Preparing and installing vCenter Server on Microsoft Windows

vCenter Server is probably still, mostly installed on servers running Microsoft Windows. Before installing the application, it is important to ensure that all requirements are met.

Hardware, software, and network requirements

Assuming that all major vCenter Server components should be installed on one single host, the requirements are:

• 64-bit compatible processor with at least 2 logical cores and 2 Ghz

• At least 12 GB memory

• At least 100 GB hard drive capacity

• 64-bit variant of Microsoft Windows Server (2008 SP2 or newer)

• 64-bit database Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver and Data Source Name (DSN) for establishing database connection

• 1 GBit/s network

• Resolvable system hostname using DNS forward and reverse lookup

For alternate setup scenarios, requirements might differ. The vCenter Server documentation offers very detailed lists of recommendations and requirements for particular infrastructure scenarios.

Database preparation

In order...