Error: Idm client exception: Error trying to join AD, error code [11] when joining VMWare vCenter Server Appliance to an Active Directory domain

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Attempting to join the vCenter Server Appliance to an Active Directory domain through the GUI with the username format root\user fails with the following error:

"Idm client exception: Error trying to join AD, error code [11]"

Environment

VMware vCenter Server

Cause

The failure was due to the incorrect username format used during the domain join operation. Using an invalid format prevented proper authentication, resulting in error code [11], which typically indicates authentication or domain join failure.

Resolution

The issue was resolved by correcting the username format during the join process.

vCenter expects credentials in one of the following supported formats when joining AD:

• user@domain

• DOMAIN\user

Additional Information

Join or Leave an Active Directory Domain mentions Down-level login name format, for example, DOMAIN\UserName, is unsupported in 8.x.