The vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 services fail to start with MessageExpired errors in the vpxd.log file

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• In the /var/log/vmware/vpx/vpxd.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  sub=componentManagerUtil] AcquireToken for solution ([email protected]): SsoException: Unexpected SOAP fault: ns0:MessageExpired; request failed.
  Failed to discover license service endpoint: N9SsoClient12SsoExceptionE(Unexpected SOAP fault: ns0:MessageExpired; request failed.)
  error vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down...
  
  And:
  
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=MoOptionMgr] [OptionManagerMo] Invoking callbacks for key vpxd.usageStats.duration, pre commit
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=MoOptionMgr] [OptionManagerMo] No change to vpxd.usageStats.duration
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=[SSO][SsoCertificateManagerImpl]] [CreateServiceContent] Try to connect to SSO VMOMI endpoint.
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=[SSO][SsoCertificateManagerImpl]] Retrieved trusted STS certificate: O=<FQDN>,C=US,DC=local,DC=vsphere,CN=CA, TP = <HASH>
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> error vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=componentManagerUtil] AcquireToken for solution ([email protected]): SsoException: Unexpected SOAP fault: ns0:MessageExpired; request failed.
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> error vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=licenseServiceDiscovery] Failed to discover license service endpoint: N9SsoClient12SsoExceptionE(Unexpected SOAP fault: ns0:MessageExpired; request failed.)
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> warning vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=VpxProfiler] ServerApp::Init [TotalTime] took 5687 ms
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> error vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=Main] [VpxdMain] Failed to initialize N9SsoClient12SsoExceptionE(Unexpected SOAP fault: ns0:MessageExpired; request failed.)
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> error vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down...
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=SupportMgr] Wrote uptime information
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> info vpxd[7F3E336797A0] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] Forcing shutdown of VMware VirtualCenter now</time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time>
   
• In the /var/log/vmware/sso/vmware-identity-sts.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  <MONTH DD><time>UTC <YYYY>). This might be due to a clock skew problem.
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> tomcat-http--1 vsphere.local 71d52fb8-2591-49f3-8878-081e2e18d7da DEBUG com.vmware.identity.sts.ws.StsServiceImpl] com.vmware.identity.sts.RequestExpiredException:
  The time now <MONTH DD><time>UTC <YYYY> does not fall in the request lifetime interval extended with clock tolerance of 600000 ms: [ <MONTH DD><time>UTC <YYYY>; <MONTH DD><time>UTC <YYYY>).
  This might be due to a clock skew problem.
  
  
  </time></time></time></time></time>
  Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs due to a time skew between the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 and the external Platform Service Controller.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, configure an NTP server on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0. For more information, see Configuring NTP on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 (2113610).

 

To work around this issue, manually synchronize the time on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0:

1. Open the console for the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 and log in with root credentials.
2. Type shell.set --enabled True and press Enter.
3. Type shell and press Enter.
4. Run this command to update the time:
   
   date --set="DD MONTH YYYY HH:MM:SS"
   
   For example:
   
   date --set="24 May 2015 16:25:00"
    
5. Start the vCenter Server services. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 services (2109887).

 

Additional Information

Stopping, starting, or restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x services
Configuring NTP on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0