vCenter Server plugin com.vmware.lcm.client fails to load in vSphere Client GUI

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

In the vCenter Server GUI, you may observe an error message indicating that a specific plugin has failed to load. 
This specific issue is associated with the following plugin: `com.vmware.lcm.client-7.0.3.2200`

When this occurs, related functionality in the vSphere Client may be unavailable or display errors.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs due to corrupted cached data in the vSphere UI Serenity database or an invalid `plugin.json` file in the vCenter UI package directory.

Resolution

Follow these steps to clear the vSphere UI cache and resolve the plugin failure:

1. Take a snapshot of the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) before proceeding.
2. Log into the VCSA via SSH as root.
3. Stop the vSphere UI service:  
   service-control --stop vsphere-ui
4. Navigate to and clear the Serenity database directory:
   rm -rf /storage/vsphere-ui/SerenityDB/serenity/*
5. Navigate to and clear the vSphere UI server work directory:
   rm -rf /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/work/*
6. Remove the specific failing plugin metadata:
   rm -rf /etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.lcm.client-7.0.3.2200/plugin.json
7. Start the vSphere UI service:
   service-control --start vsphere-ui