VM web console intermittently disconnects when using HAProxy load balancer

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

When accessing a virtual machine (VM) web console, the console session intermittently disconnects after 1 to 2 minutes of active use. This behavior typically occurs when the connection routes through an external HAProxy load balancer.

Environment

• VMware Cloud Director

• HAProxy Load Balancer

Cause

The root cause is isolated to the external HAProxy load balancer configuration or timeout settings routing traffic to the environment. When you bypass the load balancer and connect directly, the VM web console session remains completely stable without any disconnections.

Resolution

Because this issue is strictly isolated to the third-party HAProxy load balancer, the resolution resides outside the scope of the VMware Cloud Director environment.

Please perform the following steps to resolve the issue:

1. Engage HAProxy Support to investigate the load balancer logs, active session timeouts, or persistence settings causing premature disconnections.

2. Provide your network or HAProxy administration team with the external connection details to review the timeout behaviors specifically tracking the web console websocket or HTTPS stream traffic.