Configuring vCenter Server 6 Appliance to use Active Directory Services

In this blog i will show how to configure Active directory in vCenter server appliance in vSphere 6 . i will also show how to grant the ESX Admins group in active directory right to log in to VMware vCenter Serve as administrators.

First we need to add the acitve directory to VCSA as follow:

– login to web client using administrator account.
– Point to the Home icon and select Home.
– In the left pane, click Administration and click System Configuration.

– in the left pane, click Nodes and select vc01.vclass.local.(vCenter server)

– On the System Configuration page, click the Manage tab.
– In the middle pane, click Active Directory and click Join.

– In the Domain text box, enter vclass.local.(enter your domain here)
– leave the Organizational unit text box empty.
– In the user name and password text boxes
– Click OK.– At the top of the middle pane, click Actions and select Reboot.
– In the Reboot window, enter a reason for the reboot and click OK.

– vCenter Server Appliance takes several minutes to reboot. You can refresh the vSphere Web Client page, or close the browser window and reopen it, to show when the appliance is back up.
– After the reboot you should see the domain as below:

Now i will add active directory as an identity resource in web client and grant the ESX Admins group in active directory the right to log in to VMware vCenter Server™ as administrators.

– Point to the Home icon and select Home.
– In the left pane, click Administration.
– Under Single Sign-On, select Configuration.
– Click the Identity Sources tab.
– Click the Add Identity Source (green plus sign) icon.

– In the Add identity source dialog box, select Active Directory as a LDAP Server for the Identify source type.
– In the Name text box, entervclass.local.
– In the Base DN for users text box, enter CN=Users, DC=vclass, DC=local.
– In the Domain name text box, entervclass.local.
– In the Domain alias text box, entervclass.
– In the Base DN for groups text box, enter CN=Users, DC=vclass, DC=local.
– In the Primary server URL text box, enter ldap://vclass.local:389.
– In the Username text box, enter username in domain\Administrator format.
– In the Password text box, enter password
– Click Test Connection.

– A dialog box appears indicating that the connection has been established.
– Click OK.
– Click OK to close the Add identity source dialog box.
– In the left pane under Single-Sign-On, select Users and Groups.
– Click the Groups tab.
– Under Group Name, click Administrators.
– In the bottom Group Members pane, click the Add member (blue person with green plus sign) icon.
– Select the domain you just added.
– Select the Domain Admins group and click Add.