How to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server services

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server services.

 

For troubleshooting and maintenance purposes, it may be necessary to change the status of vCenter Server services such as VMware VirtualCenter Server or VMware Infrastructure Web Access.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
• VMware vSphere 6.5.x
• VMware vSphere 6.x
• VMware vSphere 6.7.x

Resolution

Beginning in vCenter Server 6.0, it is recommended to use the vSphere Web Client or Service Control command-line tool to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server and/or Platform Services Controller services. This process is different from previous versions of vCenter Server with the Microsoft Windows Services snap-in.
For more information see,

• Stop, Start or Restart Services on vCenter Server 6.x or Higher (340943)
• Stopping, Starting or Restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x & above services (344633) ​​​​​​​

Stopping vCenter Server services

To stop a vCenter Server service:

1. Log in as an administrator to the server that is running vCenter Server.
2. Click Start > Run.
3. Type services.msc.
4. Press Enter.
5. From the list of services, right-click on the service you wish to stop. For example, VMware VirtualCenter Server, or VMware vCenter Server depending on the version you are using.
6. Click Stop and wait for the service to complete stopping.

Note: When you stop the VMware vCenter Server service, all connected users are disconnected from their session.

Starting vCenter Server services

To start a vCenter Server service if it has stopped:

1. Log in as an administrator to the server that is running vCenter Server.
2. Click Start > Run.
3. Type services.msc.
4. Press Enter.
5. From the list of services, right-click on the service you wish to start. For example, VMware VirtualCenter Server, or VMware vCenter Server depending on the version you are using.
6. Click Start and wait for the service startup to complete.

Note: If the VMware VirtualCenter Server service does not start, verify that it is able to get exclusive access to vCenter Server repository. 

Restarting vCenter Server services

To restart a vCenter Server service:

1. Log in as an administrator to the server that is running vCenter Server.
2. Click Start > Run.
3. Type services.msc.
4. Press Enter.
5. From the list of services, right-click on the service you wish to restart. For example, VMware VirtualCenter Server, or VMware vCenter Server depending on the version you are using.
6. Click Restart and wait for the service to complete restarting.

Note: When you restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service, all connected users are disconnected from their vSphere/Virtual Infrastructure Client sessions.