404 Not Found When Accessing the ESXi Host Client

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

You try to access the Host Client when hitting https://<ip or FQDN of ESXi host> and you find a "404 Not Found" message similar to the one below:

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0

Cause

There's a missing entry in the reverse HTTP proxy pointing to "/"

Resolution

SSH into the effected ESXi Host.

1. Navigate to /etc/vmware/rhtpproxy

• cd /etc/vmware/rhttpproxy
   

2. Take a backup copy of the endpoints.conf file

• cp endpoints.conf endpoints.conf.bk

3. Edit endpoints.conf file

• vi endpoints.conf

4. Add the missing line on top of the file that points to /

a) Before
<-- Missing one line that should begin with /
/cgi-bin    local    8303    redirect    allow
/client/clients.xml    local    8309    allow    allow
/fdm    local    9089    reject    allow
/folder    local    8309    redirect    allow
/guestFile    local    8309    redirect    allow
/ha-nfc    local    12001    allow    allow
/host    local    8309    redirect    allow
/mob    namedpipe    /var/run/vmware/proxy-mob    redirect    allow
/mobfdm    local    9090    redirect    allow
/nfc    local    12000    allow    allow
/screen    local    8309    redirect    allow
/sdk    local    8307    redirect    allow
/sdkTunnel    namedpipetunnel    /var/run/vmware/proxy-sdk-tunnel    allow    reject
/ticket    tickettunnel    /var/run/vmware/ticket/%1    redirect    allow
/tmp    local    8309    redirect    allow
/vpxa    local    8089    reject    allow
/vvold    local    8090    allow    allow
/wsman    local    8889    redirect    allow

b) After
/    local    8309    redirect    allow <-This is the line that was missing
/cgi-bin    local    8303    redirect    allow
/client/clients.xml    local    8309    allow    allow
/fdm    local    9089    reject    allow
/folder    local    8309    redirect    allow
/guestFile    local    8309    redirect    allow
/ha-nfc    local    12001    allow    allow
/host    local    8309    redirect    allow
/mob    namedpipe    /var/run/vmware/proxy-mob    redirect    allow
/mobfdm    local    9090    redirect    allow
/nfc    local    12000    allow    allow
/screen    local    8309    redirect    allow
/sdk    local    8307    redirect    allow
/sdkTunnel    namedpipetunnel    /var/run/vmware/proxy-sdk-tunnel    allow    reject
/ticket    tickettunnel    /var/run/vmware/ticket/%1    redirect    allow
/tmp    local    8309    redirect    allow
/vpxa    local    8089    reject    allow
/vvold    local    8090    allow    allow
/wsman    local    8889    redirect    allow

Note: the rest of lines depend on the vCSA version, so don't copy literally. Only add the first one that is missing

5. Restart the rhttpproxy service

• /etc/init.d/rhttpproxy restart
  
  Note: If didn't start properly, Restart the management agents 

6. To make the change persistent after reboot, run the below command.

• /sbin/auto-backup.sh