Cannot log in to vCenter Server after editing the ADAM database

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to log in to the vCenter Server instance after using ADSI Edit to manually remove the vCenter Server instance from a problematic Linked Mode setup.
  
  Note: For information on manually removing a vCenter Server instance using ADSI Edit, see Removing a linked vCenter Server from vSphere Client fails with the error: vCenter server not connected (1017631).
  
  
• You are unable to log into vCenter Server after deleting the OU=Instance data from the ADAM database.
• The VMware VirtualCenter Server service and the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service start successfully.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs if the vCenter Server instances are linked, even though they do not appear to be. When deleting the OU=Instance entry from the ADAM database on one vCenter Server, it is deleted from the linked vCenter Server because they share the ADAM repository. The missing OU=Instance impacts the functionality of the vCenter Server instance.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the ADAM database must be rebuilt on the problematic vCenter Server instance.

To rebuild the ADAM database:

Note: Ensure that you have the vCenter Server license keys before proceeding.

1. Using the vCenter Server Linked Mode Configuration option on the Start menu, ensure that Linked-Mode is disabled on the working vCenter Server instance.
2. Stop the VMware VirtualCenter Server service and the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service on the problematic vCenter Server instance.
3. Open a command prompt (as Administrator on Windows 2008) and run this command to navigate to the vCenter install directory:
   • In 32-bit vCenter Server 4.0 or 4.1:
     
     cd "C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\"
     
     
   • In 64-bit vCenter Server 4.0:
     
     cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\"
     
     
4. Run this command:
   
   jointool.bat init --name hostname --vimURL https://hostname:443/sdk --webServiceURL https://hostname:8443/vws --force
   
   Where hostname is the resolvable name of the local vCenter Server.
   
   Note: If custom ports are used for vCenter or Webservices, modify the command appropriately. This command may take two to three minutes to complete.
   
   
5. Click Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > ADSI Edit.
6. Right-click ADSI Edit and click Connect to.
7. Under Connection Point, select Select or type a Distinguished Name or Naming context and type:
   
   dc=virtualcenter,dc=vmware,dc=int
   
   
8. Under Computer, select Select or type a domain or server, enter the local vCenter Server host name, and click OK.
9. Expand the tree items in the left pane and find the OU=Instances entry.
10. Right-click OU-Instances > Properties for the instance, locate the vmw-vc-URL, and verify that the correct local vCenter host name is set.
11. Start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service and the VMware Management Webservices service.
12. Log into the problematic vCenter Server instance and re-enter any missing vCenter license keys. A warning indicating that the evaluation mode has expired is displayed until valid license keys are provided.
13. Re-license all hosts.
    

Additional Information

Notes:

• All custom roles are removed through this process. If required you must re-create custom roles and reassign permissions accordingly.
  
  
• If this vCenter Server is a part of a Linked Mode configuration, information pertaining to the problematic VC instance should be removed from ADAM on the remaining VC instances. For more information, see Removing a linked vCenter Server from vSphere Client fails with the error: vCenter server not connected (1017631).

Removing a linked vCenter Server from vSphere Client fails with the error: vCenter server not connected