vCenter

Environment Preparation

To manage a vCenter via ZStack, you need to prepare a ZStack Private Cloud environment and a vCenter environment in advance.

Prepare a ZStack Private Cloud Environment

You can either deploy a ZStack management node via an independent physical server, or deploy a ZStack management node via a VM instance of a vCenter cluster.

Prepare software.
- ZStack Custom ISO
  - File name: ZStack-x86_64-DVD-3.10.0-c76.iso or ZStack-x86_64-DVD-3.10.0-c74.iso
  - Download address: Click here.
- ZStack Installation Package
  - File name: ZStack-installer-3.10.0.bin
  - Download address: Click here.
Note: After you download the installation package, confirm the integrity of the file by using the MD5 checksum tool.

Prepare hardware.

Prepare a physical server, or a VM instance of a vCenter cluster. The configuration requirements are listed as follows.

Physical Server/vCenter VM	Parameter
ZStack management node	64-bit CPU with a minimum of 4 cores A minimum of 8 GB memory A minimum of one hard disk with a minimum of 500 GB capacity A minimum of one Gigabit NIC
Network	Allocates network addresses and accesses vCenter servers smoothly

Install ZStack.
Within the physical server or vCenter VM instance, use ZStack Custom ISO to install the operating system, and select ZStack Enterprise Management Node. After you complete installing and rebooting the operating system successfully, ZStack will be automatically installed. For more information, see the Installation and Deployment topic in the User Guide.
Note: For a vCenter VM instance, select the CentOS 5/6/7 (64-bit) operating system.
Log in to ZStack.
We recommend that you use Chrome or Firefox to log in to the ZStack management page via http://your_machine_ip:5000. The default user name is admin, and the default password is password.
Figure 1. Login Page

Note:
If you use a vCenter VM instance to install a ZStack management node, we recommend that you create a snapshot (excluding memories) at this time, and name this snapshot Initialization.

Prepare a vCenter Environment

To ensure that ZStack takes over virtualization resources of a vCenter, make sure that this vCenter meets the following requirements:

The vCenter has a resource structure of Data Center, Cluster, and Host.
The vCenter can display added local storages and shared storages such as vSAN, FC, iSCSI, and NFS storages.
Note: Currently, Datastore Cluster is not supported.
The port group information is configured for a distributed switch (dvSwitch) or standard switch (vSwitch) of the vCenter.
- dvSwitch scenario:
  Only resources of the hosts added to a dvSwitch can be imported to ZStack. If you do not add a host to a dvSwitch, the associated resources cannot be imported to ZStack.
- vSwitch scenario:
  Only resources of the hosts in the same cluster, added to at least one same vSwitch, and have at least one same port group attribute (including the same network labels and the same VLAN ID) can be imported to ZStack.
  Note: ZStack can only take over VM networks rather than VMkernels or management networks.
The existing template VM in a vCenter must be converted to the Template type, as shown in Cluster and Host in vCenter, Distributed Switch in vCenter and Template in vCenter.

Basic Resource

ZStack can manage vCenter basic resources, namely vCenter virtual resources, in a unified manner, including adding a vCenter, synchronizing data for a vCenter, and deleting a vCenter.

After you add a vCenter for the first time, ZStack will automatically synchronize the clusters, hosts, VM instances, templates, storages, networks, and other resources in the vCenter. To use a managed vCenter, click Sync Data to synchronize vCenter resources to your current Cloud. Then, you can view the associated resources in the UI.

You can add and manage multiple vCenters.
You can filter resources before you import vCenter resources to ZStack.
- dvSwitch scenario:
  Only resources of the hosts added to a dvSwitch can be imported to ZStack. If you do not add a host to a dvSwitch, the associated resources cannot be imported to ZStack.
- vSwitch scenario:
  Only resources of the hosts in the same cluster, added to at least one same vSwitch, and have at least one same port group attribute (including the same network labels and the same VLAN ID) can be imported to ZStack.
  Note: ZStack can only take over VM networks rather than VMkernels or management networks.

