Tag Archives: VCSA

Solving the vSphere Web Client cannot connect to the vCenter Single Sign On server error.

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After a power failure in my home lab, I tried to login to my vCenter Appliance and get this error “The vSphere Web Client cannot connect to the vCenter Single Sign On Server”.


The solution for this problem is quite simple. For the vCenter Appliance, log in to the Management page of the vCenter Appliance. Stop and Start the vSphere Web Client Services. 


For the Windows based vCenter, restart the vSphere Web Client Services.
After a few minutes everything is ok. Problem Solved.

** Edit 02-03-2016 **

Reboot of the vCenter Appliance should also solve the problem.

Unable to logon VMware vCenter Appliance with Root

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A couple of weeks ago the VMware vCenter 5.5.0b update was released. Time to upgrade my home lab vCenter Server Appliance from version 5.5.0a to version 5.5.0b. I am using the appliance so this should be easy.

When I was trying to login to the management environment with my root account I was getting errors. Unable to authenticate.


Also when I connected with SSH to the Appliance I’m getting error messages that my password is not correct.


I know for sure that this password is the correct one. I opened a console screen from the vSphere Webclient and that one is also giving me the error.


Also the VMware vSphere Web Client is giving an error.

I am unable to logon with the root account of the appliance.

Ok.. This is a problem. I remembered reading a blog post of William Lam about a problem with the expiration date of the Root Password. So I started searching the VirtualGhetto blog site, and found the article. See http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/09/how-to-recover-vcsa-55-from-expired.html

So I followed the steps described in Williams article.

  1. Boot up vCenter Server using a current Linux live CD. I am using a Ubuntu ISO that I had.
  2. Mount the VMware vCenter Server Appliance root partition. This should be /dev/sda3
  3. Edit the /etc/shadow file with your favorite editor. Advice make a copy of the shadow file before editing it.
  4. When the root password is expired there should be an x in front of the password string. This was the case

  5. Remove the x in front of the password string and save the shadow file.
  6. Reboot the VCSA. If everything went well you are able to logon with the root account.

I was able to logon into the appliance again, but to prevent future problems with the password expiration I disabled the expiration in the management page of the VCSA. Because this is my home lab this is ok.


In production environments this is not advisable

Lessons learned:

  • Configure a SMTP server and an alert email account so you will be notified when the password is going to be expired.
  • Or in a home lab environment, disable the expiration date of the root password.

More information:

Upgrading VMware vCenter Appliance 5.x to 5.5

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Last week VMware vSphere 5.5 went GA, so it is time to update the home lab to the latest version. I am using the VMware vCenter Appliance (VCSA), and it is the latest version. I never did an upgrade of the VCSA so I start searching the knowledgebase of VMware and found an article describing the upgrade process (VMware KB2058441).
Prerequisites

  • Before attempting the upgrade, if you are using custom SSL certificates, ensure that they meet the requirements as per Configuring Certificate Authority (CA) signed certificates for vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 (2057223).
  • Ensure that you have taken a backup/snapshot of your existing vCenter Server Appliance and the external database.

Procedure

  1. Deploy the new VMware vCenter Appliance.
  2. Connect to both the old and new appliances in separate browser windows. For example, use a URL similar to https://ip_address_of_vCenter_VM:5480
  3. In the new appliance, start the vCenter Server Setup wizard and accept the end user license agreement.
  4. In the Configure Options panel, select Upgrade from previous version and then click Next.
  5. Copy the key from the Import this key into the source appliance field.
  6. If you are upgrading vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x to 5.5:
    • In the old vCenter Server Appliance 5.0, click the Appliance Upgrade tab.
    • Select source for the appliance role and click Set role.
    • Click Establish Trust.
    • Paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field.
    • Click Import remote key.
    • Copy the local appliance key.
    • In the new vCenter Server Appliance 5.5, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field and click Next.
  7. If you are upgrading vCenter Server Appliance 5.1 to 5.5:
    • In the old vCenter Server Appliance 5.1, paste the key from Step 5 into the Upgrade key field.
    • Click Import key.
    • Stop vCenter Server.
    • Copy the Upgrade key.
    • In the new appliance, paste the Upgrade key to the Paste the source appliance key into the field below field and click Next.
    • If there are issues detected with your SSL certificates, select the Replace the SSL certificates option. You are prompted for SSO password for user administrator@vsphere.local.

This looks pretty easy. First I deployed a new VCSA with a new name (VCSA 5.5), configured the IP settings, different than my original VCSA (VCSA 5.1). After the OVF deployment I started the VCSA and went to the management page. I accepted the EULA on my new VCSA 5.5.
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