VirtualCenter server fails with the error: A general system error occurred: at line number 7, not well-formed (invalid token)

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• VirtualCenter service does not start
• VirtualCenter fails and generates the error:
  
  A general system error occurred at line number 7, not well formed (invalid token)
  
  
• In the vpxd.log file on the VirtualCenter Server, you see errors similar to:
  
  [2008-08-01 23:44:05.811 'App' 784 error] [VpxdMain] Failed to initialize: not well-formed (invalid token)
  [2008-08-01 23:44:05.811 'App' 784 error] Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down...
  [2008-08-01 23:44:05.811 'App' 784 info] Forcing shutdown of VMware VirtualCenter now
  
  or
  
  vmodl.fault.SystemError:
  (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
  dynamicType = <unset>,
  reason = "at line number 7, not well-formed (invalid token)",
  msg = ""
  }
  
  
• Manually starting the service from Computer Management > Services and Applications > Service > VMware VirtualCenter Server produces the error:
  
  Windows could not start the VMware VirtualCenter Server on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 2.

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x

Resolution

Under certain conditions the VirtualCenter service fails to start with this error message. There is an entry in the SQL database which has malformed XML data which causes VirtualCenter to crash during start up. The problem is not seen until the VirtualCenter service is stopped and restarted (a reboot of the machine implies this as well).

The issue is caused by:

• Upgrading your ESX 3.5 hosts to Update 2 without first updating to VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 3.
• UTF-8 characters in the VirtualCenter database as a result of naming virtual machines and datastores.

Resolution

Upgrade VirtualCenter 2.5 to Update 3 or later.