LDAP users not showing in VMware Cloud Director to share vApps or templates

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to share a vApp or a template within VMware Cloud Director only local users or a few users from LDAP are returned.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 10.x

Cause

When VMware Cloud Director is performing a LDAP sync it is unable to find the users. They are then marked as out of sync in the database, and they fail to show in the UI.

Resolution

There are two options:

- Re-configure active directory so that the users' group or the users themselves can be seen from a ldapsearch query. This ensures VMware Cloud Director would be able to sync and find the users.

- Manually update the database for the users so that is_in_sync is true. This is after verifying from the provider portal that in Administration -> Settings -> Synchronization that LDAP synchronization is disabled.

1. Perform a backup of the database following: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/cloud-director/vmware-cloud-director/10-5/vmware-cloud-director-installation-and-upgrade-guide-10-5/deployment-uprade-and-administration-of-the-vcd-appliance-install/vcd-appliance-administration-install/backup-and-restore-of-your-vcd-appliance-install/backup-and-restore-of-your-vcd-appliance-install.html 
2. SSH to the primary database cell for VMware Cloud Director.
3. Enter the database with 'su - postgres' and 'psql vcloud'.
4. Enter this query to return all users that can currently show in the UI: select * from ui_usr_list_view;
5. Collect the IDs of the users that should be visible to share vApps and templates: select org_member_id, member_name, is_in_sync, is_stranded from org_member where is_enabled = true;
6. Update the values for the users at your own discretion with: UPDATE org_member SET is_in_sync = true WHERE org_member_id = <value from the previous query per user>;