The option to join Active Directory domain is unavailable in the vSphere Web Client of vCenter Server 6.x Appliance with an External Platform Services Controller

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to join vCenter Server Appliance that is connected to an external Platform Service Controller to an Active Directory domain using GUI.
• The option to join a domain does not appear in the vSphere Web Client.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting vCenter Server Appliance 6.x.

 

Workaround:

To workaround this issue, run the domainjoin-cli command to join vCenter Server to the domain.

1. Connect to the vCenter Server console and log in using root credentials.
2. Run this command to join the Appliance to the domain:
   
   /opt/likewise/bin/domainjoin-cli join domain.com Domain_Administrator Password
   
   For example:
   
   /opt/likewise/bin/domainjoin-cli join vmware.local Administrator Passw0rd

or

/opt/likewise/bin/domainjoin-cli join vmware.local Administrator (this syntax will request for the password after typing Enter)

To join the Platform Service Controller to a domain, see the Join the vCenter Server Appliance to Domain section in the

How to use "/opt/likewise/bin/domainjoin-cli", CLI to handle Active Directory Domain Operations Join/Leave/Query on vCenter Server Appliance to resolve AD Account login failures with "Invalid Credentials" error message