The following tasks must be completed before you deploy a VxRail cluster into an existing customer-managed vCenter Server.

Confirm the customer-managed vCenter Server version

• Identify the VxRail version planned for deployment.
• Use the VxRail and external vCenter interoperability matrix to locate the supported vCenter version that matches the planned VxRail version.

Confirm the customer-managed vCenter Server license

The type of license that can be set on the vCenter Server instance depends on the type of VxRail cluster being deployed. Follow the guidance in VMware vSphere & VMware vSphere+ Compute Virtualization—Licensing, pricing, and packaging white paper to ensure that the license edition selected for the customer-managed vCenter Server meets the VxRail cluster requirements.

Confirm that the vCenter deployment model is supported

• VxRail clusters running version 7.x require a vCenter instance running 7.x.
• If the customer-managed vCenter Server instance has both a vCenter virtual appliance and a PSC, the external PSC is deprecated in version 7.x.
• If the customer-managed vCenter Server instance is hosted on a Windows system, this deployment option is deprecated in version 7.x.
• The customer-managed vCenter Server can be in ELM, as long as it is linked with other customer-managed vCenter Server instances.

Check the VxRail Release Notes

Check the VxRail Release Notes for details on supported components, features, and product fixes.

• VxRail 8.x and vSphere 8.0:  VxRail_release_notes_v8.0
• VxRail 7.x and vSphere 7.0:  VxRail_release_notes_v7.0
• VxRail 4.7.x and vSphere 6.7:  VxRail_release_notes_v4.7
• VxRail 4.5.x and vSphere 6.5:  VxRail_release_notes_v4.5

Prepare vCenter for VxRail cluster deployment

• Record the customer-managed vCenter Server FQDN.
• If the customer-managed vCenter Server has an external PSC, record the PSC FQDN.
• Ensure that you have access to vCenter credentials with administrator privileges.
• Record the existing Single Sign-On (SSO) domain—for example, vsphere.local.
• Create a VxRail management user and password for this VxRail cluster on the customer-managed vCenter Server. This user must be:

• Created with no permissions
• Created with no roles assigned to it

Note: If a previous VxRail cluster was deployed on the customer-managed vCenter Server, the same VxRail management user can be reused for additional VxRail clusters that are managed by the same vCenter Server.

• Create or select a data center on the customer-managed vCenter Server for the VxRail cluster to join.
• Specify the name of the cluster that is created by VxRail in the selected data center when the cluster is built. This name must be unique and not used anywhere in the data center on the customer-managed vCenter Server.
• (Optional) Create a VxRail non-administrator user and password for VxRail on the customer-managed vCenter Server. Your Dell representative will:

• Create two new roles: VxRail Initial Global and VxRail Data Center Global.
• Assign each of these roles to the new VxRail admin user.