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Exporting and importing for manual Single Sign On (SSO) replication in VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x (2038677)

Symptoms

When setting up a multisite Single Sign On (SSO) configuration, there is no automatic replication of the SSO data between sites. To accomplish this task, it is necessary to manually export and import the SSO data.

Purpose

 This article provides information on performing a manual export or import of the SSO data.

This article does not apply to VMware vCenter Server Appliance.  The only SSO mode for the VMware vCenter Server Appliance is Basic.

Resolution

To do manual replication of the SSO data, do the following from an administrator command prompt on the server where SSO is installed.
 
To export the data:
  1. Change to the <SSO install path>\sso-replication-cli directory. The default location is:

    C:\Program Files\Vmware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\sso-replication-cli\

  2. Run this command:

    repl_tool.cmd export -f<filename to use> -u<SSO administrator account>

    For example, to export to a file called ssoexport.dat into an existing directory called c:\ssobackup:

    repl_tool.cmd export -fc:\ssobackup\ssoexport.dat -uadmin@System-Domain

    Note    : There is no space after the -f or -u switches.

    If an error message about JAVA_HOME not being set displays, set the variable to the VMware jre folder, and run the command again.
    The default JRE install path is C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\jre.

    For example, to set the JAVA_HOME environmental variable:

    SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\jre

  3. Enter the password for admin@System-Domain.

  4. The dialog Start executing full data export should appear. When successfully exported, the word Done should appear.

    Note: This process does not create a directory called ssobackup. The directory can be created using the mkdir command.

 
To import SSO data perform the following from an administrator command prompt on the server where SSO is installed.
  1. Change to the <SSO Install path>\sso-replication-cli directory.
    The default location is:

    C:\Program Files\Vmware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\sso-replication-cli\.

  2. Run this command:

    repl_tool.cmd import -f<file name to be imported> -u<SSO administrator account>

    For example, to import a file called ssoexport.dat located in the c:\ssobackup directory:

    repl_tool.cmd import -fc:\ssobackup\ssoexport.dat -uadmin@System-Domain

    Note: There is no space after the -f or -u switches.

    If an error message about JAVA_HOME not being set displays, set the variable to the VMware jre folder, and run the command again.
    The default JRE path is C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\jre.

    For example, to set the JAVA_HOME environmental variable:

    SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\jre
  3. Enter the password for admin@System-Domain.

  4. The dialog Start executing full data import should appear.

  5. When successfully imported the word Done should appear.


Notes:
  • Running the repl_tool.cmd command against a Basic mode SSO install results in an Unsupported operation result. Basic mode installs of SSO cannot be exported or imported.
  • If the SSO service is not running when attempting to either export or import data, the word Bug shows on the display.

For more information, see the Manually Replicate Data in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment section of the vSphere Security Guide.

Update History

02/12/2013 - Added link to the vSphere Security Guide

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