Reverse DNS
Make sure to have a reverse DNS zone configured for the domain controllers, vCenter, and the SQL server. While this doesn’t have to be a Windows hosted DNS zone, that’s what I normally see and use.
Here’s a screen grab from my lab’s DNS:
During the install process, the installer does a reverse lookup when you enter the FQDN of a server. If that fails, a box warns about a failed nslookup of the IP (reverse lookup). This is a good clue that your reverse lookup zone is either not configured or does not contain PTR entries for the servers.
If the lookup zone does not have PTR records for the domain controllers SSO will fail to find the domain and automatically add it as an identity source.
Avoid the Simple Install Option
The Simple Install process is used to turn the now three step update process (SSO, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server) into a one click operation. I tried it for the first time because my lab is small enough to host all of these services on a single VM. However, I found that it’s sort of like a train that keeps on flying down the tracks regardless of any issues. My vCenter server was a smoking crater that was so goobered up that I wasn’t even able to log back in with anything short of my vCenter local Administrator account. I ended up restoring my database from backup and rolling back my snapshot on the VM.
Note: Make sure to take a database backup and snapshot (or backup) your vCenter server
On the next attempt I used the three installers in a serial fashion: first the SSO installer, then Inventory Service, and finally the vCenter Server. This allowed more granular control over the process even though I was doing it all to the same server.
The update process was 100% successful via this method and I didn’t need to restart or reboot anything afterwards.
Install the vSphere Web Client
Since the SSO service is controlled via the new vSphere Web Client, I highly advise installing the vCenter Web Client server. I found the naming a bit curious, as the install option states “vSphere Web Client” as something you can install – rest assured, this installs the server / service itself, not any actual client.