ESXi host does not retain Active Directory membership after a reboot

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• An ESXi host can join Active Directory (AD), but AD authentication always fails
• Using Windows Authentication to connect to the host with the vSphere Client fails
• Using an AD account with Remote Tech Support mode (SSH) fails
• The host is no longer joined to the AD domain after a reboot

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

Resolution

To troubleshoot this issue, check that the host meets basic requirements to be joined to Active Directory:

1. Check the DNS and routing configuration and ensure that a valid host name and domain name are entered.
2. Ensure that the configured DNS servers are valid for Active Directory and can resolve other Active Directory systems (the Domain Controllers).
3. Ensure that the search domain(s) includes the host domain name, as well as any other required domains for the network.
4. Ensure that the Time Configuration on the host is configured to sync with a Domain Controller.
5. Ensure that the host is configured to use a static IP address.
6. Ensure that the Domain Controller host name and the ESX/ESXi host name are resolvable by the configured DNS servers.

Additional Information

Attempting to join domain to use Active Directory authentication fails for an ESXi host
Unable to log in to the ESXi 4.1 host using Windows credentials
Unable to add ESXi host to the Active Directory domain