Next, we will introduce how to add a vCenter in ZStack.

Prepare the following information in advance.

Field	Description	Example
Access domain name	vCenter access address: domain name or IP address	vc.test.com 172.20.1.166
Administrator	vCenter administrator name, including the intact domain	administrator@vsphere.local
Access password	vCenter administrator password	Testing123

Add a vCenter.
In the navigation pane of the ZStack Private Cloud UI, choose vCenter > vCenter. On the vCenter page, click Add vCenter. On the displayed Add vCenter page, set the following parameters:
- Name: Enter a name for the vCenter.
- Description: Optional. Enter a description for the vCenter.
- Domain Name: Enter a domain name for the vCenter.
- Port Number: Enter a port No. of the vCenter.
- User Name: Enter a user name for the vCenter.
- Password: Enter the password that corresponds to the vCenter user name according to your actual practice. Note that the password is case sensitive.
- HTTPS/HTTP: Select a transfer protocol when you synchronize the vCenter. The supported transfer protocols include HTTPS and HTTP. Default option: HTTPS.
As shown in Add vCenter. Click OK. Then, the vCenter is added.
Figure 1. Add vCenter
After you add the vCenter successfully, ZStack will import the existing clusters, hosts, VM instances, templates, storages, networks, and other resources in the vCenter.
On the vCenter details page, you can view the basic attributes, clusters, primary storages, backup storages, hosts, resource pools, and audit information.
- Specifically, the Basic Attributes tab page displays the overview, resource count, and other information about the vCenter, as shown in Basic Attributes.
  Figure 2. Basic Attributes
- The Cluster tab page displays a list of the vCenter clusters managed by the Cloud, and displays the cluster name, hypervisor type, host count, state, and other information.
- Both the Primary Storage tab page and Backup Storage tab page can display a datastore list, as shown in vCenter Primary Storage and vCenter Backup Storage.
  Figure 3. vCenter Primary Storage
  
  Figure 4. vCenter Backup Storage
- The Host tab page displays the state of the maintenance mode, as shown in vCenter Host.
  Figure 5. vCenter Host
  Note:
  
  If hosts on a remote vCenter enter the maintenance mode, you can view the resource state locally via data synchronization.
- The Resource Pool tab page displays a list of the vCenter resource pools managed by the Cloud. The resource pools and resources (including another resource pools and VM instances) in these pools are displayed in cascade. In addition, the resource pool tab page displays the resource pool name, type, parent item, VM quota, CPU capacity limit, and memory capacity limit, as shown in Resource Pool.
  Figure 6. Resource Pool
  Note:
  
  vCenter VM instances that are created in ZStack do not display resource pool attributes, and will not be displayed on the preceding Resource Pool tab page.
  
  After a historical version (earlier than ZStack 3.3.0) is upgraded to the latest version, click Sync Data before you can view the vCenter resource pool information.
  You can click on the resource pool name or VM name to enter the corresponding details page. The details page of a single resource pool displays information such as the CPU reservation, memory reservation (reserved resource capacities cannot be allocated), limits (the upper limit of allocated resource capacity), and quotas (weight of shared resources), as shown in Single Resource Pool Details Page.
  
  Reservation: Specify a proper CPU quota or memory quota for the resource pool. Default value: 0.
  
  Limit: Specify the upper limit for the CPU quota or memory quota in the resource pool. Default value: unlimited.
  
  Quota: Specify the share (quota) value of the resource pool with respect to the total resources of a parent object (a host, or another resource pool). Sibling resource pools share resources according to their relative share value bounded by the reservation and limit.
  For more information, see VMware Official Documentation.
  As shown in Figure 7.
  Figure 7. Single Resource Pool Details Page
- The Audit tab page displays vCenter operation logs.
On the vCenter details page, click Actions to synchronize data or delete a vCenter.

