"An error occurred while starting service 'vmware-invsvc' " when installing vCenter Server 6.0

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Installing VMware vCenter Server 6.0 fails when starting Inventory service.
• VCSA - In the invsvc.log file, you see an error similar to:

<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>| vcsInstUtil-3634789| I: ParseStatusFile: curr error msg: "An error occurred while starting service 'vmware-invsvc'"

</time>

• Windows - In the \ProgramData\vmware\vCenterServer\logs\invsvc\inv-svc.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> [WrapperListener_start_runner ERROR com.vmware.vim.query.server.kvlocal.impl.provider.VCDBProviderFactory opId=] SQL Error: org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (The driver could not establish a secure connection to SQL Server by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. Error: "SQL Server did not return a response. The connection has been closed. ClientConnectionId:7372afca-####-####-####-########56a".)</time>

 

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the SSL SHA algorithm is disabled on the MS SQL server where vCenter database is located.

Resolution

To resolve the "error occurred while starting service vmware-invsvc" issue, enable SSL SHA algorithm on MS SQL server where vCenter database is located.

To enable SSL SHA algorithm on MS SQL server where vCenter database is located:

1. Open Registry editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to below location:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA
    
2. Verify the DWORD value of registry key "Enabled".
   
   If the value is "0", change it to "ffffffff" to enable the SHA algorithm.

Note: SHA Algorithm is enabled by default if the key "SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA" does not exist. So, modifying the key is not applicable.