Linked mode

[atroxcorp0]

Hello,

I have one vCenter 4 Update 1 server running on W2008R2 64bit. We are expanding our environment so I am planning on building another vCenter server and running linked mode. During the install for vCenter on the new server I am never presented with an option to join a linked group or run standalone. While it is installing I receive an error stating, "error loading licensekey to ldap". The install completes successfully but vCenter is not installed.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[AndreTheGiant]

Both vCenter are Standard Edition?

Both are in the same AD?

You can reconfigurare linked mode in control panel / install-remove

Andre

[atroxcorp0]

Thanks for the fast reply, both are vCenter Standard, in AD, and the install files are the latest build. I see the option to change it from standalone to linked-mode in the control panel, however, the install on the new server fails with that ldap error so the actual vCenter service isn't installed.

[Troy_Clavell]

your first instance will be standalone, any instance after that will be linked. This is your first instance, correct?

[atroxcorp0]

The first instance is standalone and is running perfectly. This thread is in reference to a second instance that I want to run linked.

[Troy_Clavell]

I just wanted to make sure I understood your question. Both vCenter instances are part of the same domain?

[atroxcorp0]

Yes, both are in the same domain and both are able to connect to the DB OK. The install is being run as a domain admin and both servers can ping each other. Windows firewall is disabled on both servers and there is no firewall or anything blocking connectivity between them.

[AndreTheGiant]

are able to connect to the DB OK.

Are you using the same DB or two different DB?

Andre

[atroxcorp0]

The same DB and same credentials for it.

[AndreTheGiant]

I do no think this is a supported configuration.

Use two different DB (remember that each vCenter has his own configuration and its quite "independed" by the others, you have only a central view of all of them).

See also page 107 of http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40_u1/vsp_40_u1_esx_vc_installation_guide.pdf

Andre

[atroxcorp0]

Thanks for the replies.

I had our DBA create a new DB based on the scripts VMware recommends on a different SQL server. I ran the install again on the 2nd vCenter server, pointed it to the new DB, and I am still not prompted to choose linked-mode or standalone, and the installs till fails on the ldap licensekey error. Please assist.

[atroxcorp0]

Any other ideas?

[Troy_Clavell]

I found this in the release notes, maybe it would be worth exploring?

Joining two vCenter Server instances fails with an error message in status.txt about failure to remove VMwareVCMSDS

Joining an existing standalone vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group causes the vCenter Server installer to fail. When this happens, vCenter Server does not start on the machine where you are performing the installation. Also, messages indicating problems with LDAP connectivity or the LDAP service being unreachable are written to the <TEMP>/status.txt file, where <TEMP> is the temporary directory defined on your Windows system. To diagnose this problem, open the status.txt file and look for the following message:

2009-03-06 21:44:55 SEVERE Operation "Join instance VMwareVCMSDS" failed: : Action: Join Instance

Action: Removal of standalone instance

Action: Remove Instance

Problem: Removal of instance VMwareVCMSDS failed: The removal wizard was not able to remove all of the components. To complete removal, run "Adamuninstall.exe /i:<instance>" after resolving the following error:

Folder '<vCenter Server installation directory>\VMwareVCMSDS' could not be deleted.

The directory is not empty.

Workaround: Perform the following steps:

1. From a command prompt with administrator-level privileges, change directories to the vCenter Server installation directory.

2. Delete the VMwareVCMSDS directory.

3. Recover the local LDAP instance by typing jointool.bat recover.

http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere4/doc/vsp_vc40_u1_rel_notes.html

[atroxcorp0]

Thank you for the help, but this did not resolve my problem.