vSphere Web Client not registered with vCenter Server

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

i recently migrated our instance of vCenter from an old physical server to a new physical server. Everything went well w/ the exception of the Web Client. When i login to the Client, i get this error message:

 

Could not connect to one or more vCenter Server systems:
https://sslfarm.internal:443/sdk

 

The "sslfarm.internal" portion is the domain name; the URL is missing the hostname. Searching around online has not helped. I decided to open a ticket with VMware. The tech i'm working with right now is of no help. I'm going around in circles now.

 

I've tried a KB article that re-registers the vmware components such as SSO and the Lookup Service. These made no difference. I tried to reinstall the Web Client. That didnt help either. I tried a script called "client-repoint" in the web client's directory. this is supposed to register a vsphere instance with the web client. Well, that fails with this error:

 

Error connecting to VMware Lookup Service register.

 

Going back to the 1st error message - where is the web client getting that invalid URL? Tracking that down might help me fix it so it includes the hostname. Thoughts?

[+BudMan MVC]

so before was it host.sslfarm.internal, and now your new server is newhost.sslfarm.internal?

 

Is there anything odd with this hostname, maybe illegal characters or something?  Maybe length?  Is really long?

 

Can you create a host file or something or have your dns resolve sslfarm.internal to the actual host IP?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Hey, Budman. Perhaps i wasnt very clear in the post. The URL listed in the error message doesnt include the hostname (server name). It simply shows the domain name, minus the hostname. --> https://<hostname_missing>.sslfarm.internal:443/sdk

 

Im assuming, then, since the web client cant find the FQDN, then it cant connect to the vCenter instance. Therefore, there's nothing registered with the Web Client. I'm trying to track down where exactly the Web Client is getting that incorrect URL. If i can track that down, perhaps i can modify the URL to include the hostname.

 

I hope that helps. Thanks.

[Defiant]

You can run the vCenter Server installation, which will remove then reinstall vCenter Server. Assuming everything else is fine your VM configuration will be kept during the reinstall.

 

The installer will fix up your server (name) change. The self signed SSL certs and so on will all reference the old name space that's probably what is your issue here. SSO will also have issues as alot of the config which is written when you install VC will be pointing to the wrong place - was there a reason you choose a new name when installing?

 

But good luck.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

2 hours ago, Defiant said:

was there a reason you choose a new name when installing?

 

But good luck.

this is a new server, so the name has to change. The original server is still running so we couldnt have duplicate names on the network. That said, i followed VMware's own migration guide. Everything else seemed to go well!

 

in lieu of reinstalling vCenter, is there some other way to change this URL or re-register the Web Client?

 

i found out yesterday that VMware is only supporting Server 2016 with vSphere 6.5. Would it be a good idea to simply do an upgrade from 5.5 instead of fiddling around w/ reinstalls? Remember, the only issue here is the Web Client.

[sc302 Veteran]

Might I shed some light on this?

 

vcenterserver is not required to run vm guest oses, it is required to manage them.  You could take down vcenter server/decommission the host, then change the name of the new host and bring up vcenterserver on that new host not effecting much of anything other than the ability to manage the vcenter servers during the time of migration.  I am unaware of anything that would be undone by doing this as the configurations are stored in the hosts after the change has been made.  Short of having to reinstall the update manager, I am not sure what else you would have to do.  I believe you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.  If it were a large issue you could always fire up the old vcenterserver. 

 

I have had vcenter servers die due to them running on older hardware, I have replaced them without issue using the same names...the hosts have all retained their configurations.  vcenterserver is critical in management and reporting, they are not critical in operations (from what I have seen anyway).  I have 8 hosts in 2 different environments, one of those enviroments I went from a virtualized vcenterserver to a physical windows based vcenter server...same name, no migration path.

 

 

 

 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

24 minutes ago, sc302 said:

Might I shed some light on this?

 

vcenterserver is not required to run vm guest oses, it is required to manage them.  You could take down vcenter server/decommission the host, then change the name of the new host and bring up vcenterserver on that new host not effecting much of anything other than the ability to manage the vcenter servers during the time of migration.  I am unaware of anything that would be undone by doing this as the configurations are stored in the hosts after the change has been made.  Short of having to reinstall the update manager, I am not sure what else you would have to do.  I believe you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.  If it were a large issue you could always fire up the old vcenterserver. 

 

I have had vcenter servers die due to them running on older hardware, I have replaced them without issue using the same names...the hosts have all retained their configurations.  vcenterserver is critical in management and reporting, they are not critical in operations (from what I have seen anyway).  I have 8 hosts in 2 different environments, one of those enviroments I went from a virtualized vcenterserver to a physical windows based vcenter server...same name, no migration path.

i understand what you mean, but to me, it just doesnt make sense to uninstall and reinstall vCenter when the only thing not working is the Web Client. How is there not a way to reconfigure or simply fix that program?

 

That said, if i were to uninstall vCenter, would i also need to uninstall the Web Client, SSO, and everything else?

 

Also, it's worth mentioning that VMware wont support vSphere 5.5 with Windows Server 2016. That's why i was contemplating upgrading my 5.5 instance to 6.5. VMware [apparently] only supports 6.5 on 2016.

[sc302 Veteran]

You may be able to just uninstall the web portion and reinstall. 

 

 

Honestly i would scrap it and bring up a new server clean if it isn't your production box yet. 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

10 minutes ago, sc302 said:

You may be able to just uninstall the web portion and reinstall. 

