After you replace the machine SSL certificates, you can replace all solution user certificates. Solution user certificates must be valid, that is, not expired, but none of the other information in the certificate is used by the certificate infrastructure.
- Certificates either sit behind a proxy, or they are custom certificates.
- No intermediate CAs are used.
You replace the machine solution user certificate on each management node and on each Platform Services Controller node. You replace the other solution user certificates only on each management node. Use the --server parameter to point to the Platform Services Controller when you run commands on a management node with an external Platform Services Controller.
Prerequisites
Be prepared to stop all services and to start the services that handle certificate propagation and storage.
Procedure
Example: Using VMCA-Signed Solution User Certificates
- Generate a public/private key pair for each solution user. That includes a pair for the machine solution user on each Platform Services Controller and each management node and a pair for each additional solution user (vpxd, vpxd-extension, vsphere-webclient) on each management node.
- Generate a key pair for the machine solution user of an embedded deployment or for the machine solution user of the Platform Services Controller.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --genkey --privkey=machine-key.priv --pubkey=machine-key.pub
- (Optional) For deployments with an external Platform Services Controller, generate a key pair for the machine solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --genkey --privkey=machine-key.priv --pubkey=machine-key.pub
- Generate a key pair for the vpxd solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --genkey --privkey=vpxd-key.priv --pubkey=vpxd-key.pub
- Generate a key pair for the vpxd-extension solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --genkey --privkey=vpxd-extension-key.priv --pubkey=vpxd-extension-key.pub
- Generate a key pair for the vsphere-webclient solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --genkey --privkey=vsphere-webclient-key.priv --pubkey=vsphere-webclient-key.pub
- Generate a key pair for the machine solution user of an embedded deployment or for the machine solution user of the Platform Services Controller.
- Generate solution user certificates that are signed by the new VMCA root certificate for the machine solution user on each Platform Services Controller and each management node and for each additional solution user (vpxd, vpxd-extension, vsphere-webclient) on each management node.
Note: The --Name parameter has to be unique. Including the name of the solution user store name makes it easy to see which certificate maps to which solution user. The example includes the name, for example vpxd or vpxd-extension in each case.
- Run the following command on the Platform Services Controller node to generate a solution user certificate for the machine solution user on that node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --gencert --cert=new-machine.crt --privkey=machine-key.priv --Name=machine
- Generate a certificate for the machine solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --gencert --cert=new-machine.crt --privkey=machine-key.priv --Name=machine --server=<psc-ip-or-fqdn>
- Generate a certificate for the vpxd solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --gencert --cert=new-vpxd.crt --privkey=vpxd-key.priv --Name=vpxd --server=<psc-ip-or-fqdn>
- Generate a certificate for the vpxd-extensions solution user on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --gencert --cert=new-vpxd-extension.crt --privkey=vpxd-extension-key.priv --Name=vpxd-extension --server=<psc-ip-or-fqdn>
- Generate a certificate for the vsphere-webclient solution user on each management node by running the following command.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmcad\"certool --gencert --cert=new-vsphere-webclient.crt --privkey=vsphere-webclient-key.priv --Name=vsphere-webclient --server=<psc-ip-or-fqdn>
- Run the following command on the Platform Services Controller node to generate a solution user certificate for the machine solution user on that node.
- Replace the solution user certificates in VECS with the new solution user certificates.
Note: The --store and --alias parameters have to exactly match the default names for services.
- On the Platform Services Controller node, run the following command to replace the machine solution user certificate:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry delete --store machine --alias machine C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry create --store machine --alias machine --cert new-machine.crt --key machine-key.priv
- Replace the machine solution user certificate on each management node:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry delete --store machine --alias machine C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry create --store machine --alias machine --cert new-machine.crt --key machine-key.priv
- Replace the vpxd solution user certificate on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry delete --store vpxd --alias vpxd C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry create --store vpxd --alias vpxd --cert new-vpxd.crt --key vpxd-key.priv
- Replace the vpxd-extension solution user certificate on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry delete --store vpxd-extension --alias vpxd-extension C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry create --store vpxd-extension --alias vpxd-extension --cert new-vpxd-extension.crt --key vpxd-extension-key.priv
- Replace the vsphere-webclient solution user certificate on each management node.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry delete --store vsphere-webclient --alias vsphere-webclient C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"vecs-cli entry create --store vsphere-webclient --alias vsphere-webclient --cert new-vsphere-webclient.crt --key vsphere-webclient-key.priv
- On the Platform Services Controller node, run the following command to replace the machine solution user certificate:
- Update VMware Directory Service (vmdir) with the new solution user certificates. You are prompted for a vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password.
- Run dir-cli service list to get the unique service ID suffix for each solution user. You can run this command on a Platform Services Controller or a vCenter Server system.
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli>dir-cli service list output: 1. machine-29a45d00-60a7-11e4-96ff-00505689639a 2. machine-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 3. vpxd-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 4. vpxd-extension-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 5. vsphere-webclient-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69
Note: When you list solution user certificates in large deployments, the output of dir-cli list includes all solution users from all nodes. Run vmafd-cli get-machine-id --server-name localhost to find the local machine ID for each host. Each solution user name includes the machine ID. - Replace the machine certificate in vmdir on the Platform Services Controller. For example, if machine-29a45d00-60a7-11e4-96ff-00505689639a is the machine solution user on the Platform Services Controller, run this command:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli service update --name machine-29a45d00-60a7-11e4-96ff-00505689639a --cert new-machine-1.crt
- Replace the machine certificate in vmdir on each management node. For example, if machine-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 is the machine solution user on the vCenter Server, run this command:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli service update --name machine-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 --cert new-machine.crt
- Replace the vpxd solution user certificate in vmdir on each management node. For example, if vpxd-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 is the vpxd solution user ID, run this command:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli service update --name vpxd-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 --cert new-vpxd.crt
- Replace the vpxd-extension solution user certificate in vmdir on each management node. For example, if vpxd-extension-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 is the vpxd-extension solution user ID, run this command:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli service update --name vpxd-extension-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 --cert new-vpxd-extension.crt
- Replace the vsphere-webclient solution user certificate on each management node. For example, if vsphere-webclient-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 is the vsphere-webclient solution user ID, run this command:
C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\"dir-cli service update --name vsphere-webclient-6fd7f140-60a9-11e4-9e28-005056895a69 --cert new-vsphere-webclient.crt
- Run dir-cli service list to get the unique service ID suffix for each solution user. You can run this command on a Platform Services Controller or a vCenter Server system.
What to do next
Restart all services on each Platform Services Controller node and each management node.