VMware VirtualCenter Server service fails immediately after starting and does not create a vpxd.log file

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Shortly after starting, the VMware Virtual Center Server service fails
• You see the error:

Windows could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server service on <hostname>.

Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly.

• In the Windows System Event log, you see the error:

The VMware VirtualCenter Server service terminated unexpectedly. (...)

Source: Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider -s option, the dump can be found in %localappdata%\VMware\

• The vpxd-*.dmp file is approximately 5 MB in size.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Cause

This issue may occur if the vpxd.cfg file was recently modified, which has resulted in a misconfiguration. For example, attaching a second pair of <config> tags at the end, instead of adding the additional options between the existing tags:

<config>

<options>

(...)

</options>

</config>

<config>

<additional_options>

(...)

<additional_options>

</config>

Note: The change could have been made in the past because the vpxd.cfg file is only read when the VMware VirtualCenter Server service starts. Check the Date modified column for a possible date and time when the changes were made.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, revert the changes made to the vpxd.cfg file or replace %programdata%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg from a backup that was made before the change.

Additional Information

You can compare your vpxd.cfg file with the following default vpxd.cfg file for vCenter Server 5.0 GA, released on 2011-08-24:

Note: This file may have changed in later vCenter Server releases. It should only be used as a reference and not for a copying and pasting.

<config>

<level id="VmCheck">

<logLevel>info</logLevel>

<logName>VmCheck</logName>

</level>

<level id="CpuFeatures">

<logLevel>info</logLevel>

<logName>CpuFeatures</logName>

</level>

<log>

<maxFileSize>52428800</maxFileSize>

<maxFileNum>30</maxFileNum>

<level>info</level>

<memoryLevel>verbose</memoryLevel>

<compressOnRoll>true</compressOnRoll>

</log>

<alert>

<log>

<enabled>true</enabled>

</log>

</alert>

<vmacore>

<threadPool>

<TaskMax>90</TaskMax>

<threadNamePrefix>vpxd</threadNamePrefix>

</threadPool>

<ssl>

<useCompression>true</useCompression>

</ssl>

</vmacore>

<vpxd>

<filterOverheadLimitIssues>true</filterOverheadLimitIssues>

</vpxd>

<task>

<minCompletedLifetime>60</minCompletedLifetime>

</task>

</config>

VMware VirtualCenter Server サービスが起動直後に失敗し、vpxd.log ファイルが作成されない