Installing and Upgrading Orchestrator
Orchestrator consists of a server component and a client component. You can install the Orchestrator
components on the machine on which vCenter Server is installed or on a separate machine. You can also download and deploy the Orchestrator Appliance. To improve performance, install the Orchestrator server component on a separate machine.
You can install the Orchestrator configuration server on 64-bit Windows machines only. The Orchestrator client can run on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, Linux, and Mac machines.
To install Orchestrator, you must be either a local administrator or a domain user that is a member of the administrators group.
You can install and upgrade Orchestrator standalone or during the vCenter Server installation or upgrade.
When you install vCenter Server, Orchestrator is silently installed on your system as an additional
component. To use Orchestrator, you must verify that the Orchestrator Server service has started and then start the Orchestrator client. Any user from the vCenter Server administrator group that you have provided during the vCenter Server installation, is an Orchestrator administrator.
If you need to change the default Orchestrator configuration settings, you can start the Orchestrator
Configuration service and change the settings by using the Orchestrator configuration interface. You can also run the Orchestrator configuration workflows by using either the Orchestrator client or the REST API.
Download the vCenter Server Installer
Install Orchestrator Standalone
Install the Orchestrator Client on a 32-Bit Machine
Install the Client Integration Plug-In in the vSphere Web Client
Download and Deploy the Orchestrator Appliance
Upgrading Orchestrator 4.0.x Running on a 64-Bit Machine
Upgrading Orchestrator 4.0.x and Migrating the Configuration Data
Upgrade Orchestrator Standalone
Updating Orchestrator Appliance 5.5.x
Upgrading Orchestrator Appliance 5.1.x and Earlier to 5.5.x
Upgrade an Orchestrator Cluster
Uninstall Orchestrator
Install Orchestrator Standalone
For production environments and to enhance the scalability of your Orchestrator setup, install Orchestrator on a dedicated Windows machine.
You can install the Orchestrator server only on a 64-bit operating system platform.
The Orchestrator client can run on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows machines.
Procedure
1 Start the Orchestrator installer.
In the directory containing the installer, browse to the download_directory\vCenter-Server\vCO\ folder
and double-click vCenterOrchestrator.exe. The file contains installers for the client and the server components.
2 Click Next.
3 Accept the terms in the license agreement and click Next.
4 Either accept the default destination folders or click Change to select another location, and click Next.
5 Select the type of installation and click Next.
Option Description
Client Installs the Orchestrator client application, which allows you to create and edit workflows.
Server Installs the Orchestrator server platform.
Client-Server Installs the Orchestrator client and server.
6 Select the location for the Orchestrator shortcuts and click Next.
7 Click Install to start the installation process.
8 Click Done to close the installer.
To start configuring Orchestrator, start the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Configuration service and log in to the Orchestrator configuration interface at: https://orchestrator_server_DNS_name_or_IP_address:8283 or https://localhost:8283.
Download and Deploy the Orchestrator Appliance
As an alternative to installing vCenter Orchestrator on a Windows computer, you can download and deploy the Orchestrator Appliance.
Prerequisites
Verify that your computing environment meets the following conditions:
vCenter Server is installed and running.
The host on which you are deploying the appliance has enough free disk space.
The Client Integration plug-in is installed before you deploy an OVF template. This plug-in enables
OVF deployment on your local file system.
If your system is isolated and without Internet access, you must download either the .vmdk and .ovf files, or the .ova file for the appliance from the VMware Web site, and save the files in the same folder.
Procedure
Log in to the vSphere Web Client as an administrator.
- In the vSphere Web Client, select an inventory object that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, such as a datacenter, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host.
- Select Actions > All vCenter Actions > Deploy OVF Template.
- Type the path or the URL to the .ovf or .ova file and click Next.
- Review the OVF details and click Next.
- Accept the terms in the license agreement and click Next.
- Type a name and location for the deployed appliance, and click Next.
- Select a host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp as a destination on which you want the appliance to run and click Next.
- Select a format in which you want to save the appliance’s virtual disk and the storage.
- (Optional) Configure the network settings, and click Next.
By default the Orchestrator Appliance uses DHCP. You can also change this setting manually and assign a fixed IP address from the appliance Web console.
- Review the properties of the appliance and set initial passwords for the root user account and for the vmware user in the Orchestrator Configuration interface.
- Review the Ready to Complete page and click Finish.
Power On the Orchestrator Appliance and Open the Home Page
To use the Orchestrator Appliance, you must first power it on and get an IP address for the virtual
appliance.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Web Client as an administrator.
2 Right-click the Orchestrator Appliance and select Power > Power On.
3 On the Summary tab, view the Orchestrator Appliance IP address.
4 In a Web browser, go to the IP address of your Orchestrator Appliance virtual machine.
https://orchestrator_appliance_ip
Upgrading Orchestrator 4.0.x Running on a 64-Bit Machine
If vCenter Orchestrator 4.0.x is installed on the same 64-bit machine as vCenter Server 4.0 and later update releases, you cannot upgrade Orchestrator by upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5.x.
VMware does not support the in-place upgrade of a standalone Orchestrator 4.0.x instance running on a 64-bit machine.
To upgrade to Orchestrator 5.5.x, you must export the Orchestrator configuration settings, uninstall the existing Orchestrator instance, run the Orchestrator installer, and import the configuration settings.
- Export the Orchestrator Configuration
The Orchestrator configuration interface provides a mechanism to export the Orchestrator
configuration settings to a local file. This mechanism allows you to take a snapshot of your system
configuration at any moment and import this configuration into a new Orchestrator instance.
Procedure
1 Log in to the Orchestrator configuration interface as vmware.
2 On the General tab, click Export Configuration.
3 (Optional) Type a password to protect the configuration file.
Use the same password when you import the configuration.
4 Click Export.
Orchestrator creates a vmo_config_dateReference.vmoconfig file on the machine on which the Orchestrator
server is installed. You can use this file to clone or to restore the system.
- Uninstall Orchestrator
You can remove the Orchestrator client and server components from your system by using Add or Remove Programs.
Procedure
1 From the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2 Select vCenter Orchestrator and click Remove.
3 Click Uninstall in the Uninstall vCenter Orchestrator window.
A message confirms that all items have been successfully removed.
4 Click Done.
Orchestrator is uninstalled from your system.
3 Install Orchestrator Standalone
For production environments and to enhance the scalability of your Orchestrator setup, install
Orchestrator on a dedicated Windows machine.
4 Import the Orchestrator Configuration
You can restore the previously exported system configuration when you reinstall Orchestrator or if a system failure occurs.