You can perform the following operations on a vCenter:

Add vCenter: Add a vCenter. After you add a vCenter, ZStack will automatically synchronize the clusters, hosts, VM instances, templates, storages, networks, and other resources of the vCenter. You can view the associated resources in the UI.
Synchronize data: After you synchronize the data for the vCenter, vCenter resources will be synchronized locally in real time.
Note:
- vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) that you deployed in the remote vCenter will not be synchronized locally to avoid error operations.
- ZStack allows you to automatically synchronize vCenter data. The method is as follows:
  In the navigation pane of the ZStack UI, choose Settings > Global Settings > Advanced. On the Advanced tab page, set vCenter Data Auto Sync Interval, as shown in vCenter Data Auto Sync Interval.
  Figure 8. vCenter Data Auto Sync Interval
Delete: Delete a vCenter. After you delete a vCenter, the local records of associated vCenter resources will be deleted as well. However, the actual resources in the remote vCenter will not be affected.
View cluster: View vCenter cluster information.
View primary storage: View vCenter primary storage information and datastore lists.
View backup storage: View vCenter backup storage information and datastore lists.
View host: View vCenter host information.
View resource pool: View vCenter resource pools, VM lists, and detailed information.

VM Instance

After you add a vCenter, the vCenter VM instances will be automatically synchronized to ZStack. In addition, you can create vCenter VM instances on your Cloud.

This topic describes how to create vCenter VM instances in ZStack.

On the VM Instance page, check the details about the VM instances synchronized from the vCenter you added to ZStack.

In the navigation pane of the ZStack Private Cloud UI, choose vCenter > VM Instance. Then, the VM Instance page is displayed, as shown in vCenter VM Page.
Figure 1. vCenter VM Page

Note: ZStack allows you to manage resources of multiple vCenters. You can view resources of all vCenters or a vCenter by clicking the vCenter drop-down arrow.
Create a vCenter VM instance on the current Cloud.
Before you create a vCenter VM instance on your current Cloud, you need to set up a vCenter vRouter network or vCenter flat network in advance in ZStack. For more information, see Network.
After you create a vCenter vRouter network or flat network, click Create VM Instance on the VM Instance page of the vCenter. On the displayed Create VM Instance page, set the following parameters:
- Add Type: Select an add type to determine whether to create multiple VM instances at a time. Options: Single | Multiple.
- VM Name: Enter a name for the vCenter VM instance.
  Note: The vCenter VM name cannot be identical with the vCenter image name.
- VM Description: Optional. Enter a description for the vCenter VM instance.
- Instance Offering: Select an instance offering for the vCenter VM instance.
- Image: Select a vCenter image to create the vCenter VM instance.
- Network: Select a vCenter vRouter network or vCenter flat network that you created before.
- Advanced: Optional. Specify resources for the vCenter VM instance. If not specified, the system will automatically specify resources for the vCenter VM instance.
  - Data Disk Offering: Select a data disk offering for the vCenter VM instance.
  - Cluster: Specify a cluster in the vCenter for the vCenter VM instance.
  - Primary Storage: Specify a primary storage in the vCenter for the vCenter VM instance.
  - Host: Specify a host in the vCenter for the vCenter VM instance.
As shown in Create vCenter VM Instance to Your Current Cloud. Click OK. Then, the vCenter VM instance is created.
Figure 2. Create vCenter VM Instance on the Current Cloud

You can perform the following operations on a vCenter VM instance:

