Required Authentication Information

Before you begin vMA configuration, obtain the following user name and password information:

■	vCenter Server system – If you want to use a vCenter Server system as the target server, you must be able to connect to that system.

If you are using a vCenter Server target, you do not need passwords for the ESXi hosts that the vCenter Server system manages, unless you run commands that do not support vCenter Server targets.

Note You can log in to vCenter Server only if they are in a domain that has been added as a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source. vCenter Single Sign-On administrator users can add identity sources from the vSphere Web Client. For more information on adding vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source, see vSphere documentation.

If you are using vCenter Server Appliance, for SSO authentication, add a CM server entry to /etc/hosts of vMA and ensure that the date and time is synchronized between vMA and CM server.

■	ESXi host – You must have the root password or the user name and password for a user with administrative privileges for each ESXi host you add as a vMA target. You do not need the authentication information when you remove a target host.

■	vMA – When you first configure vMA, vMA prompts for a password for the vi-admin user. Specify a password and remember it for subsequent logins. The vi-admin user has root privileges on vMA.

Important You can enable the root account if the root account password is set by sudo passwd in the appliance. To run privileged commands, type sudo passwd root. By default, only vi-admin can run commands that require sudo. The root account is solely used to set configuration options related to security and meeting compliance standards.