 

Honestly i would scrap it and bring up a new server clean if it isn't your production box yet. 

yeah, i tried uninstalling the web client and reinstalling. same result, unfortunately.

 

this is our production box. it was a clean install; i simply migrated from the old server and used existing database. VMware supports this. during the vCenter install you choose an option to reuse an existing DB.

[sc302 Veteran]

Well you didn't really follow the doc did you?  At what point in the doc did it say to change the server name and fix any entries pointing to the old server name? You did something unsupported and are having issues that vm support can't fix. 

 

I think you are looking at a complete reinstall.  Even though it should be something simple, the issue is knowing where to change that name. It could be anywhere. 

 

I would have either brought up an intermeditary server or completely decommissioned the old, bring Vcenter completely down, and brought up the new server with the old name. 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Step 13: "If the IP address of the new vCenter Server has changed, your ESX hosts must be made aware of that change..."

 

Steps 7-15 explain this:

 

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=5850444

 

the VMware article doesnt explicitly say i cant use a new hostname. but again, that's besides the point. the web client's URL is missing the hostname. it's not like it's pointing to the old installation. the rest of the applications work just fine. the only issue is the web client.

[Stokkolm]

I wouldn't recommend using Windows for vSphere at all with 6.5. Going forward they're not supporting things like the new HTML5 client on the Windows version. When I go to upgrade my 6.0 instance to 6.5 I'm converting to VCSA.

[Co-ords]

Go check out the VMware Fling for the new HTML5 client. I have installed it, and although it's not yet feature complete, it is great. Take a look here. They also have a few other interesting flings. Worth a look around. This fling is included in vSphere 6.5 btw as a fully supported client

[sc302 Veteran]

7 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

Step 13: "If the IP address of the new vCenter Server has changed, your ESX hosts must be made aware of that change..."

 

Steps 7-15 explain this:

 

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=5850444

 

the VMware article doesnt explicitly say i cant use a new hostname. but again, that's besides the point. the web client's URL is missing the hostname. it's not like it's pointing to the old installation. the rest of the applications work just fine. the only issue is the web client.

ip address change is one thing...host name change is completely different.  They don't expect the host name to change, it is a bit more static than an ip address. 

 

While it doesn't explicitly say you cannot, where does it explicitly say you can?  It mentions ip address only.

 

Again pretty much besides the point, but if you aren't getting anywhere with vm support you may want to scrap it.

[Stokkolm]

38 minutes ago, Co-ords said:

Go check out the VMware Fling for the new HTML5 client. I have installed it, and although it's not yet feature complete, it is great. Take a look here. They also have a few other interesting flings. Worth a look around. This fling is included in vSphere 6.5 btw as a fully supported client

I'm running the Fling in my Windows-based vCenter lab environment already. In their vSphere 6.5 blog though, they insinuate that the HTML5 client will only be available on the VCSA version, they also make it pretty clear that VCSA is the focus. "vSphere 6.5 makes the vCenter Server Appliance the fundamental building block of a vSphere environment."

 

Source: https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2016/10/introducing-vsphere-6-5.html

 

Edit: I need to correct myself, I just found a whitepaper that specifically states that the new vSphere Client (that's what their calling the HTML5 client) is available in the Windows version of vCenter 6.5. 

http://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/whitepaper/vsphere/vmw-white-paper-vsphr-whats-new-6-5.pdf

Edited December 7, 2016 by Stokkolm

[+BudMan MVC]

On 12/6/2016 at 9:57 AM, Jason S. said:

The URL listed in the error message doesnt include the hostname

Yeah I got that.. Which is why I asked if your host name had something ODD with it.. Clearly the url is missing a host, since that unless you like using single label domains?  Which is really bad idea to be honest.

 

So what is this hosts name??  What was it?  Since your saying it can not be found because that FQDN does not resolve.  Then make it so it does resolve.  Great a hosts file entry for that sslfarm.internal or have your dns actually resolve that to the IP address of the machine..  I have no idea why it wouldn't include the host unless you didn't put one in, or somehow its malformed or otherwise did not follow instructions for a fully qualified name.. Maybe it doesn't like .internal as a tld?

[Defiant]

I would agree with others and go either to VCSA or a clean install and then "take over" the ESXI hosts again. You can migrate polices over should you wish. But if you've gone the default route then a fresh VC is ideal.

 

The HTML5 client is nice and VC6.5 ships with it ready to go + you get local UI with 6.0up2 and onwards which again give you some control over the individual hosts without VC running.

 

The (old) windows client software WILL not manage 6.5 or later. Just a heads up.

 

Cheers Steve

 

[Skiver Veteran]

14 minutes ago, Defiant said:

I would agree with others and go either to VCSA or a clean install and then "take over" the ESXI hosts again. You can migrate polices over should you wish. But if you've gone the default route then a fresh VC is ideal.

 

The HTML5 client is nice and VC6.5 ships with it ready to go + you get local UI with 6.0up2 and onwards which again give you some control over the individual hosts without VC running.

 

The (old) windows client software WILL not manage 6.5 or later. Just a heads up.

 

Cheers Steve

 

 

The biggest issue I have right now is that our current Windows VCenter is running on a Hyper-V box and from what I understand VCSA is not supported on Hyper-V. All of our production IT equipment is run on Hyper-V so to suddenly have to find a host for just that is holding me back. Our VMware estate is purely lab orientated so I can't just stick a VM there.

 

So until they support VCSA on Hyper-V I'm going to be forced to continue with the Windows Based VCenter.