How to Set Credentials for Communicating with a Host
Applies To: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1
For the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) server to communicate with a virtual machine host that is on a perimeter network or in a domain that does not have a two-way trust with the VMM server’s domain, VMM uses credentials for a local agent service account that has administrative privileges on the host. To communicate with a VMware ESX Server host, VMM uses credentials for an account that has administrative privileges on the host, and, if the host is in secure mode, a certificate and public key. For more information about secure mode, see How to Add a VMware VirtualCenter Server.
For a Host on a Perimeter Network
The VMM Agent Setup Wizard automatically creates a local agent service account on the host and sets its credentials. You cannot change the credentials for the agent service account during setup. You can, however, use the procedure in this topic to change them after you have added the host.
For a Host in a Domain That Does Not Have a Two-Way Trust with the VMM Server’s Domain
When you add a host in a domain that does not have a two-way trust with the VMM server’s domain, VMM prompts you for the credentials of an account that has administrative privileges on the host. If you need to update the credentials for this account or want to change the account that VMM uses to communicate with the host, use the procedure in this topic.
For a VMware ESX Server Host
When you add a VMware VirtualCenter server to VMM, all ESX Server hosts managed by the server are also added to VMM. However, these hosts are added with a status of OK (Limited), which supports a limited set of actions for virtual machines on that host. For more information, see Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts. To change the host’s status to OK and enable all supported management tasks in VMM, you must provide security information for the host. To do this, update the settings on the Credentials tab of the Host Properties dialog box. For more information, see Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=145051).
Enabling full VMM management capabilities requires virtual machine delegate credentials on the host. The virtual machine delegate credentials are required to enable VMM to perform file transfer operations between hosts running non-embedded versions of ESX Server and Windows Server–based computers. This type of file transfer is required for operations such as a creating a virtual machine with a virtual hard disk stored on a VMM library server or storing a VMware virtual machine in the VMM library. To perform this type of file transfer, VMM accesses ESX Server hosts directly.
In addition, if you are managing your VMware environment in secure mode, VMM requires a certificate to verify the identity of the ESX Server computer. For hosts that are running VMware ESX Server 3.5 or VMware ESX Server 3.0.2, VMM also requires an SSH public key for the host computer. A public key is not required for hosts running ESX Server 3i.
For more information about these security requirements and about configuring the VMware VirtualCenter server and ESX Server hosts for management by VMM, see Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=145051).
To change the credentials for communicating with a host
In the VMM Administrator Console, in Hosts view, right-click the host for which you want to update the credentials, and then click Properties.
Click the Credentials tab, and then do one of the following:
For a host on a perimeter network, type the credentials for the local agent service account, and then click OK.
Note
You also must change the credentials of the account on the host to match the credentials that you set in VMM.
For a host in a non-trusted domain, type the credentials for an account on the host that has administrative privileges on the host, clear the This host is trusted by the domain that the VMM server is in check box, and then click OK.
Note
You also must change the credentials of the account on the host to match the credentials that you set in VMM.
See Also
Concepts
How to Add Hosts on a Perimeter Network
Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts