To: ESRD vSphere Users

From: Omar El-Ghazzawy

Date: October 12, 2023
Subject: Access to VMware vSphere 7.x

Executive Summary
vSphere is the name for VMware’s virtualization platform and consists of two components, ESXi,
the hypervisor, and vCenter Server, for centralized management. Starting with vSphere 7.x, VMware has
moved to the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) model only, a virtual appliance (VM) based on the
VMware Photon OS optimized for running the vCenter Server.

Overview
The VMware vSphere 7.x client provides access to the vCenter Server. The vCenter Server is a
centralized platform for managing, operating, and provisioning virtual machines, storage, and networks.
To connect to vCenter Server, you use the vSphere web client that allows access from a browser, and your
ESRD domain credentials. The vSphere web client is supported on the following web browsers: Chrome,
Edge, and Firefox.
We currently have implemented three vSphere clients:
vSphere701: QA VMs and Development VMs, specifically Azure DevOps server and build systems
: vmware05, vmware07, vmware09
vSphere702: VMs used by the IT Group to manage the Windows domain and shared resources
: vmware04, vmware08
vSphere703: VMs used for software development and testing by Engineering and Development
: VMs labeled as EngDevXXX, DevXXX, and DevW10TestXXX
: vmware10

User access to the vSphere70x clients is restricted. The user can only see and work with their
authorized VM systems. In the example below, the adosadmin user will access the Development VMs on
vmware09 using vSphere701. The vSphere web client will access the vCenter Server using the web
browser Edge. Start by opening the Edge browser and type https://vsphere701.esrd.com

Select “Advanced”
Select “Continue to vsphere701.esrd.com (unsafe)”

Select “Launch vSphere Client (HTML5)”

 To log in, use your ESRD domain credentials.

Your domain credential determines what VMs you can access and the operations you can perform.
Select the VM by placing your cursor at the VM name and left mouse click. To open a console window,
select “Launch Remote Console”. This option provides a much more satisfactory interaction but requires
installing the software. One can download this software from
\\fsit\Shared\Software\VMWare\VMware-VMRC-12.0.1-18113358
The VMRC software gets updated frequently and may ask permission to update as needed.