'ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED' while opening the Virtual Machine Console

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When trying to launch a Virtual Machine Console from the vSphere Web Client, you see the error:
  
  ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED
   
• The vSphere Web Client 6.0 is installed using a custom port.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs because of the redirect in the vSphere Web Client server which points to port 9443 instead of the custom port.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, update the webclient.poperties to point to the custom port used during installation.

 

For Windows vSphere Web client:

1. On the vSphere Web Client server navigate to:
   
   C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client\
    
2. Create a backup of the webclient.properties file.
3. Open the webclient.properties using a text editor.
4. Edit the #html.console.port = to the port used during installation and remove the #.
   
   For example:
   
   html.console.port = 9445
    
5. Save the changes to file and exit.
6. Restart the VMware vSphere Web Client service. For more information, see Stop, Start or Restart Services on vCenter Server 6.x or Higher .

 

For the vCenter Server Appliance:

1. Open a Console connection to the vCenter Server Appliance.
2. Run this command to enable the shell:
   
   shell.set --enabled true
    
3. Run this command to launch the shell:
   
   shell
    
4. Navigate to /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/.
    
5. Create a backup of the webclient.properties with this command:
   
   cp webclient.properties webclient.properties.bak
    
6. Open the file with a text editor using this command:
   
   vi webclient.properties
    
7. Edit the #html.console.port = to the port used during installation and remove the #.
   
   For example:
   
   html.console.port = 9445
    
8. Save the changes to file and exit.
9. Restart the VMware vSphere Web Client service. For more information, see Stopping, Starting or Restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x & above services.

Additional Information

• Stop, Start or Restart Services on vCenter Server 6.x or Higher
• Stopping, Starting or Restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x & above services