Create: Create a vCenter VM instance on the current Cloud.
Start: Start a vCenter VM instance that is in the stopped state.
Stop: Stop the vCenter VM instance.
Reboot: Reboot the vCenter VM instance.
Pause: Pause the vCenter VM instance.
Resume: Resume the vCenter VM instance that is in the paused state.
Migrate: Migrate the vCenter VM instance to the other compute node.
- Currently, only hot migrations are supported.
- Shared storages allow you to perform hot migrations for the vCenter VM instance with data volumes.
- Currently, local storages do not support migrations.
- The migration speed is associated to network configurations of two hosts. If the network configurations are relatively low, the migration speed will probably be slow.
- Before you perform migrations for the vCenter VM instance, make sure that vMotion is enabled.
  - For vCenter 5.5, configure specific VMkernel networks and enable vMotion. In addition, make sure that IP addresses of the vMotion sub-interface for both source VMkernels and destination VMkernels can be intercommunicated.
  - For vCenter 6.0 or later, enable vMotion in management networks.
Clone: Clone a root volume of the vCenter VM instance. According to the instance offering of the vCenter VM instance, the system clones out a VM instance that has the identical system with the current vCenter VM instance.
- The vCenter VM instance supports online cloning and offline cloning.
- The vCenter VM instance with data volumes cannot be cloned with together with its data volumes.
- The vCenter VM instance can be cloned as a VM instance rather than as a template.
Power off: Power off the vCenter VM instance directly.
Change instance offering: Change the CPU or memory offline for the vCenter VM instance.
Change owner: Change the owner of the vCenter VM instance.
Note:
ZStack supports multi-tenant management in the managed vCenter. Normal accounts and project members can perform operations on vCenter VM instances.
Set HA level: Set the high availability (HA) level to NeverStop or None.
- None: Disable the HA feature for the vCenter VM instance.
- NeverStop: Enable the HA feature for the vCenter VM instance.
  If you set the HA level to NeverStop for a VM instances that is running on the LocalStorage primary storage, note that:
  - When the host where the vCenter VM instance is running is in the Enable state and the Connected status, this vCenter VM instance will keep running. Even if this vCenter VM instance is forced to stop, this vCenter VM instance will be rebooted.
    Note:
    If you want a vCenter VM instance with the NeverStop HA level to not be automatically rebooted, select Check the box will make NeverStop VM instance would not start automatically after stop. in the displayed Stop VM Instance dialog box.
  - When the host where the vCenter VM instance is running is powered off or disconnected, this vCenter VM instance will enter the Stopped state.
- If a remote vCenter environment enabled the Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) service to provide HA for the vCenter VM instance, the HA setting in ZStack is not affected.
Open console: Open the console of the vCenter VM instance to log in to and control this vCenter VM instance.
Note:
After ZStack takes over a vCenter, you cannot directly open the console of the running VM instances synchronized from the vCenter.
You can directly open the console of the following vCenter VM instances:
- vCenter VM instances that are created in ZStack
- vCenter VM instances that are rebooted in ZStack
- vCenter VM instances that are dynamically migrated via ZStack based on shared storages
Set console password: Set a console password for the vCenter VM instance.
Cancel console password: Cancel a console password for the vCenter VM instance.
Attach volume: Attach an available volume to the current vCenter VM instance.
Detach volume: Detach a volume that you added before from the vCenter VM instance.
Attach NIC: Attach an available NIC to the current vCenter VM instance. Both public network NICs and private network NICs are supported.
Detach NIC: Detach a NIC that you added before from the vCenter VM instance.
Delete: Delete a vCenter VM instance. If you delete a vCenter VM instance, the local records will be deleted as well. Simultaneously, the actual VM instance in the remote vCenter will be stopped.
Recover: Recover a vCenter VM instance that is in the deleted state.
Expunge: Completely delete a vCenter VM instance that is in the deleted state. If you expunge the vCenter VM instance, the local records and the actual VM instance in the remote vCenter will be expunged.
View monitoring data: View the monitoring data of the vCenter VM instance. On the vCenter VM instance details page, click on the Monitoring Data tab page. Then, you can view real-time display of the CPU, memory, disk, virtual disk, and NIC information about the vCenter VM instance.

vCenter

Environment Preparation

Prepare a ZStack Private Cloud Environment

Prepare a vCenter Environment

Basic Resource

VM Instance

Products

Solutions

Help & Support

Contact Us