Creating a VMware credential store file for third party plugins

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to create a VMware credential store XML file that is used by 3rd party plugins to authenticate with vCenter Server using credentials that are already stored.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x

Resolution

The VMware credential store XML file can be created using the PowerCLI New-VICredentialStoreItem commandlet. For more information, see the vSphere PowerCLI documentation.

To create the VMware credential store XML file:

1. Connect to vCenter Server using the command:
   
   Connect-VIServer -Server <Server_Address>
   
   Where <Server_Address> is the IP address or DNS name of vCenter Server or the ESX host.
   
   
2. When prompted, enter your user name and password to authenticate with the server.
3. Use this command to create the credential store XML file:
   
   New-VICredentialStoreItem -Host <vCenter server name/IP> -User <User name of vCenter server administrator> -Password <Password> -File <Location where you want to save the file to along with file name>
   
   
4. Mention the location of the XML file created in the above step when prompted during the installation of third party plugins.

Additional Information

For vSphere PowerCLI Cmdlet usage, see vSphere PowerCLI Documentation