vCenter Server Appliance 5.x

The vCenter Server Appliance is good for small business to start with. VMware raised the limit from 5 ESX host en 50 VM to 100 ESX host and 3000 VM’s and this all with the embedded database. If you use an external oracle database then the limits are the same as the windows version

There are still some limitation in the vcenter Server Appliance

• no sql support for external database
• no linked vcenter possible
• no vmware update manager. you still need to install this on separate machine
• no heartbeat support

To deploy the vCenter Server Appliance 5.x:

1. Launch the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client.
2. Go to File > Deploy OVF Template.
3. Browse to the location of the vCenter Server Appliance downloaded .ova or the .ovf file and click Open.
4. In the OVF Template Details page, click Next.
5. In Name and Location, enter the name of your vCenter Server Appliance and click Next.
6. Select a datastore and click Next.
7. Select a disk format and click Next.
8. Click Finish.

Your vCenter Server Appliance 5.x is now deployed. For more information, see:

• Configuring the VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.1 from the VMware vSphere 5.1 Documentation Center
• Configuring the VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 from the VMware vSphere 5.5 Documentation Center

or watch the video at vmware website