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Automating SSL Certificate Regeneration in VCSA 5.1 & 5.5 (vCenter Server Appliance)

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The VCSA (vCenter Server Appliance) provides a very simple way of regenerating the self-signed SSL Certificate by using the VAMI web management interface. This is extremely useful if you change the IP Address or hostname of your VCSA and want a proper SSL certificate with the correct common name, especially important if you are plan on using something like vCenter Orchestrator which validates this. To regenerate the SSL Certificate, you just need to login to the VAMI web interface by pointing your browser to the following address: https://[VC-IP]:5480 and under the Admin tab there is a option to "Toggle certificate setting".

After enabling this option, you will need to reboot your VCSA for the new SSL certificate to be generated. Once the VCSA is booted up, you will need to go back into the VAMI interface and disable this setting, else another SSL certificate will be generated upon the next reboot.

I was recently asked if it was possible to automate the SSL regeneration via the command-line without using the GUI which would be very useful for automated VCSA deployments. In looking into this, it turns out the process is quite simple and the present of a file within the VCSA will determine whether a certificate regeneration is required.

To enable certificate regeneration, run the following command which will "touch" (create) allow_regeneration file under /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl directory:

touch /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/allow_regeneration

To disable certificate regeneration, you just need to remove the file after the VCSA has rebooted. Behind the scenes, this is what is happening when you are toggling the option in the VAMI interface and now you can automate this from the CLI without using the GUI!

UPDATE (09/04/13)

For the new VCSA 5.5, there is a new option that you can specify which will re-generate the SSL certificate and then delete the file without requiring manual intervention after reboot. You would still need to create the /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/allow_regeneration file but if the contents of the file contains "only-once", it will delete the file automatically which is nice from an Automation perspective.

To re-generate the SSL certificate and automatically have it clean itself up, run the following command:

echo only-once > /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/allow_regeneration

Dude, Where's My vCenter Server 5.1 Components Installed At?

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You would be surprised at the number of times I have heard this question get asked and this is not regarding the installation path but the specific server a given vCenter Server 5.1 component is installed on. I am just wondering if people are somehow miss-placing their infrastructure? I would hope that most organizations have some type of CMDB (Configuration Management Database) even if it is just a spreadsheet or at a minimum a memorable hostname. In any case, this question is only relevant for those of you who decided to separate out the vCenter SSO (Single Sign-On) Server, vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service and the vCenter Server and are now wondering where a given component is installed at.
To begin, you will need to know at a minimum where your vCenter Server is installed at. If you do not know that, then you should take the walk of shame and install this utility (be-careful with port scanning tools, as it may not be allowed by your Security Operations team). Go to the advanced settings of your vCenter Server and look up one of the following settings:
  • config.vpxd.sso.sts.uri
  • config.vpxd.sso.groupcheck.uri
  • config.vpxd.sso.admin.uri

All three of these settings should contain the same hostname or IP Address which is the location of where your SSO Server is installed. You can also find this information by looking at the vCenter Server configuration file located in the following location:

Windows vCenter Server: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg
vCenter Server Appliance: /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg

Next, you will need to login directly to your vCenter Server (RDP or SSH) depending on the version you are using. Using the hostname or IP Address of our vCenter SSO Server, we will now connect to the Lookup Service which is installed alongside the vCenter SSO Server. This service will provide us with the location of all services registered to vCenter SSO and we will be able to identify the location of the remainder vCenter Server components.

For Windows vCenter Server, make sure you have the JAVA_HOME environmental variable set to C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\jre and open up a command prompt and run the following (subsitute in the hostname or IP Address of your vCenter SSO Server):

vSphere 5.5

"C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware\CIS\vmware-sso\ssolscli.cmd" listServices https://winvc.primp-industries.com:7444/lookupservice/sdk

vSphere 5.1

"C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\ssolscli\ssolscli.cmd" listServices https://winvc.primp-industries.com:7444/lookupservice/sdk

We can take a look at the serviceName which describes the specific vCenter Server component such as the vSphere Web Client or Log Browser and endpoints property will tell you which server it is installed on.

For vCenter Server Appliance, there is a similar command by running the following:

/usr/lib/vmware-sso/bin/vi_regtool listServices https://172.30.0.186:7444/lookupservice/sdk

The only vCenter Server component that we have not found is the Inventory Service. To find the server where this component is installed, we just need to look at the vCenter Server Extensions and and we can simply open up a web browser and connect to the following URL (substitute in your vCenter Server address):

https://vcsa.primp-industries.com/mob/?moid=ExtensionManager&doPath=extensionList[%22com.vmware.vim.inventoryservice%22].healthInfo

Hopefully at this point you are able to figure out where all your vCenter Server 5.1 components are installed at and you are also documenting all this information in your CMDB or spreadsheet 🙂

How to Update vSphere Infrastructure Navigator (VIN) After Changing vCenter Server IP Address

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If vSphere Infrastructure Navigator (VIN) is deployed in your environment and you change the IP Address of the vCenter Server, VIN will no longer function even after a reboot. The reason for this is that when VIN first registers with the vCenter Server, information is generated and stored within VIN such as the IP Address as well as security thumbprint. Since the IP Address of the vCenter Server has changed, we simply just need to re-register VIN with the vCenter Extension vService.

In my lab I have VIN deployed and connected to a vCenter Server (note the IP Address 172.30.0.229):

I then update the vCenter Server's IP Address to 172.30.0.230 which will break communication with VIN. To resolve this, start off by shutting down the VIN appliance. Once it is shutdown, edit the settings and click on "Manage->vServices" and at the bottom click on the Edit button. Next change the Provider drop down to "No Provider" and then click OK.

Now we will reset the Provider back to the vCenter Extension vService by going through the same workflow again but now selecting "vCenter Extension vService" as the provider.

You will also notice at the bottom there is a validation message and you should also see the new IP Address of your vCenter Server. Once you are done, click OK to save the settings and then power back on your VIN appliance. Once VIN is up, connect to the vSphere Web Client and you should be able to see your VIN data again!