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Table Of Contents
Platform Services Controller Domain
When you install a Platform Services Controller, you are prompted to create a vCenter Single Sign-On
domain or join an existing domain.
The domain name is used by the VMware Directory Service (vmdir) for all Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) internal structuring.
With vSphere 6.0 and later, you can give your vSphere domain a unique name. To prevent authentication
conflicts, use a name that is not used by OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and other directory
services.
Note You cannot change the domain to which a Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server instance
belongs.
After you specify the name of your domain, you can add users and groups. It usually makes more sense
to add an Active Directory or LDAP identity source and allow the users and groups in that identity source
to authenticate. You can also add vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller instances, or other
VMware products, such as vRealize Operations, to the domain.
Platform Services Controller Sites
You can organize Platform Services Controller domains into logical sites. A site in the VMware Directory
Service is a logical container for grouping Platform Services Controller instances within a vCenter Single
Sign-On domain.
You are prompted for the site name when you install or upgrade a Platform Services Controller. See the
vCenter Server Installation and Setup documentation.
Platform Services Controller Capabilities
Platform Services Controller supports services such as identity management, certificate management,
and license management in vSphere.
Key Capabilities
Platform Services Controller includes several services, discussed in Platform Services Controller
Services, and has the following key capabilities.
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Authentication through vCenter Single Sign-On
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Provisioning of vCenter Server components and ESXi hosts with VMware Certificate Manager
(VMCA) certificates by default
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Use of custom certificates, which are stored in the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store (VECS)
Platform Services Controller Administration
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