Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

Setup cannot create vCenter Server Directory Services instance. Error 28038

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While doing a new install of VMware vCenter Server I ran into the following error:

Setup cannot create vCenter Server Directory Services instance. Error 28038

This error is caused by the fact that the “Network Service” does not have enough permissions on the root of the drive you’re installing vCenter on. The solution is pretty straight forward and has been described in the KB article.

  1. Right-click the root drive and click Properties.
  2. Click the Security tab.
  3. Under Group and user names, click Add.
  4. Enter Network Service and click OK.
  5. Check Allow for the Read permission for the Network Service account in the Permissions for Administrators pane.
  6. Click Apply and OK.

If this does not resolve the issue look into the following KB articles: 1015887 , 1013822.

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Comments

  1. Jason Boche says

    Another option would be to purchase a vCalendar and turn to the page October 16th.

    I ran into this issue I think a few days after vSphere was released in May 2009.

  2. Gabrie van Zanten says

    I had this happen with W2008R2 server in a W2000 domain (they still exist). I couldn’t install vCenter. Eventually ran it in Workgroup mode since the customer planned to upgrade AD later that month. After upgrading AD I plan to reinstall the vCenter server. (Switching from workgroup to AD is not supported).

  3. Jaron Hilger says

    Just ran into this issue today installing vCenter 4.1 on to a Windows 2008 R2 server in a Windows 2000 domain. Microsoft published a hotfix for Windows server 2008 R2 to address an issue using the “LookupAccountName function” when the server is in a Windows 2000 Domain. This is the problem that was preventing the VMwareVCMSDS service from installing properly.

    Here is the VMware KB Article:
    http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1025668

    Here is the Microsoft KB article:
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976494

    I installed the hotfix, rebooted, and was able to install vCenter 4.1 with no problems.

    • Adam says

      I had this issue at client site and I wasted 2 hours installing and uninstalling then I used the hotfix and it worked… you saved my life today thanks Jaron Hilger

      • vherin says

        Hi all,

        having the same issue between vcenter 4.1 on windows 2008r2 in windows 2000 domain.
        i’ve tried to install this microsoft fix… but I can’t extract the content of the compressed file ; wrong password

        Content of the mail :

        Pack :
        ———————————————————–
        ———————————————————–
        Numéro(s) d’articles BC : 976494
        Langue : All (Global)
        Plate-forme : x64
        Emplacement : (http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%207/WindowsServer%202008%20R2/sp1/Fix297344/7600/free/399215_intl_x64_zip.exe)
        Mot de passe : AnpoFVB#)Z

        Does anyone have the same problem ?

        Thanks in advance for your precious help.

  4. Nick says

    Microsoft have removed this hotfix: I spoke to them and they confirmed that they have removed it “because it doesn’t work”.
    However, the hotfix solves the problem of resolving SID’s to names when you have a 2000 domain. This problem is also resolved by making changes to the local security policy on the W2008R2 server:
    Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options:
    Change these 3 settings from Enabled to Disabled:
    “Domain Member: Digitally Encrypt or sign secure channel data (always)” ->Disabled
    “Domain Member: Digitally Encrypt secure channel data (when possible)”->Disabled
    “Domain Member: Digitally sign secure channel data (When possible)”->Disabled

    When I took this action, and repeated the vCenter install, it went through without that error, or need for the hotfix.