"An error occurred while fetching identity providers" error when logging into vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

In a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) environment, one vCenter Server remains accessible, while other nodes are inaccessible via the vSphere Client (GUI) with the following error:

An error occurred while fetching identity providers. Please try again later. If problem persists, contact your administrator.

Running the vCenter Diagnostic Tool (VDT) via the command line returns the error "Automatic login with machine account credentials failed" on the impacted vCenter Server nodes. ( Using the VCF Diagnostic Tool for vSphere )

When attempting to create a new virtual machine without a Guest OS on an impacted vCenter through the functional vCenter's GUI, the operation fails with an "envoy overloaded" error.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

Cause

Envoy-sidecar is limited to use up to 1GB of memory by default. When memory consumed by envoy-sidecar service reaches 98%, it starts sending overload responses, which may cause failures in the vCenter internal workloads. 

Resolution

Restart the impacted vCenter Server to restore service functionality. For a long-term solution or permanent workaround, refer to the following documentation: Envoy-sidecar hits memory limit causing vSphere client unable to load and vAPI endpoint service degraded