VMware vCenter Update Manager Utility

Today I was looking into the replacement of SSL certificates for vSphere 4.1 U1. I came across the blog post by Derek Seaman about VMware VUM 4.1 U1 SSL Certificate Replacement. His post mentions a new tool for replacing the SSL certificate : the VMware vCenter Update Manager Utility.

I’ve looked it up in the VMware Update Manager 4.1 U1 release notes here and there it was :

The Update Manager 4.1 Update 1 release includes the VMware vCenter Update Manager Utility that helps users reconfigure the setup of Update Manager, change the database password and proxy authentication, re-register Update Manager with vCenter Server, and replace the SSL certificates for Update Manager

With this utility you can reconfigure the following settings in VMWare Update Manager :

Proxy settings

When you install the Update Manager server or the UMDS, you specify the proxy settings. If these settings change after installation, you must reconfigure Update Manager or UMDS to use the newly configured proxy.

Database user name and password

If the database user name and password change after you install the Update Manager server or UMDS, you can reconfigure Update Manager and UMDS without the need to reinstall them.

vCenter Server IP address

When you install the Update Manager server, you register it with the vCenter Server system with which Update Manager will work. Every time the vCenter Server IP is requested, you must provide the IP of the
vCenter Server system with which Update Manager is registered. If the IP of the vCenter Server system or Update Manager changes, you must be able to re-register the Update Manager server with the vCenter Server system.

SSL certificate

You can replace the default Update Manager SSL certificates with either selfsigned certificates or certificates signed by a commercial Certificate Authority (CA). You can replace only the SSL certificates that Update Manager uses for communication between the Update Manager server and client components. You cannot replace the SSL certificates that Update Manager uses when you
are importing offline bundles or upgrade release files.

So a useful tool when you want to reconfigure your VMware Update Manager installation after you’ve installed it. For the complete guide by VMware click here.