Linking two vCenter Servers fails with the error: Error 28039.Setup cannot join vCenter Server to the linked mode group

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You cannot link two vCenter Servers.
• Linking two vCenter Servers fails.
• You see the error:
  
  Error 28039.Setup cannot join vCenter Server to the linked mode group...Check the jointool-0.log for more information
  
  
• In the JoinTool.log file, you see entries similar to:

[2011-12-08 11:24:15 INFO] JoinTool started
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 INFO] Storage directory for LDAP instance: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\VMwareVCMSDS
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 INFO] Operation Mode: join
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 FINEST] All IP addresses for :COR01SRVSVC01.cor.local :
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 INFO] Service 'VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices' is shutdown
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 INFO] Service 'VMware VirtualCenter Server' is running
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 SEVERE] Operation "Join instance VMwareVCMSDS" failed: : Action: Prepare for Join Problem: Service "VMware VirtualCenter Server" has not been stopped|
[2011-12-08 11:24:15 SEVERE] Recovering from failed Operation "Join instance VMwareVCMSDS"

• In the vpxd.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  [2011-12-08 11:23:41.681 03008 warning 'ProxySvc Req00010'] Error reading from client while waiting for header: class Vmacore::SystemException(The specified network name is no longer available. )
  [2011-12-08 11:23:42.150 03564 warning 'App'] Service control manager requested shutdown
  [2011-12-08 11:23:42.151 03564 info 'App'] Initiating VMware VirtualCenter shutdown
  [2011-12-08 11:23:42.151 03056 info 'App'] Shutting down VMware VirtualCenter...
  [2011-12-08 11:23:55.018 03948 error 'App'] SSLStreamImpl::BIOWrite (0000000007e5c3b0) AsyncWrite failed: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
  [2011-12-08 11:23:55.018 03948 error 'App'] SSLStreamImpl::SSLWrite (0000000007e5c3b0) SSL_write failed with BIO Error
  [2011-12-08 11:23:55.018 03948 error 'App'] [VpxVmomi] Exception while sending result: SSL Exception: BIO Error
  [2011-12-08 11:24:36.191 03848 info 'App'] [VpxdHostCnx] Host connection reaper thread exiting
  [2011-12-08 11:24:36.692 03056 info 'App'] [VpxdServer] Exit done.
  
  

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Resolution

To be able to link two vCenter Servers, ensure that you meet these requirements:

• DNS is set up and configured.
• Both vCenter Servers are either in the same domain, or in different domains with a two-way trust relationship set up.
• Both vCenter Servers do not have their time settings more than 5 minutes apart (use NTP).
• Both vCenter Servers have the correct licensing.
• Ensure all vCenter Servers in a Linked Mode group are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign On server.
• The installer is run by a domain user who is a local administrator on both the vCenter Server systems.

If your issue persists after meeting these requirements, check the jointool-0.log file located at C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temp\.

If the jointool-0.log file contains the error instance GUID for remote vCenter Server is same as the GUID for this vCenter Server and the databases for both vCenter Servers are on the same remote database server, ensure that you are not using the same SQL user account for both databases unless each ODBC connection specifies which vCenter Server database to use.

The Linked Mode installation verifies the vCenter Server's GUID from the database and each SQL user has a default database. When you use the same SQL user account for both databases, the installation attempts to read from the default database for both users, find them to be the same, and fails with the error.

To resolve this issue:

1. Create a new SQL user.
2. Assign DB_owner privileges on the correct database to this user.
3. Change the ODBC connection on one of the vCenter Server machines andspecify the new SQL user.
4. Reinstall vCenter Server on one of the vCenter Server machines and specify the new SQL user for the database.

Additional Information

For more information, see the Linked Mode Prerequisites for vCenter Server section in the vSphere 5.5 Installation and Setup Guide. 2 台の vCenter Server をリンクしようとすると次のエラーで失敗する： Error 28039.Setup cannot join vCenter Server to the linked mode group（エラー28039。セットアップで vCenter Server がリンク モード グループに参加できません）