Active Directory Authentication with VMware Vsphere ESXi 5.0
Same as VMware: ESX 4.1 Active Directory Integration , you can configure the host to join an Active Directory domain in Vmware vSphere 5.0 and any user trying to access the host will automatically be authenticated against the centralized Active directory. Any time you are asked to provide credentials (e.g., logging in directly to the ESXi host using vSphere Client, or running a vCLI command or script), you can enter the username and password of a user in the domain to which the host is joined. The big advantage of this is that you can now continue to manage user accounts using Active Directory, which is significantly easier and more secure than trying to manage accounts independently on a per-host basis. You can still have local users defined and managed on a host-by-host basis and configured using the vSphere client, vCLI or PowerCLI. This can be used in place of, or in addition to, the Active Directory integration.
Follow below steps to configure Active Directory integration with VSphere 5,
Step 1: Connect to your host directly with the vSphere client. Click on the Configuration Tab. Then select the “Authentication Services” selection from the Software box on the lower left. Then you click on the “Properties” link that is shown in the picture below.
Enter your authentication details to join ESX box to AD
After successfully entering your logon ID your ESXi host is added to the Domain.
Now that your VMware host was added to the domain you can now add users or groups to the Permissions tab. You can see below once on the Permissions area you right click and select “Add Permission”
Click on Add,
Select your Domain from the domain drop down list at the top of the window shown below. Once you have select the Domain that you integrated with you will be presented with a list of Users and Groups. You should select your User/Group and press the Add button and then click OK…
Assigned appropriate role to your user group & click on OK.
Now that you have added your Domain account or group you will see it in the lists of users as shown below.
Follow below steps to configure Active Directory integration with VSphere 5,
Step 1: Connect to your host directly with the vSphere client. Click on the Configuration Tab. Then select the “Authentication Services” selection from the Software box on the lower left. Then you click on the “Properties” link that is shown in the picture below.
In the select “Service Type” drop down you will need to select “Active Directory”. The in the Domain field you need to type in the name of your domain that you will be connecting to. Next step is to click the “Join Domain” button and you will be presented with an authentication window.
Now that your VMware host was added to the domain you can now add users or groups to the Permissions tab. You can see below once on the Permissions area you right click and select “Add Permission”
