vCenter server service (vpxd) fails to start after reboot

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

After rebooting the vCenter Server, the vpxd service fails to start. The issue presents with the following symptoms:

• The VMware vSphere Client displays the error:
  
  Could not connect to one or more vCenter Server systems https://vCenterFQDN:443/sdk
  
  
• vpxd service does not start after reboot.

• No new entries appear in the /var/log/vmware/vpxd/ vpxd.log file.

• The /var/log/vmware/vmon/vmon.log file shows errors like:
  
  <vpxd> Service pre-start command's stderr: Failed to update memStopInMB in vpxd.cfg :xmlReadFd() failed  
<vpxd> Service pre-start command failed with exit code 1...

Cause

• The failure is due to an XML syntax error in the /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg file.
• This issue can occur on vCenter versions particularly when manually configuring retreat mode using advanced settings.
• A faulty configuration may look like this:
  

  <vcls>
      <clusters>
          <EntryID>
             <enabled>false</enabled>
          </EntryID>
          <domain-c123:Alpha-numericString>
      </clusters>
  </vcls>

  Note:- Only the portion before the colon (e.g., domain-c123) should be present. Including the full string (e.g., domain-c123:xyz) causes XML parsing errors.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, you must correct the XML syntax in the vpxd.cfg file. Follow these steps carefully:

• Connect to the vCenter Server using SSH or the console via root credential.
  
  

• The vpxd.cfg file is located at:
  
  /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg

• Take a backup of the file before making any changes:
  
  cp /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg.bak
  
  
• Open the file in a text editor:
  
  vi /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg


• Look for the invalid <vcls> section, which may appear similar to:
  

  <vcls>
      <clusters>
          <EntryID>
              <enabled>false</enabled>
          </EntryID>
          <domain-c123:Alpha-numericString>
      </clusters>
  </vcls>

• Delete the entire <vcls> to </vcls> block, as it is causing the XML parsing error.

• Save and close the file.

• Restart the vpxd service to apply the changes:
  
  service-control --start vpxd

• Once the file is corrected, the vpxd service should start successfully.