What to do when VCenter start fails after demoting Domain Controller
MS SQL is the backend database, yes. If you have access to the DB server, the easiest way to view/modify the table is via MS SQL Server Management Studio.
- Open MS SQL Server Management Studio and point it to the server/instance that houses your vcenter SSO database.
- Expand the Databases object, then expand the vcenter SSO database (this could go by any name, if you're unsure you may have to check within multiple DBs)
- Expand the tables object and look for the table with "IMS_CONFIG_VALUE" in the name
- Right click on that table and choose edit top 200 rows
- When those are displayed you can find and edit the fields referenced, which will change where the vmware SSO service looks to bind to AD. In my case I altered:
ims.ldap-slots.0.primary-url
ims.ldap-slots.0-global.primary-url
ims.ldap-slots.0-global.secondary-url
Probably a good idea to note the current values and double check the new values you enter. Changes made are effective immediately.