You can send HTTP requests to complete stage 2 of the deployment process of a newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller.

You set up a newly deployed appliance by providing configuration settings in the body of the HTTP request. The input fields in the body of the HTTP request depend on the type of your deployment. You can configure vCenter Server Appliance deployments with either an embedded or external Platform Services Controller, or a Platform Services Controller appliance deployment. For the other deployment types, see Use HTTP Requests to Set Up a Newly Deployed vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller and Use HTTP Requests to Set Up a Newly Deployed Platform Services Controller Appliance.

Prerequisites
■

Verify that the newly deployed appliance is reachable.

■

Verify that you have the correct credentials for sending HTTP requests.

■

Verify that you have the FQDN of the external Platform Services Controller.

Procedure
1

Check whether the appliance state is set to INITIALIZED. 

GET https://<appliance>:5480/rest/vcenter/deployment

If the appliance is in the correct state, you receive a message body that contains the following line and you can continue with the setup process. 

...
    "state": "INITIALIZED",
...
2

(Optional) Validate the configuration settings that you provide in the body of the HTTP request. 

POST https://<appliance>:5480/rest/vcenter/deployment/install?action=check

The following example shows syntax that you can use in the body of the HTTP request. 

{
  "spec": {
    "vcsa_external": {
        "https_port": 443,
        "psc_hostname": "<external_psc_fqdn>",
        "ssl_verify": false,
        "sso_admin_password": "<your_password>"        
    },
    "auto_answer": true
  }
}

If the input is valid, you receive the following response. 

{    
    "status": "SUCCESS"
}
3

Initiate the setup process by providing valid input in the body of the HTTP request. 

POST https://<appliance>:5480/rest/vcenter/deployment/install?action=start
4

Monitor the progress of the setup process. 

GET https://<appliance>:5480/rest/vcenter/deployment

The following example shows part of the response body when the setup process is ongoing. 

...
    "operation": "INSTALL",
    "status": "RUNNING",
    "state": "CONFIG_IN_PROGRESS",
    "progress": {
        "completed": 2,
        "message": {
            "id": "install.ciscommon.component.starting",
            "args": [
                "VMware Analytics Service"
            ],
            "default_message": "Starting VMware Analytics Service..."
        },
        "total": 3
    }
}

The following example shows part of the response body when the setup process has completed successfully. 

{
    "progress": {
        "message": {
            "default_message": "Task has completed successfully.",
            "id": "com.vmware.vcenter.deploy.task.complete.success",
            "args": []
        },
        "completed": 3,
        "total": 3
    },
    "start_time": "2018-03-01T16:04:13.663Z",
    "service": "",
    "operation": "INSTALL",
    "description": {
        "default_message": "Install vCenter Server appliance.",
        "id": "com.vmware.vcenter.deploy.task.description.op.install",
        "args": []
    },
...
    "end_time": "2018-03-01T17:37:16.181Z",
    "status": "SUCCEEDED",
    "cancelable": false,
    "state": "CONFIGURED"
}

You successfully configured the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller.