Failed to connect to VM using VMware Remote Console

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• When launching VMware Remote Console (VMRC) from the vCenter Web UI by selecting VM > Launch Remote Console, the VMRC window stays in the "Waiting for connection" state for some time, then turns black, and finally reports a "Connection Error".
• In the C:\Users\<loginUser>\AppData\Local\Temp\vmware-<loginUser>\vmware-vmrc-<vmrcPid>.log:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmrc vmClientCore::VMWindow::SetVirtualScreenSize: Denied resize request because target size == current guest size
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmrc BasicHTTP: Request ###### in state 1 timed out after ###.### seconds having sent 0/579 and received 0/-1 bytes. Cancelling request.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmrc BasicHttpOnSent: xmlReadMemory (NULL == xmlDoc) errorCode 51 responseCode 0 message
  
  
• In the C:\Users\<loginUser>\AppData\Local\Temp\vmware-<loginUser>\vmware-<vmrcPid>-mks-<remoteMKSPid>.log:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main SOCKET connect to wss://<ESXi_IP/FQDN>:443
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main SOCKET webSocket's hostname: <ESXi_IP/FQDN>
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main SOCKET creating new IPv4 socket, connecting to <ESXi_IP/FQDN>:443 (<ESXi_IP>)
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main PollSocketPairConnect: Blocking socket #### connected immediately!
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main PollSocketPairConnect: Blocking socket #### connected immediately!
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) main MKSRoleMain: PowerOn finished.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) mks MKSControlMgr: connected
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) mks MKS-VMDB: VMDB requested a screenshot
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) svga MKSScreenShotMgr: Taking a screenshot
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) mks KHBKL: Unable to parse keystring at: ''
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) mks KHBKL: Unable to parse keystring at: ''
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] Wa(03) mks MVNCClient: received socket error 6: Connection error

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

The ESXi firewall is blocking access from the client machine running VMRC to the ESXi host’s 443 port. VMRC requires a connection to the ESXi management network over port 443.

Resolution

1. Log in to the vCenter Web UI.
2. Navigate to the ESXi host > Configure > Firewall > Edit.
3. Locate the vSphere Web Client service rule.
4. Add the client IP running VMRC to the IP List.