vCenter Server Heartbeat client connection ports

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about the vCenter Server Heartbeat client connection ports.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.6.x
VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.4.x
VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.5.x

Resolution

vCenter Server Heartbeat uses port 52267 as the default Client connection port. The active server listens on port 52267 for any client connection requests. After the client has connected to the active server, the client and the active server communicate using ephemeral ports, which are assigned dynamically from a range, and are valid only for the duration of the connection.

Note: This behavior may conflict with some firewalls. If the server is protected by a firewall, ports between 1024 and 4999 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (49152 to 65535 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008) must be open so the server-client communication can be accomplished without any issues.

For more information about the ephemeral ports and configuring the ephemeral port range for Windows, see:

• The Ephemeral Port Range
• When you try to connect from TCP ports greater than 5000 you receive the error 'WSAENOBUFS (10055)'
• How to reserve a range of ephemeral ports on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server

Note: The preceding links were correct as of October 15, 2013. If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Additional Information

vCSHB-Ref-2494