SRM site paring fails on previously enhanced linked mode joined vCenter Servers

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• SRM site pairing fails with error
  Server with UUID 'XXXXXX' not found 
• The vCenter pairing was previously attempted to be joined in enhanced linked mode and snapshots were not reverted 
• /var/log/vmware/vmdird/vmdird.log:
ERROR: VmDirSRPGetIdentityData (<partner_node>@<sso_domain>) failed, (9106)
ERROR: VmDirSRPGetIdentityData (<partner_node>@<sso_domain>) failed, (9106)
ERROR: SASLSessionStart: sasl error (-20)(SASL(-13): user not found: no secret in database)
ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Bind), Error (LDAP_INVALID_CREDENTIALS(49)), Message ((49)(SASL start failed.)), (0) socket (<ip>)
ERROR: Bind Request Failed (<ip>) error 49: Protocol version: 3, Bind DN: "", Method: SASL

Environment

• VMware Site Recovery Manager
• VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

Stale/unexpected entries in the SSO domain from previous enhanced linked mode configuration attempt prevent SRM site pairing to complete successfully 

Resolution

1. If the vCenters are currently expected to operate as standalone vCenters then repoint both of the vCenters to their own new SSO domains 
2. If linked mode is expected to work, try to fix SSO domain inconsistencies via fixpsc script