Refreshing the datastore list in vCenter Server fails with the error: Cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot refresh the datastore list in vCenter Server
• Refreshing the datastore list by navigating to Configuration > Storage fails
• You see the error:

Call "HostStorageSystem.Refresh" for object "storage" on vCenter Server <vCenter-name> failed.

• The Tasks and Events tab in the vCenter Server reports the error:

Cannot synchronize host <hostname>. Cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password.

• Refreshing the datastore list when connected directly to the host using the vSphere Client is successful

refresh-storage

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x

Resolution

This issue may occur if the root password of the ESX/ESXi host has been changed after it was connected to vCenter Server.

To resolve the issue:

1. Disconnect the host from vCenter Server. Do not remove it.
2. Reconnect the host to vCenter Server. This should fail with an incorrect username/password error.
3. Provide the correct root password and then try reconnecting the host to vCenter Server.
   
   After the host is connected to vCenter Server, you should be able to refresh the datastore list successfully.