ESX Server with NIS Enabled Appears to Halt System with CIM-Identity or VMware_Identity Queries
Details
I have an ESX Server with a very large NIS database enabled. When an EIN or EI queries made, the CIMOM response is so slow it seems as though the system has stopped and the result is an HTTP timeout.
Solution
On ESX Server systems with NIS enabled, if the NIS database is very large (thousand or so entries), EnumerateInstanceNames (EIN)/EnumerateInstances (EI) queries for CIM_Identity or VMware_Identity look like the server has stopped. This causes an HTTP timeout. On a test NIS database, in a sample test, it took about 45 minutes for to return the response to the client.
If the client side HTTP timeout is smaller than the time it takes for the server to return the value, it may appear to the client, that the HTTP service is not available, or timed out.
Solution is to disable NIS on any ESX Server system where you want to use Identity Provider. Classes in Identity Provider include VMware_Identity , VMware_AssignedIdentity , VMware_Account .
To disable NIS:
From the ESX Server Service Console command line, execute:
esxcfg-auth --disablenis
Refer to your ESX Server 3.5 Basic System Administration Guide for additional information on using the Service Console.
