For the sake of argument, "what ifs?" and engineering-level assessments, I'm presenting this question hypothetically
...can it be done...and if so, how?
If you have an operational VSAN implementation, and for whatever reason, you have to swap out the vCenter server VM (vcenter001) that manages the current VSAN cluster, with a separate newly built vCenter Server VM (vcenter002), how would you go about swapping out the vCenter servers while also doing the following:
- VMs in infrastructure don't experience downtime (unless they absolutely have to)
- VSAN cluster does not have to be rebuilt (hard requirement)
- Pre-existing VSAN cluster becomes managed by new vCenter Server (vcenter002)
- VSAN datastore is kept intact (hard requirement)
- swap is permanent...meaning that the swap can be left in place permanently without any future roll back needed (ideally...not a hard requirement)
- A little downtime in the process, if needed, is understandable and not a hard requirement
Extra details regarding VSAN infrastructure:
- vcenter001 is on same subnet as vcenter002
- vmkernels and every other requirement is in place and setup properly
- vCenter server Windows edition is installed on BOTH vcenter001 and vcenter002 using the manual individual method (not quick method)
- both vCenters as well as the VSAN are functioning 100%
- vcenter002 is running newer upgraded OS (2012 R2) (on VMware compatibility matrix)
- both vCenter servers are running vSphere 5.5u1
- both vCenters are VSAN licensed
- SSO, web client, SQL Server 2012R2 SP1, vCenter server and inventory service are installed on single server
- both vCenters are 100% operational...regardless of reason why vCenter needs to be swapped out
Going through the motions, I have tried this situation before with exact same environmental details and continued to get UUID mismatch errors when trying to move the VSAN ESXi hosts from vcenter001 to vcenter002. And to elaborate a little more to avoid people having to ask some of the core expected questions, I tried migrating the ESXi with maintenance mode, without putting into maintenance mode, disconnecting (vcenter001) then connecting to new vCenter (vcenter002), I've tried with old vCenter server still running or with it shutdown.
Attached is a generic diagram that I put together real quick in mspaint to help visualize the infrastructure layout. In advance, I'd like to thank all you who will take the time to try and answer my question.
