up and restoring the VMware vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 configuration
vCenter Server 5.x および 4.x を再インストールする方法
如何重新安装 vCenter Server 5.x 和 4.x