VMware PowerCLI cmdlet Connect-SrmServer throws error "Cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password" using passthrough authentication.

Products

• VMware Live Recovery
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

PowerCLI script that interacts with the vCenter Server and SRM Server fails. The issue arises when we try to connect to the SRM Server from the vCenter Server passthrough session.

The problem is that authentication should pass through for both vCenter Server and SRM Server non-interactively within the context of a user with sufficient permissions to both.

a) Passthrough authentication for vCenter Server and connect to the SRM Server.
Connect-VIServer <vCenterName>
Connect-SrmServer
Failure, error message as captured (Unable to connect [...] Srm endpoint not found [...] There was no endpoint listening) 

 

b) Passthrough authentication for vCenter Server and connect to the SRM Server when ignoring the certificate.
Connect-VIServer <vCenterName>
Connect-SrmServer -IgnoreCertificateErrors
Failure, error message: " Cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password.

 

c) Explicit authentication to vCenter Server (using the same credentials as the PowerCLI session), and connect to SRM Server, ignoring the certificate.
Connect-VIServer <vCenterName> -Credential <xxx>
Connect-SrmServer -IgnoreCertificateErrors
Success

With the explicit authentication of the same user with vCenter Server, the Connect-SrmServer passthrough authentication works.

Environment

VMware PowerCLI 13.x and below versions

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

VMware Live Recovery / VMware Site Recovery Manager 9.x

Resolution

The fix is available in the VCF PowerCLI 9.0

Workaround

Passthrough has an issue, use the username and password approach to connect the SRM server.