Hostd fails to start after ESXi upgrade due to missing entries in config.xml

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Hostd fails to start after an ESXi host upgrade.
• After you upgrade a host, it does not reconnect to vCenter Server.
• The hostd.log file (located in /var/log/ ) contains entries similar to:
  
  T13:12:03.000Z [FFA0FD20 info 'Hbrsvc'] Replication Scheduler started; using the 'hybrid' algorithm with max bandwidth = 20000.
  T13:12:03.000Z [FFA0FD20 info 'Hbrsvc'] HBR has started
  T13:12:03.000Z [FFA0FD20 error 'Httpnfcsvc'] Reverse proxy endpoint list is not available
  

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs when, during the upgrade process, the hostd config.xml file is not updated correctly, resulting in missing entries.

In this case, the error 'HttpNfcSvc' Reverse proxy endpoint list is not available is caused by the line <requires>proxysvc</requires> that is missing from the hostd config.xml file.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, enter the missing line manually into the hostd config.xml file.

To enter the missing line manually:

1. Change directory to:
   
   /etc/vmware/hostd
   
   
   
2. Take a backup copy of the config.xml file before proceeding. Open the config.xml file with a text editor. For more information, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302).
   
   The hostd config.xml file has a section similar to the following:
   
   <httpnfcsvc>
   <enabled>true</enabled>
   <path>libhttpnfcsvc.so</path>
   </httpnfcsvc>
   
   
3. Add the line <requires>proxysvc</requires>, for example:
   
   <httpnfcsvc>
   <path>libhttpnfcsvc.so</path>
   <enabled>true</enabled>
   <requires>proxysvc</requires>
   </httpnfcsvc>
   
   
4. Restart the management agents on the ESXi host. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490).

Additional Information

Restarting the Management agents in ESXi
Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano