linked mode group

[alunkal]

Dear Friends,

can we use linked mode only  with vcenter server having ldap connection or we can join vcenter  servers joined with active directory to linked mode group.because as per the below link i can see only ldap  mentioned.

vSphere Documentation Center

thanks in advance

[vNEX]

Hello,

for Linked Mode you need Microsoft Active Directory (as an LDAP source) because it uses MS ADAM for storing and replication data (roles, licenses....) between vCenter servers. So every vCenter server to be part of Linked Mode group must be joined to Active Directory domain.

For more info reffer to this KB:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=200548...

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P.

[alunkal]

thanks for the reply.

actually this ldap is like the active directory concept in unix platform right?

so my question is do we need to use ldap service instead of active directory for the vcenter server  for joining by linked mode?

may be my concept about ldap is wroong can u please explain?

thanks in advance.

[vNEX]

Unfortunately using other LDAP source than MS Active Directory isn't supported because Linked Mode and its replication topology is based on MS ADAM ... that's why i.e. VCSA doesn't allow you to use this feature

which is right now only accessible to Windows based vCenter servers ....

But I am sure that this will change with next releases of vSphere.

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P.

[vNEX]

Hello,

any updates?

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[vThinkBeyondVM]

Just thought to share useful info on linked mode :

You can join multiple vCenter Server systems using vCenter Linked Mode to allow them to share information. When a server is connected to other vCenter Serversystems using Linked Mode, you can connect to that vCenter Server system and view and manage the inventories of the linked vCenter Server systems.

Linked Mode uses Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) to store and synchronize data across multiple vCenter Server systems. ADAM is installed as part of vCenter Server installation. Each ADAM instance stores data from the vCenter Server systems in the group, including information about roles and licenses. This information is replicated across all of the ADAM instances in the connected group to keep them in sync.

When vCenter Server systems are connected in Linked Mode, you can perform the following actions:

■	Log in simultaneously to vCenter Server systems for which you have valid credentials.
■	Search the inventories of the vCenter Server systems in the group.
■	View the inventories of the vCenter Server systems in the group in a single inventory view.

You cannot migrate hosts or virtual machines between vCenter Server systems connected in Linked Mode.

Refer:vSphere 5.5 Documentation Center