HTML5 virtual machine console fails to open after restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• The HTML5 virtual machine console fails to open after restarting the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA).
• Opening the HTML5 console of a virtual machine fails.
• You see an error similar to:
  
  Could not connect to VCSA_Address:7331
  
  
• The vsphere_client_virgo.log file (located at: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/logs/)contains entries similar to:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DD 15:12:37.938] [WARN ] Thread-39 com.vmware.mks.LifeCycleManager Process has unexpectedly ended with exception: org.apache.commons.exec.ExecuteException: Execution failed (Exit value: -559038737. Caused by java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "java" (in directory "/usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/work/tmp/console-distro"): error=2, No such file or directory)

Cause

This issue occurs if the VMWARE_JAVA_HOME environmental variable is not properly set after restarting the vCenter Server Appliance.

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting vSphere Web Client 5.5 running in VCSA 5.5.

 

To work around this issue, set the VMWARE_JAVA_HOME environmental variable to /usr/java/jre-vmware.

 

To set the VMWARE_JAVA_HOME environmental variable:

1. Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance via SSH as the root user.
   
   Note: To enable SSH on the vCenter Server Appliance 5.5, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
   
   
2. Open the wrapper.conf file (located at: /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/wrapper/conf/) using a text editor. For more information, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano.
3. Add this line under the Environmental Variables section:
   
   set.default.VMWARE_JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jre-vmware
   
   For example, modify the default configuration file to:
   
   # Environment Variables
   ##################
   # Location of virgo server directory
   set.VIRGO_KERNEL_HOME=/usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server
   # Location of NGC instance directory
   set.default.INSTANCE_DIR=/user/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server
   set.default.CONFIG_DIR=%INSTANCE_DIR%/configuration
   set.default.JMX_PORT=9875
   set.default.LOG_DIR=/var/log/vmware-vsphere-client/server
   set.default.VMWARE_JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jre-vmware
   
   
4. Save and close the wrapper.conf file.
5. Restart the vSphere Web Client using this command:
   
   /etc/init.d/vsphere-client restart
   
   Note: If the issue persists, you may need to reboot the vCenter Server Appliance and restart the vSphere Web Client again.

Additional Information

Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano