VCSA VMware vCenter Service (“vpxd”) randomly stopping | vpxd crashing due to 3rd party tool querying

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

After manually starting the "vpxd" service it runs for a while and then crashes again.

 

From "core.vpxd-worker.###" core dump backtrace.

#0  __GI_raise (sig=sig@entry=6) at ../sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/raise.c:49

#1  0x00007fbf2e1b7546 in __GI_abort () at abort.c:79

#2  0x00007fbf344c1adc in Vmacore::PanicExit (msg=0x7fbf3419d35d "Memory exceeds hard limit. Panic") at bora/vim/lib/vmacore/posix/panic.cpp:201

 

2025-11-04T19:35:08.925-03:00 error vpxd[2350807] [Originator@6876 sub=Memory checker] Current value 11050272 exceeds hard limit 11037696. Shutting down process.

...

Cause

Most of the memory is consumed by "vim.PerformanceManager.queryStats" requests in-progress.

• VIM client applications determined by specific IPs are issuing requests. Several such requests may be issued in parallel that result in significant spike of vpxd memory consumption.

Resolution

Suggestions:

1. If possible, modify those clients to either reduce the request rate, or modify QuerySpec to make result smaller. Disable the requests on those clients if necessary.
2. If #1 is not possible, increase the memory limit of vpxd based on what is currently being consumed. Increase the limit via the following commands:
   
   cloudvm-ram-size -C <sizeInMB> vmware-vpxd (Increases the memory limit.)
   vmon-cli -r vpxd (Restarts vpxd for the setting to take effect)

Additional Information

• VMware vCenter API PerformanceBest Practices