Note: Dell Technologies recommends using Quickstart to configure and deploy the vSAN stretched cluster. It helps ensure all components are properly created and configured.
- If the Quickstart window is not open, select the cluster in the vSphere Client Inventory pane on the left, and then select Configure > Configuration > Quickstart. The Quickstart screen displays.
- In the Add hosts box on the lower right side of the window, click ADD.
- In the Add new and existing hosts to your cluster window, on the New hosts tab, do the following:
- Enter the IP address or FQDN, username, and password of the first new host in the cluster, esx01.dell.lab in this example.
- Click ADD HOST.
- If the other hosts use the same credentials, check the Use the same credentials for all hosts box.
- Enter the IP address or FQDN of the second host, esx02.dell.lab, and credentials if applicable.
- Click ADD HOST.
- Repeat steps 3d-3e as needed for all remaining hosts in the cluster. These are esx03.dell.lab through esx07.dell.lab in this example. The ESXi vSAN cluster hosts and credentials listing displays as shown in the following image.CAUTION: The services host and witness host are listed on the Existing hosts tab of the window above. Do not check the box next to either as these hosts will not be located within the vSphere cluster. Even though the witness host will contribute disks to the vSAN, it is not part of the vSphere cluster.
- Click NEXT.
- In the Security Alert window, verify the SHA1 Thumbprints of the hosts and click OK. The Host summary window displays.
- Click Next. The Review and finish screen displays.
- Click FINISH. The status shows in the Recent Tasks list at the bottom of the vSphere Client window. When complete, the vSphere Client window looks like the following figure. The hosts are added to the cluster and are in maintenance mode.
- In the Cluster Quickstart window, review the messages in the Add hosts box. Address any warnings or errors reported by clicking the link provided for additional information. Note: In the example above, there is a warning in the Add hosts box that time is not synchronized. This warning displays because the seven newly added ESXi hosts have not yet been configured for NTP. The issue is resolved by using the vSphere Client to enable NTP on all hosts in the cluster and pointing them to the NTP server. See the Enable NTP on the ESXi services and witness hosts section for NTP configuration steps.