"An error occurred while starting service 'wcp'" | Failed to open /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/vsphere-wcp-solution.json
Article ID: 421843
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
The WCP service fails to start on the vCenter Server and reports the error:
“An error occurred while starting service.”
Upon attempting to start the service, it immediately crashes and generates a core dump.
Environment
vCenter
Cause
The WCP service crashes during startup because it is unable to read the file:
root@VCSAFQDN [ /var/core ]# ls -ltrh
total 185M
drwx------ 2 netdumper netdumper 4.0K Jul 11 2024 netdumps_backup
drwx------ 2 netdumper netdumper 4.0K Oct 9 2024 netdumps
drwx------ 2 root root 16K Jan 10 2025 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jan 10 2025 vmware-wcp
drwx------ 3 root root 4.0K Mar 5 2025 software-update
-rw------- 1 root root 185M Dec 11 02:21 core.wcpsvc.32688
/var/log/vmware/vmon/vmon.log :
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:32.377Z In(05) host-2694 Received start request for wcp
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:32.377Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp-prestart> Constructed command: /usr/bin/python /usr/lib/vmware-wcp/wcpsvc-prestart.py
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33.680Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp> Service pre-start command completed successfully.
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33.680Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp> Constructed command: /usr/lib/vmware-wcp/wcpsvc.launcher --port 8920 --logfile /var/log/vmware/wcp/wcpsvc.log --configfile /etc/vmware/wcp/wcpsvc.yaml --audit-logfile /var/log/vmware/wcp/wcp-audit.log --incident-logfile /var/log/vmware/wcp/wcp-incident.log
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33.777Z In(05) host-2694 Client info Uid=0,Gid=0,Pid=32700,Comm=(vmon-coredumper),PPid=2,Comm=(kthreadd),PPid=0
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33.777Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp> Service is dumping core. Coredump count 0. CurrReq: 1
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33.777Z Wa(03) host-2694 [ReadSvcSubStartupData] No startup information from wcp.
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:34.682Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp> Running the API Health command as user wcp
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:34.682Z In(05) host-2694 <wcp-healthcmd> Constructed command: /usr/bin/python /usr/lib/vmware-vmon/vmonApiHealthCmd.py -n wcp -u /wcp/health -t 10
YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:34.840Z Wa(03) host-2694 <wcp> Service exited. Exit code 1
/var/log/vmware/wcp/stdstream.log.stderr :
YYYY/DD/MM 02:20:04 Request processing complete
Starting service process with pid: 32688.
time="YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33Z" level=warning msg="Error opening file /var/log/vmware/certmgr.log: open /var/log/vmware/certmgr.log: permission denied, logging to stderr instead"
time="YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33Z" level=info msg="registering actuator TKG Content Library Creation"
time="YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33Z" level=info msg="registering actuator Entity Permissions"
time="YYYY-MM-DDT02:21:33Z" level=info msg="registering actuator CPVM Creation"
panic: Failed to open /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/vsphere-wcp-solution.json: open /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/vsphere-wcp-solution.json: permission denied
goroutine 1 gp=0xc0000061c0 m=8 mp=0xc000400808 [running]:
The service reports permission denied, causing wcpsvc to core dump.
Although the file /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/vsphere-wcp-solution.json had the correct permissions, one or more parent directories had incorrect permissions, preventing the WCP service from opening the file.
Correct folder permissions should be:
/storage/ drwxr-xr-x (755)
/storage/lifecycle/ drwxr-xr-x (755)
/storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/ drwxr-xr-x (755)
/storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/ drwxr-xr-x (755)
Resolution
Step 1: Verify folder and file permissions
Run the following to confirm:
ls -ld /storage/
ls -ld /storage/lifecycle/
ls -ld /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/
ls -ld /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/
Step 2: Correct folder permissions (if incorrect)
chmod 755 /storage/lifecycle/
chmod 755 /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/
chmod 755 /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/
Step 3: Ensure correct ownership
chown root:root /storage/lifecycle/vmware-wcp/spherelet/vsphere-wcp-solution.json
Step 4: Restart WCP service
service-control --start wcp
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