Unable to log into a new VCSA Appliance added to an SSO Domain

So today I ran into an interesting issue. I was adding a new VCSA appliance to an preexisting SSO domain for a post that will come out in the coming weeks and I discovered a few things.

First of all, I learned that there are not many blogs covering this so I figured I would make a post just encase I get hit with a brick and forget.

So I ran through the install of the new VCSA appliance and selected all the settings as you would normally do. However when the installation completed it said everything was fine and I should be able to log in at the new URL.

I opened the URL and tried to log in.... and It failed. This being the first time I have tried this I was not sure what to expect, and here is what I mean:

The Platform Services Controller (or PSC) is responsible for authentication to vSphere. That being said I figured I might be able to log in with my Domain credential.... I was wrong.

So I then tried logging in with the Administrator Credentials for the SSO Domain.... that too did not work.

I then logged into the vSphere Web Client for the First VCSA to see if I could see what is going on over there. It turns out, from an SSO Perspective, everything was running great. I went to see if I could reset the Administrator password and discovered that I must not have had enough coffee this morning. You see, because vSphere is based on some form of Linux Kernel, I forgot to take into account that THE USER NAME IS CASE SENSITIVE!!!!!

So I went back to the login screen and logged in with the correct credentials and IT WORKED!!

Now to figure out why AD Authentication was not working.....

Well it turns out that that lack of coffee I mentioned earlier came back to bite me yet again <face palm>

Although the SSO component was working and showed my AD domain as a valid and default authentication source, it doesn't mean squat if the server is not a member of the Active Directory Domain. A quick add to AD and a reboot later and we were in business.

Lesson Learned:

1. Don't skip out on Coffee
2. Linux based credentials are Case Sensitive
3. Drink more Coffee
4. Make sure that host is added to AD before you try to authenticate.

I hope you found this helpful and if I ever get around to it I will add screen shots for a more TL:DR experience.

Free VMware Training is available

Last night while searching the twitter-verse I saw this twitter post from VMware:

Got some free time? Advance your career with some free #VMware self-paced eLearning (40+ courses): https://t.co/J89cSiwIFR pic.twitter.com/n0pHvYV7yI

— VMware (@VMware) January 27, 2019

You can obtain this free training here or by following the link in the tweet above.


I hope you find post helpful, please check back for more content in the coming days.

VCP 6.5 Certified

I meant to post this sooner, like 2 months ago as this happened back in October, but I passed my VCP 6.5 Upgrade Exam.

Since then I have been working on the VCAP 6.5 - Data Center Design Exam. I am hoping to sit for it in the New Year!

Okay, I think I have a plan.....

After some quick thinking and talking it over with my Family and my boss. I am going to upgrade my VCP 6.0 to a VCP 6.5 and then move forward with the VCAP 6.5.  As I already have a VCP 6.0 that is active I am eligible to take the Delta exam which I have done twice before.


More Information to come....

ARGH!!!! You have got to be kidding me here!

So I took the design class that I was registered for, only to find out on the first day of  training that I am not eligible to take the VCAP 6.5. Now I know I have been doing this for a while, but the last time I looked into it, you were able to upgrade to a higher tier cert on a newer version as long as you had an active VCP. Well it turns out that has been changed.

I will do a post in the coming days to talk about the class, and right now I need to regroup and figure out what I am going to do.

Say hello to my little friend.....

So this little baby came in with the Amazon guy today!

As part of my preparation for the VCAP - DCD 6.5 exam that I am taking, I purchased this book which came recommended by the author whose blog I follow and listed on my VCAP 6.5 page.

I must say I have read many IT books in my time in this field that this one is probably my favorite. It is very concise and to the point. The book is broken up into small sections or "recipes " which are easy to digest and understand. Even the sections that I usually find boring or hard to get through was not as much of a struggle for me this time around. The author also left little nuggets of wisdom which I found helpful and fascinating.

I also loved the message in the beginning of the book from the publisher that said if there was any erroneous information or misspellings that you can email them to let them know so they can correct it in future revisions. This was so refreshing, I cannot tell you how many time I have read a book with misspellings or wrong information and it can really trip you up. You try to get in contact with the author or the publisher and nobody cares. I think more publishing houses should adopt this mentality.

I look forward to doing a full review of this book at a later time (depending on how well I do on the exam)

My VCAP 6.5 Journey Begins!

Today at work I got the approval from my boss to schedule training to upgrade my VMware VCP 6.5 to the VCAP 6.5.

I am so excited that I can hardly sleep. Although my training does not start until September I plan on going full force at this before the class even starts. I am seen several blogs online and I will be reading them all to prepare.

I look forward to detailing my journey here so please stay tuned.