Notes from the lab: Configuring vCenter 7 with ADFS

With the release of vCenter 7 you can now integrate it with Microsof Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS)

See the following blog article for an overview:
https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2020/03/vsphere-7-identity-federation.html

See the following configuration articles for a setup overview:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.authentication.doc/GUID-C5E998B2-1148-46DC-990E-A5DB71F93351.html
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78029

With this information I’ve configured my lab environment to a working SAML based login with a few minor issues.

I had my ADFS setup load balanced through a content switching setup for external access. This is working great for my simple office 365 integration point but not so much if you’re trying to do more.

Like stated in the following article don’t terminate the SSL connection:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-fs/overview/ad-fs-faq

The issue I came across was that vCenter was failing with the validation of the certificate, at first I thought the missing root/intermediates was the cause of this but this was not the case. Even after uploading my internal root/intermediate and the external certificates root/intermediate the SSL validation check would fail. The chain was valid in every case though.

The resolution was to make my internal DNS entry through a SSL-BRIDGE setup to my ADFS server and afterwards I could finish the configuration part without issues.

Now when presented with vCenter logon page if you put in an account from the federated domain it will redirect you accordingly to the ADFS logon point.

Hope it helps!


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