Categories
General

vCenter : Creating a new vSphere Cluster in vCenter

Creating a new vSphere Cluster in vCenter

Right-click the Datacenter object in the vCenter tree and select ‘New Cluster’

    

 The ‘New Cluster Wizard’ will be launched, enter a Cluster Name and select the cluster features you would like to enable:

     

 If you enable DRS you will be prompted to configure DRS;

  • Manual (suggest only, no automation)
  • Partially Automated (VM’s will automatically start on a node determined by DRS, but will not be moved)
  • Fully Automated (VM’s auto power on DRS assigned node and will be moved according to DRS)

     

 You will also be prompted to enable/disable DPM (VM hosts will be powered on/off dynamically as capacity requirements increase):

  • Off
  • Manual (recommend only)
  • Automatic (automated)

     

 

Next you’re prompted to configure VMHA, depending on your configuration you will want to set:

  • Enable Host Monitoring (recommended in most scenarios)
  • Enable/Disable Power on VM’s that violate availability constraints

 I have selected the latter because I have then determined VM HA requirements on a per-VM basis on the cluster (shown later).

     

 

You’ll then be prompted to configure the defaults for VM restart priority and the Host Isolation Response:  

     

You can also monitor individual VM’s if required; VM’s will automatically restart if monitoring fails:

     

In order to ensure host compatibility with the cluster you can enforce an EVC mode:

     

Configure the default swap-file location:

     

Then click finish to create the cluster:

     

To add nodes to the cluster simply drag and drop them into the new cluster object in the vCenter tree:

     

 You will see the progress of each node being added in the task status area of the venter console:

    

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *