"VUM failed to authenticate" error when accessing Update Manager Plug-in from HTML Client 6.7

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Update Manager Plug-in for vSphere Client/HTML5 Client 6.7 fails with an error:
  
  error: VUM failed to authenticate
   
• Update Manager plug-in for the vSphere Client becomes unauthenticated
• Mostly observed only in HTML client, able to access update manager from Flash Client
• On the updates tab of the vSphere client, you might see one of these error messages:
  • The session is not authenticated
  • VUM failed to authenticate
  • Security Error 
• In the vsphere_client_virgo.log (ui) file, you see entries similar to:
  
  

  [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] [INFO ] http-nio-5090-exec-4 com.vmware.vsphere.client.security.util.Util getUserSession called on an inactive session.
  [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] [ERROR] http-nio-5090-exec-4 com.vmware.vum.client.exceptions.LoggingController null
  [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] [ERROR] http-nio-5090-exec-4 com.vmware.vum.client.exceptions.LoggingController com.vmware.vum.client.exceptions.AuthenticationException
  at com.vmware.vum.client.remoting.impl.VumServiceProviderImpl.getService(VumServiceProviderImpl.java:87)
  at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor3162.invoke(Unknown Source)
  at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
  at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.invokeJoinpointUsingReflection(AopUtils.java:333)
  at org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.importer.support.internal.aop.ServiceInvoker.doInvoke(ServiceInvoker.java:56) at org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.importer.support.internal.aop.ServiceInvoker.invoke(ServiceInvoker.java:60)at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179) at org.springframework.aop.support.DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.doProceed(DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.java:133) at org.springframework.aop.support.DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.invoke(DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.java:121)
  at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179)
  at org.eclipse.gemini.blueprint.service.importer.support.LocalBundleContextAdvice.invoke(LocalBundleContextAdvice.java:57)
  at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179)
  at org.springframework.aop.support.DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.doProceed(DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.java:133)
  at org.springframework.aop.support.DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.invoke(DelegatingIntroductionInterceptor.java:121)
  at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179)
  at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:213)
  at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy736.getService(Unknown Source)

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

This issue occurs when the Update Manager plug-in for the vSphere Client becomes unauthenticated if the Update Manager functionality is not used for some time.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in vSphere 6.7 U1, available at Broadcom Downloads.

To resolve this issue if you do not want to upgrade, reset the VUM database.

To reset the VUM database:

1. Connect to VCSA 6.7 via SSH.
2. Stop VMware Update Manger service by running this command:
   
   # service-control --stop vmware-updatemgr 

3. Reset VMware Update Manager Database by running this command:
   
   # /usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/updatemgr-utility.py reset-db

4. Delete the content of VMware Update Manager patch store by running this command:
   
   # rm -rf /storage/updatemgr/patch-store/*

5. Start the VMware Update Manager service by running this command:
   
   # service-control --start vmware-updatemgr 

Additional Information

"Response with status: 401 OK for URL" while performing Update Manager Tasks on FireFox in vSphere 6.7 (59696)