vCenter Server 5.5 u2 hangs on Installing Directory Services

Well I am playing around with something related to the vCenter Server installation, so I wanted to install vCenter Server 5.5 u2 on a standalone non domain server.

I deployed my Windows Server 2012 R2 template and kicked in the installation, I reached a point where it asked me if I want to use the IP address of FQDN, knowing that there is no FQDN here with immense self-trust I chose IP address and that were I made my mistake.

I reached a point where the installation dialogue kept hanging on “Installing Directory Services” I left it for around 2 hours hoping for some error to popup and it remained like this.

I reverted back to a snapshot that I have taken earlier and repeated the steps but I chose FQDN here and it resolved to the NetBIOS name surely still it saw it as an FQDN nevertheless.

So lesson learned, stick to FQDN even if there is DN ;-).

(Abdullah)^2