Using VMware vCenter Server
How To Create Container Objects
How to add a datacenter object to the vCenter Server inventory and add a folder object to datacenter object.
1. Right-click your vCenter Server system in the inventory. Select New Datacenter.
2. Enter a datacenter name.
3. Right-click your datacenter and select New Folder.
4. Type in your folder name.
How To Add your ESXi Host to the vCenter Server Inventory
How to add your ESXi host to Lab Servers folder and view general information about your ESXi host.
1. In the inventory, right-click the Lab Servers folder and select Add Host.
2. When prompted by the Add Host wizard, do the following:
a. Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your ESXi host (Host).
b. Type in your Username.
c. Enter your password. When you click next, a security alert appears stating that vCenter is unable to verify authenticity of specified host. Click Yes to proceed.
d. Verify the information for Host Summary and click Next (Host Summary).
e. Type in your License key and click Next.
f. Do not enable lockdown mode. Click Next.
g. Select your datacenter and click Next (Virtual Machine Location).
h. Review the configuration summary and click Finish.
3. In Recent Tasks pane at the bottom of vSphere Client, monitor progress of the task. After task is finished, expand Lab servers folder and verify that your ESXi host appears in the inventory.
4. Select your ESXi host in the inventory and click the Summary tab. You can view information about ESXi host, such as its datastores, networks, number of NICs and CPUs, and memory usage.
5. Click Hardware Status tab and view the status of your ESxi host’s hardware.
How To Create Folder Objects
How to create three folders in the VMs and Templates inventory view.
1. Go to Home > Inventory > VMs and Templates. Expand the inventory.
2. Right-click the datacenter and select New Folder.
3. Enter a folder name.
4. Create two or more folders in the datacenter.
How To Manage vSphere License Keys
How to add license keys for vCenter Server and ESXi.
1. Go to Home > Administration > Licensing. Licensing pane appears.
2. In Product list, expand Evaluation Mode and expand No License Key. Your ESXi host and vCenter Server system are in the list.
3. Click Manage vSphere Licenses link in upper-right corner.
4. When prompted by Manage vSphere Licenses wizard, do the following:
a. Enter the vCenter Server license key and the vSphere Enterprise license key.
b. In the ESX tab, your ESXi host is an unlicensed asset. The Product column on the right shows that your ESXi host has no license key. To assign license to your host, click the 25-character vSphere 4 Enterprise Plus license key.
c. Click vCenter Server tab. Your vCenter Server system is an unlicensed asset. Assign license to your host by clicking the 25-character vCenter Server Standard license key. Click Next.
d. Click Next (Remove License Keys).
e. Click Finish (Confirm Changes).
5. You can view the Product report in the Licensing pane.