vCenter service vstats fails to start due to permission issues in /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When trying to start the vstats service via command line and SSH on a vCenter Server appliance, the service fails to start, throwing the following error:

Operation not cancellable. Please wait for it to finish...
Performing start operation on service vstats...
Error executing start on service vstats. Details {
    "detail": [
        {
            "id": "install.ciscommon.service.failstart",
            "translatable": "An error occurred while starting service '%(0)s'",
            "args": [
                "vstats"
            ],
            "localized": "An error occurred while starting service 'vstats'"
        }
    ],
    "componentKey": null,
    "problemId": null,
    "resolution": null
}
Service-control failed. Error: {
    "detail": [
        {
            "id": "install.ciscommon.service.failstart",
            "translatable": "An error occurred while starting service '%(0)s'",
            "args": [
                "vstats"
            ],
            "localized": "An error occurred while starting service 'vstats'"
        }
    ],
    "componentKey": null,
    "problemId": null,
    "resolution": null
}

The following error message is seen from the /var/log/vmware/vstats/vstats-runtime.log.stderr:

Starting service process with pid: #####.
panic: open /etc/vmware/.buildInfo: permission denied


goroutine 1 [running]:
main.vstats_main()
        bora/vpx/vstats/vstats-svc/src/vstas/main.go:126 +0xf00
main.main()
        bora/vpx/vstats/vstats-svc/src/vstats/vcsa_vstats_main.go:34 +0xf

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

Per the error message, the permissions on the /etc/vmware/.buildInfo file should be validated. When running ls -lathr /etc/vmware/.buildInfo , the file owners should show root and root, and the file permissions should be read and execute for all.

Desired /etc/vmware/.buildInfo permissions metadata:

root@vCenter [~]# ls -lathr /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 4.0K Jan 9 2026 /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

In the example below, the file is set to read and write for the owner permissions, execute for the user group permissions, and read for the others' permissions. These settings will not allow the vstats service to start.

root@vCenter [~]# ls -lathr /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

-rw---xr-- 1 root root 4.0K Jan 9 2026 /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

Resolution

To correct the file permissions, chmod can be used. The file should have read and execute (r-x) for owner, user group, and others.

1. Run chmod 555 /etc/vmware/.buildInfo to set the file permissions to the desired read and execute settings.

root@vCenter [~]# chmod 555 /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

2. Verify the file permissiosns were successfully set to read and execute by running ls -lathr /etc/vmware/.buildInfo again. The file permissions should now read -r-xr-xr-x:

root@vCenter [~]# ls -lathr /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 4.0K Jan 9 2026 /etc/vmware/.buildInfo

3. With the file permissions validated, now try to start the vstats service again by running service-control --start vstats . There should no longer be a "permission denied" error about the .buildInfo file in the /var/log/vmware/vstats/vstats-stderr.log file