VMware vCenter Single Sign-On fails to start with the error: Unable to get information from SQL Server

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) fails to start.
You see the error:

Unable to get information from SQL Server
In the catalina.log file, located at C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs. You see entries similar to:

10:11:26.423 SEVERE [localhost-startStop-1] org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.checkThreadLocalMapForLeaks The web application [/ims] created a ThreadLocal with key of type [com.rsa.ims.logging.ThreadLocalMap] (value [com.rsa.ims.logging.ThreadLocalMap@7afa0094]) and a value of type [java.util.HashMap] (value [{}]) but failed to remove it when the web application was stopped. Threads are going to be renewed over time to try and avoid a probable memory leak.

10:11:26.425 SEVERE [localhost-startStop-1] org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.checkThreadLocalMapForLeaks The web application [/ims] created a ThreadLocal with key of type [com.rsa.ims.logging.ThreadLocalMap] (value [com.rsa.ims.logging.ThreadLocalMap@7afa0094]) and a value of type [java.util.HashMap] (value [{}]) but failed to remove it when the web application was stopped. Threads are going to be renewed over time to try and avoid a probable memory leak.

In the localhost.date.log file, located at C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs, you see backtrace entries similar to:

10:11:25.530 SEVERE [localhost-startStop-1] org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart Exception sending context initialized event to listener instance of class com.rsa.ims.components.servlets.ContextLoaderListener
org.springframework.beans.factory.access.BootstrapException: Unable to return specified BeanFactory instance: factory key [ims], from group with resource name [classpath:beanRefContext.xml]; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'ims' defined in class path resource [beanRefContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.rsa.ims.components.spring.SecurityAwareClassPathXmlApplicationContext]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'DatabaseMetadataBean' defined in class path resource [ims-components-common.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.rsa.ims.common.DatabaseMetadataBean]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create PoolableConnectionFactory (Unable to get information from SQL Server: VCENTER.)

at org.springframework.beans.factory.access.SingletonBeanFactoryLocator.useBeanFactory(SingletonBeanFactoryLocator.java:409)

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs when SSO is unable to contact the SQL Server browser to determine the correct SQL database instance.

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

Check the firewall configuration on the vCenter SSO server and ensure firewall rules are not blocking communication to the SQL server.

Note: The default Microsoft SQL Server uses port 1433.
Check the firewall configuration on the SQL server and ensure firewall rules are not blocking communication to the vCenter SSO server.
Check that the SQL Server Browser service is started.

Additional Information

For more information, see:

For related information on the purpose of the SQL Server Browser service, see Microsoft TechNet article SQL Server Browser Service.

Note: The preceding link was correct as of July 2, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.Required ports for vCenter Server 5.1.x
vCenter Single Sign-On fails to connect to a Microsoft SQL instance
Installing vCenter Single Sign-On fails with the error: The TCP/IP connection to the host 192.168.1.104, port 1433 has failed
Updating the vCenter Single Sign-On server database configuration

Impact/Risks: