certificate-manager fails with "ERROR: The following solution user certificates are expired" when trying to refresh expired certificate by option 3 or 6

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Unable to refresh expired MACHINE SSL or Solution user certificate by certificate-manager option 3 or 6.

You might see log output like this.

ERROR: The following solution user certificates are expired [machine, vsphere-webclient, vpxd, vpxd-extension, hvc]
SOLUTION: Please use option 8 from the certificate-manager utility menu to reset the certificates

Environment

VMware vCenter Server

Cause

certificate-manager option 3 or 6 won't work if there is an expired certificate and it's expected behavior.

Resolution

Currently, we recommend using vCert script for refreshing expired vCenter Server certificates, since vCert will work even though vCenter Server certificates are expired.

vCert - Scripted vCenter expired certificate replacement

Additional Information

Using vSphere Certificate Manager to Replace SSL Certificates