VCenter 5.1 SSO Configuration option not available in Web Client

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Problem

I just finished separately installing vCenter Server 5.1. I installed the components separately but on the same machine using a local SQL 2008 R2 DB (not SQL express).

Everything appears to be working correctly with the exception of SSO. It doesn't find the AD server. This is to be expected (see below) but I don't know how to fix it.

Potential Leads / Steps taken

  • During the install of SSO, I was logged on as a local administrator (waiting on central IT dept to create a service account). As a result, I received a message saying that SSO wouldn't be able to automatically locate the AD. (fair eonugh)
  • After I read up on it a little bit, I believed I could go into the SSO Configuration option in the Web client, like so:

What I expect to see on the Sign-On and Discovery Menu

However, what I actually see is:

What I actually see on the Sign-On and Discovery Menu

  • I also notice that the "SSO Users and Groups" entry is not there. Betting that has something to do with it as well.

Question

  • How can I get the "Configure" Option to show up for SSO?
  • Overall goal: How can I manually enter the AD server in this scenario while logged in as a local administrator?

References

Best Answer

For 5.1: Log in using the user account: admin@System-Domain You set up the password during installation.

This is a bit unclear for users, but is in the documentation.

You may be locked out after three incorrect attempts, but this will reset after about 15 minutes.

You will then be able to configure everything, particularly adding your Local/Domain Administrator user to the sso admin role.

NB. The documentation is a bit dense, but there is a nice blog post here, which has helped me. The final link I will give is a table of Roles vs. install versions which may be helpful. People are using the simple install which is causing problems later on.

For 5.5: You can log in using Administrator@vsphere.local

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