Beginning in vCenter Server 6.0, it is recommended to use the vSphere Web Client or Service Control command-line tool to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server and/or Platform Services Controller services. This process is different from previous versions of vCenter Server with the Microsoft Windows Services snap-in.
For more information see, Stopping, Starting or Restarting VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x services (2109887)
Checking the status vCenter Server Appliance services
To check the status of vCenter Server Appliance services:
- Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance through SSH. For more information, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
- Log in as root.
- Run this command in the SSH client:
service –-status-all
- Scroll through the output to check the status of all services.
To check the status of a specific service:
- Run this command to review the list of all services:
ls /etc/init.d
- Scroll through the output and find the name of the service you are interested in. For a list of core vCenter Server services, see the Additional Information section of this article.
- Run this command in the SSH client:
service ServiceName status
Where ServiceName corresponds to one of the services in /etc/init.d or the core list in the Additional Information section of this article. For example:
service vmware-vpxd status
If the vpxd service is running, you see output similar to:
vmware-vpxd is running
tomcat is running
Note: The tomcat service is within the vmware-vpxd service. You can check the status of tomcat by checking the status of vmware-vpxd. This service can be stopped and started outside of the vmware-vpxd service by running these commands:
vmware-vpxd tomcat-stop
vmware-vpxd tomcat-start
Stopping vCenter Server Appliance services
To stop a vCenter Server Appliance service if it has started:
- Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance via SSH. For more information, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
- Log in as root.
- Run this command to review the list of all services:
ls /etc/init.d
- Scroll through the output and find the name of the service you are interested in. For a list of core vCenter Server services, see the Additional Information section of this article.
- Run this command in the SSH client:
service ServiceName stop
Where ServiceName corresponds to one of the services in /etc/init.d.
Note: When you stop the VMware VirtualCenter Server service (vmware-vpxd), all connected users are disconnected from their session.
Starting vCenter Server Appliance services
To start a vCenter Server Appliance service if it has stopped:
- Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance through SSH. For more information, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
- Log in as root.
- Run this command to review the list of all services:
ls /etc/init.d
- Scroll through the output and find the name of the service you are interested in. For a list of core vCenter Server services, see the Additional Information section of this article.
- Run this command in the SSH client:
service ServiceName start
Where ServiceName corresponds to one of the services in /etc/init.d.
Note: If the VMware VirtualCenter Server service does not start, verify that it is able to get exclusive access to the vCenter Server repository. For more information, see Unable to get an exclusive access to the vCenter Server repository (1006369).
Restarting vCenter Server Appliance services
To restart a vCenter Server Appliance service:
- Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance through SSH. For more information, see Enable or Disable SSH Administrator Login on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
- Log in as root.
- Run this command to review the list of all services:
ls /etc/init.d
- Scroll through the output and find the name of the service you are interested in. For a list of core vCenter Server services, see the Additional Information section of this article.
- Run this command in the SSH client:
service ServiceName restart
Where ServiceName corresponds to one of the services in /etc/init.d.
Note: When you restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service, all connected users are disconnected from their vSphere/Virtual Infrastructure Client sessions.