I've been spending lots of time working on the new vCenter 5.1.0A.
I have two vCenter environments in my test and dev.
vCenter1 = Windows 2008 R2 vCenter server. It has local domain Microsoft CA self signed certificates as per following Derek Seamans blog http://derek858.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/vmware-vcenter-51-installation-part-1.html. I can add ESXi hosts to this vCenter no problems. These ESXi hosts have local domain Microsoft CA self signed certificates.
vCenter2 = VMware vCenter Server Appliance. It has local domain Microsoft CA self signed certificates as per following Doug Baer's blog http://www.goitpartners.com/blog/?p=662. I CANNOT add ESXi hosts to this vCenter when they have local domain Microsoft CA self signed certificates. I CAN add an ESXi host only if I have NOT done anything with the certificates.
The error I get is:
License not available to perform the operation.
License file download from blade001.xxx.yyy to vCenter Server failed due to exception: vim.fault.SSLVerifyFault.
I've attached the screenshot "unable to add host to ESXi - custom cert.png" that shows this.
When I add an ESXi host that has NOT had the certificate replaced, I get prompted that it is unable to verify the authenticity of the host and asks me to veryify the thumbprint. I click yes to verify and the host is added successfully.
I've attached the screenshot "Adding host blade002 with default cert.png" that shows this.
So this is really puzzling. When a host has a replaced certificate, the thumbpring MUST be verified by the vCenter Appliance because I DO NOT get prompted about the authenticity of the host.
Is anyone else experiencing this?
The one thing I really want to make clear is:
- I can add the ESXi host with replaced certificates to a vCenter 5.1.0A server running on Windows 2008 R2 (vCenter1)
- This then confirms with me that there is nothing wrong with the certificate on the ESXi host
- I remove the host from vCenter1
- I try and add the host to vCenter2 (Appliance) and I get the error, the host never gets added to vCenter