VMware VS4-ENT-PL-A - vSphere Enterprise Plus Setup Manual page 113

Linked Mode Prerequisites for vCenter Server
Prepare the vCenter Server system for joining a Linked Mode group.
Before joining a vCenter Server to a Linked Mode group, review
Server," on page 112.
All the requirements for standalone vCenter Server systems apply to Linked Mode systems.
The following requirements apply to each vCenter Server system that is a member of a Linked Mode group:
vCenter Server does not support Linked Mode groups that contain both version 5.x and pre-5.0 versions
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of vCenter Server. Similarly, vCenter Server does not support Linked Mode groups that contain
different 5.x versions of vCenter Server or different versions of vCenter Single Sign-On. After all 5.x
vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On instances in a Linked Mode group are upgraded to the
same 5.x version, you can rejoin them.
Make sure that all vCenter Servers in a Linked Mode group are registered to the same vCenter Single
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Sign-On server.
To join a vCenter Server to another vCenter Server in Linked Mode, the currently logged-in user who is
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performing the join operation must have access to the vCenter Server database of each vCenter Server.
When you join a vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group, the installer must be run by a
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domain user who is an administrator on both the machine where vCenter Server is installed and the
target machine of the Linked Mode group.
When you join a vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group, if User Account Control (UAC) is
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enabled on the machine, the join operation requires elevated privileges through the Run as
administrator option. This is true even if the logged-in user is a domain administrator user.
To join a Linked Mode group the vCenter Server must be in evaluation mode or licensed as a Standard
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edition. vCenter Server Foundation and vCenter Server Essentials editions do not support Linked
Mode.
DNS must be operational for Linked Mode replication to work.
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The vCenter Server instances in a Linked Mode group can be in different domains if the domains have a
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two-way trust relationship. Each domain must trust the other domains on which vCenter Server
instances are installed.
All vCenter Server instances must have network time synchronization. The vCenter Server installer
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validates that the machine clocks are not more than five minutes apart. See
the vSphere Network,"
Joining a Linked Mode Group During and After Installation
You can join a system to a Linked Mode group during the vCenter Server installation or after you install
vCenter Server.
For example, suppose you have three machines on which you want to install vCenter Server. You want the
three instances to be members of a Linked Mode group.
1 On Machine 1, you install vCenter Server as a standalone instance because you do not have a remote
vCenter Server machine to join.
2 On Machine 2, you install vCenter Server, choose to join a Linked Mode group, and provide the fully
qualified domain name of Machine 1.
3 On Machine 3, you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x. After the upgrade, you configure Machine 3 to join
either Machine 1 or Machine 2. Machine 1, Machine 2, and Machine 3 are now members of a Linked
Mode group.
VMware, Inc.
on page 59.
Chapter 5 After You Install vCenter Server
"Linked Mode Considerations for vCenter
"Synchronizing Clocks on
113