Unable to create a trust relationships between Domain Controllers

Products

• VMware
• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Windows 2003 Domain Controller virtual machine is unable to create a trust relationship on another Domain Controller.
• You see the error:
  
  The local security authority is unable to obtain an RPC connection to the Domain controller.

Environment

VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs if there is an issue with the Shared Folders component of VMware Tools. This component allows you to share file between a host machine and a virtual machine.

Resolution

To resolve this issue on Windows 2003, uninstall the Shared Folders component from your Domain Controller virtual machine:

1. Go to Add and Remove Programs > VMware Tools.
2. Click Change > Next.
3. Deselect Shared Folders.
4. Reboot the machine.

To resolve this issue on Windows 2008, uninstall the Shared Folders component from your Domain Controller virtual machine:

1. Right-click on the Virtual Machine to mount the VMware Tools installer.
2. Click Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
3. Click Interactive Tools Upgrade.
4. Click OK.
5. Click setup64.exe in the AutoPlay pop up window that appears.
6. Click Next when the installer starts.
7. Click Modify > Next.
8. Expand VMware Device Drivers and then expand VMCI Driver.
9. Click Shared Folders > This feature will not be available.
10. Click Next.
11. Click Modify.
12. Click Finish.
13. Restart the virtual machine, if prompted

Additional Information