The secret phrase can be used across multiple suites and sites. To use the secret phrase across suites and sites, VMware, Inc. recommends that you perform the following steps:

  1. Install one or more suites on one or more hosts.

  2. If short periods of interrupted communications are not detrimental, stop the Managers. However, if the suites also use cleartext connections, you can use the sm_rebond utility without stopping the Managers. Only that suite will lose connections for a short period of time.

  3. Use the sm_rebond utility to change the secret phrase for each suite on each host.

    Note:

    The secret phrase must be exactly the same for each suite on each host in order for the applications to make connections.

  4. Use the sm_edit utility to update the security configuration files and seed files of the suites as needed.

  5. Restart the Managers if applicable.