About Adding Hosts
You can use System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) to add virtual machine hosts that are in a trusted Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain as well as hosts that are on a perimeter network. The process for adding hosts in the two topologies is different.
Adding Hosts in Trusted Domains
You can use the Add Hosts Wizard in the VMM Administrator Console to add one or more virtual machine hosts to VMM if all the hosts are in a trusted AD DS domain. You also can use the Add Hosts Wizard to discover existing hosts that are in a trusted AD DS domain and then decide which hosts you want to add.
When you add a host by using the wizard, VMM automatically installs a VMM agent and, if needed, installs Virtual Server 2005 R2 with Service Pack 1 on the host. For more information about adding hosts in a trusted domain, see How to Add Hosts in a Trusted Domain.
Adding Hosts on a Perimeter Network
Before you can add the host by using the Add Hosts Wizard in the Administrator Console, you must install a VMM agent locally on the host.
For more information about installing a VMM agent on a host on a perimeter network, see the "How to Install the Virtual Machine Manager Agent" topic in Setup Help.
When you install a VMM agent locally on a host on a perimeter network, the Agent Setup Wizard prompts you for an encryption key, as well as for other information needed for VMM to access and manage the host and its virtual machines. The wizard automatically generates a local account with administrator privileges on the host and a set of credentials for the account and uses the key to encrypt the credentials and other information needed by VMM to access the agent into a security file.
After you have installed an agent locally on the host, you use the security file to add the host by using the Add Hosts Wizard in the VMM Administrator Console. For more information about adding hosts on a perimeter network, see How to Add a Host on a Perimeter Network.
Important
After you have added the host, you should permanently delete the security file.
See Also
Concepts
Other Resources
How to Add a Host on a Perimeter Network
How to Add Hosts in a Trusted Domain
Modifying the Properties of a Host