Troubleshooting vpxd service on Windows vCenter Server

  Symptoms

• You cannot connect to VMware vCenter Server with the vSphere Client.
• You cannot see the VMware vCenter Server in the inventory in the vSphere Web Client.
• You see a Microsoft Windows Event error associated with IIS similar to:
  
  Event properties - Event 7024, Service Control Manager
  The VMware VirtualCenter Server service terminated with service-specific error The system cannot find the file specified..
  Log Name: System
  Source: Service Control
  Event ID: 7024
  Level: Error
  
  Note: A windows Event ID 1000 may also be reported in relation to this issue.
   
• Connecting to vCenter Server fails with the error:
  
  Cannot connect to host server_name: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
   
• Attempting to start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service fails.
• You see this error:
  
  Windows could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service on Local Computer. Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.
   
• If you try to start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service, you may see these errors:
   
  • Could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service on Local Computer. Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly.
  • Could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service on Local Computer. Error 1069: The service did not start due to a logon failure.
  • The VMware VirtualCenter Server Service on Local Computer started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do, for example the Performance Logs and Alerts service.
     
• In the C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\vpxd.log file on vCenter Server, you see entries similar to:
   
  • [VpxdReverseProxy] Failed to create http proxy: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
    [Vpxd::ServerApp::Init] Init failed: VpxdMoReverseProxy::Init()
    Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down...
    Forcing shutdown of VMware VirtualCenter now
     
  • <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> 02128 error 'App'] [VpxdReverseProxy] Failed to create http proxy: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
    <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time></time> 02128 error 'App'] [Vpxd::ServerApp::Init] Init failed: VpxdMoReverseProxy::Init()
    <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time></time> 02128 warning 'VpxProfiler'] ServerApp::Init took 29328 ms
    <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time></time> 02128 error 'App'] Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down...
    <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time></time> 02128 info 'App'] Forcing shutdown of VMware VirtualCenter now</time>

Purpose

This article provides steps to troubleshoot a vCenter Server service which does not start or has failed.

Resolution

Notes:

• Validate if each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. Each step provides instructions or a link to a document that helps eliminate possible causes and take corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Do not skip a step.
• Completing the prescribed steps in this section may help to eliminate common causes of this problem by verifying the database configuration, validating network connectivity, and verifying the configuration of the VMware VirtualCenter Server service.

To troubleshoot the VMware VirtualCenter Server service when it does not start or fails:

Note: If you perform a corrective action in any of these steps, attempt to restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service.

1. Verify that the VMware VirtualCenter Server service cannot be restarted.
   
   Open the Microsoft Services control panel and check the status of the service. For more information on starting the VMware VirtualCenter service if it has stopped.
    
   • For vCenter Server 5.x versions and earlier, see How to stop, start or restart vCenter Services (1003895).
   • For vCenter Server 6.0, seeHow to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server 6.x services.
      
2. Verify the inventory service is able to start in vCenter Server 5.x and 6.0.
    
   • Resetting the VMware vCenter Server 6.0 Inventory Service's Individual Data Providers (2113435)
   • Resetting the VMware vCenter Server 5.x Inventory Service database (2042200)
     
      
3. Verify that the configuration of the ODBC Data Source Name (DSN) used for connection to the database for vCenter Server is correct. For more information, see vCenter Server installation fails with ODBC and DSN errors (1003928).
    
4. Verify if there is enough free disk space on vCenter Server. For more information, see The VMware VirtualCenter Server service does not start due to insufficient disk space (2083927).
    
5. Verify that the required ports are available on the vCenter Server machine. For more information, see TCP and UDP Ports required to access VMware vCenter Server, VMware ESXi and ESX hosts, and other network components (1012382). If another application, such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) (also known as Web Server (IIS) on Windows 2008 Enterprise), Routing and Remote Access Service (RAS), World Wide Web Publishing Services (W3SVC), Windows Remote Management service (WS-Management) or the Citrix Licensing Support service are using any of the ports, vCenter Server cannot start.
   
   For more information, see Port already in use when installing vCenter Server (4824652).
   
   If you see an error similar to one of these when reviewing the logs, another application may be using the ports:
    
   • Failed to create http proxy: Resource is already in use: Listen socket: :port_number
   • Failed to create http proxy: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
   • proxy failed on port port_number: Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted.
     
     For more information on checking ports, see Determining if a port is in use (1003971).
     
      
6. Verify the health of the database server that is being used for vCenter Server. If the hard drives are out of space, the database transaction logs are full, or if the database is heavily fragmented, vCenter Server may not start. For troubleshooting steps when using a Microsoft SQL database, see Investigating the health of a vCenter Server database (1003979).
    
7. Verify if the VMware VirtualCenter Server service is running with the proper credentials. For more information, see After installing vCenter Server, the VMware VirtualCenter Server service fails to start (1004280).
    
8. Confirm that any plug-ins that are installed are compatible with your version of vCenter Server. Check with documentation to verify all installed plugins are compatible with the installed vCenter Server version. For more information, see Removing or Disabling unwanted plug-ins from vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliance (1025360)
    
9. Verify that critical folders exist on vCenter Server. For more information, see Missing folders on a vCenter Server prevent VirtualCenter Server service from starting (1005882).
    
10. Verify that no hardware or software changes are made to vCenter Server that causes the issue. If you have recently made any changes to the vCenter Server, undo these changes temporarily for testing purposes.
     
11. Before launching vCenter Server 5.x, ensure that the VMwareVCMSDS service is running. For more information, see VMware VirtualCenter Server and VMwareVCMSDS services fail to start and reports the error: [05500 error 'utilvpxdLdap'] [VpxdLdap] Failed to create LDAP client (2056551) or Installing VMware vCenter Server 5.0 fails with the error: Error 28023. Setup failed to setup VMwareVCMSDS directory service instance (2007755).
     
12. Verify that the vpxd.exe file is present in C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\vpxd.exe location. If this file is not present, reinstall vCenter Server.

Notes: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article:

• Gather the VMware Support Script Data. For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for VMware products (1008524).
• File a support request with VMware Support and note this Knowledge Base article ID (1003926) in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Related Information

Reviewing the vpxd.log files is another common method of diagnosing vCenter Server when it does not start. By reviewing the log files, you can quickly determine the cause of the problem based on the error message reported.

• For vCenter Server 4.x, the log files are stored in this directory by default:
   
  %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs
   
  For example:
   
  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs
   
• For vCenter Server 2.5.x, the log files are stored in this directory by default:

   

  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs
  
   
• For VirtualCenter Server 2.0.x, the log files are stored in this directory by default:

   

  C:\Windows\Temp\vpx

  
   

  To review the logs, open the most recent log in an editor, such as Notepad, and navigate to the bottom of the file. If there were any errors during the VirtualCenter Server startup service, it is listed in the file.

For more information, see:
VMware VirtualCenter Server service does not start automatically after reboot
Cannot install vCenter Server 4.1 or 5.0 on Windows 2008 system with default port settings