"500 internal server error" logging into a Linked Mode vSphere Client
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"500 internal server error" logging into a Linked Mode vSphere Client

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Article ID: 336290

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

  • Login page for vCenter Server 7.0.x or vCenter Server 8.0.x with the vSphere Client fails with the error:
    500 internal server error
  • After upgrading vCenter Server from one patch level to another (e.g., patch 00900 to patch 01000), users are unable to log in to the vSphere Client.
  • In some cases, specific users may see the error while others do not, or it may be intermittent.
  • In the tomcat log file vCenter-/var/log/vmware/sso/tomcat/localhost.YYYY-MM-DD.log, you see:
    Exception from /var/log/vmware/sso/tomcat/localhost.YYYY-MM-DD.log file:
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.###Z SEVE org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.[Catalina].[localhost].[/].[appServlet] Servlet.service() for servlet [appServlet] in context with path [] threw exception [java.lang.ClassFormatError: Truncated class file] with root cause
java.lang.ClassFormatError: Truncated class file
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:763)
        at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)

Environment

  • VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
  • VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

Cause

This issue is caused by the Tomcat web server failing to properly recreate or unzip JSP pages/web files from the Catalina/localhost folder after a service restart or upgrade, resulting in corrupted or missing cached files.

Resolution

Currently, there is no resolution to this issue.

WARNING:  Before making changes to any VCSA, it's recommended to take offline snapshots of the VCSA and any others in ELM.

See the more information section for further information on creating the offline snapshots before making any changes to a VCSA.

Workaround for VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x :

  1. Connect to the vCenter Server with an SSH session and root credentials.
  2. Stop the Secure Token Service with this command: 
    service-control --stop vmware-stsd 

  3. Remove the ROOT folder from the following locations:
    rm -rf /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/work/Catalina/localhost/ROOT

    Note: This folder is created automatically during VCSA startup.

  4. Start the Secure Token Service with this command: 
    service-control --start vmware-stsd 


Workaround for VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x :

  1. Connect to the vCenter Server with an SSH session and root credentials.
  2. Stop the Secure Token Service with this command: 
    service-control --stop vmware-stsd 

  3. Remove the ROOT folder from the following locations:
    rm -rf /var/lib/sso/webapps/ROOT/
    rm -rf /var/lib/sso/workDir/ROOT/

    Note: These folders are created automatically during VCSA startup.

  4. Start the Secure Token Service with this command:
    service-control --start vmware-stsd 

Additional Information

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