"An error occurred while starting service rhttpproxy" upgrading vCenter Server 6.0 U2 to 6.0 U3

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

You see the error: An error occurred while starting service rhttpproxy
Updating vCenter Server 6.0 U2 to 6.0 U3b fails with below error %TEMP%\vminst.log file

"Installation of component VMware vCenter Server failed with error code '3010'. Check the logs for more details."

In the %TEMP%\vminst.log file, you see entries similar to: 2017-08-23 16:32:52.787+02:00| vcsInstUtil-5318198| I: wWinMain: Exe is told to run "Z:\vCenter-Server\Packages\vmware-vpxd.msi" with "ALLUSERS=1 ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT=1 INSTALLPATH="C:\VMware\vCenter Server\" APPDATAPATH="C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\" REINSTALLMODE=vemus VM_UPDATE=1" details 0 2017-08-23 16:33:55.908+02:00| vcsInstUtil-5318198| E: wWinMain: MSI result of install of "Z:\vCenter-Server\Packages\vmware-vpxd.msi" may have failed: 3010 (0x00000bc2) 2017-08-23 16:33:55.908+02:00| vcsInstUtil-5318198| E: LaunchPkgMgr: Operation on vmware-vpxd.msi appears to have failed: 3010 (0x00000bc2) 2017-08-23 16:33:55.908+02:00| vcsInstUtil-5318198| I: PitCA_MessageBox: Displaying message: "Installation of component VMware vCenter Server failed with error code '3010'. Check the logs for more details."
Installation of the VMware vCenter server fails with 1603 error during an update from 6.0 U2 to 6.0 U3. In the run-updateboot-scripts.log file, you see entries similar to:

2019-05-31T13:14:56.619Z State for service rhttpproxy: STOPPED
Unable to start service rhttpproxy, Exception: {^M^M
"resolution": null,
"detail":
{
"args": [
"rhttpproxy"
],
"id": "install.ciscommon.service.failstart",
"localized": "An error occurred while starting service 'rhttpproxy'",
"translatable": "An error occurred while starting service '%(0)s'"
}
],
"componentKey": null,
"problemId": null

Log file location %ProgramData%\VMware\CIS\logs\firstboot\

run-updateboot-scripts.log

2019-06-14 07:39:00.309-07:00| vcsInstUtil-13638470| I: UpdatePackageList: Disabling installation of package C:\Users\vmware\Downloads\VMware-VIMSetup-all-6.0.0-13638623\vCenter-Server\Packages\vmware-python.msi (ProductCode is different but ProductVersion is smaller than the one already on the system)

%TEMP%\vminst.log
2019-06-14 08:20:43.734-07:00| vcsInstUtil-13638470| E: wWinMain: MSI result of install of "C:\Users\vmware\Downloads\VMware-VIMSetup-all-6.0.0-13638623\vCenter-Server\Packages\vcsservicemanager.msi" may have failed: 1603 (0x00000643)
2019-06-14 08:20:43.734-07:00| vcsInstUtil-13638470| E: LaunchPkgMgr: Operation on vcsservicemanager.msi appears to have failed: 1603 (0x00000643)
2019-06-14 08:20:43.736-07:00| vcsInstUtil-13638470| I: PitCA_MessageBox: Displaying message: "Installation of component VCSServiceManager failed with error code '1603'. Check the logs for more details."

Cause

This issue occurs due to OpenSSL not updating during the upgrade due to bad/incorrect entries in the registry. The installer sees version (5.5) of OpenSSL is still installed causing the failure.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 6.0 U3g, available at VMware Patch Downloads.

Workaround:
To work around the An error occurred while starting service rhttpproxy issue, uninstall vmware-Openssl version 6.0.0.60000 and then try upgrading.

Note: Take a snapshot before proceeding.

Workaround 1:

Open the Command Prompt as Administrator
Run the below command

msiexec /x {7CA4FE96-7C9E-40ED-ABF7-3EA5D78529D3}

Re-run the Upgrade.

Workaround 2:

Type regedit in the edit field
Go to the below registry location
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall
Under this Uninstall folder you will find many registry entries
- Click on Edit tab and then Find string "7CA4FE96-7C9E-40ED-ABF7-3EA5D78529D3"
Highlight the key and then Right click on it and choose Delete.

Additional Information

"Error waiting for service rhttpproxy start. Exit code: 1066" error when starting vCenter Server 6.0