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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

Web Access doesn't load in browser

I've got a newly installed virtual center 2 server that will not serve up web access to remote workstations. When you click on the web access link, the browser goes to http://ipaddress/ui and a page cannot be displayed error is presented in the browser.

web access was installed, the services are running, tomcat appears to be happy. It will load in a browser that is running on the virtual center server itself, but not on any other PC.

The virtual center server is not running any type of firewall.

Any suggestions?

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23 Replies
VirtualNoitall
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hello,

Not even windows firewall? Can you ping the VC server from a remote workstation?

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

No windows firewall running, it's on win2k3. Yes, I can ping the VC server and have full connectivity to it. No vlans, or routing or anything else involved.

If I go to https://ipaddress/ui, I get the normal cert warnings, then the page can't be displayed error.

Message was edited by:

aardvark

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Use https:///ui instead of http

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

see previous message.

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Try this command: service --status-all |grep running

See if both vmware-hostd and webAccess running. If you they are not try restarting them:

service mgmt-vmware restart

service vmware-webAccess restart

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

The VC is running on windows 2k3. The VI web access service is running, the VirtualCenter server is running, the VM license server is running. Everything has been restarted.

I \*CAN* connect to web access from a browser ON the VC server, just not from a browser on a remote PC.

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Can you ping the VC server from the remote PC? Any firewalls running on either server. You might try and use TCPView on the remote PC and the VC server to see what is going on with the network connections. It's a great troubleshooting tool.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Networking/TcpView.mspx

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

See previous message. No connectivity issues to the VC server. No firewalls, etc.

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Sorry, didn't catch that and it sounds like it is multiple PC's. Can you try forcing the port, https://:443/ui and see if that works. If it works on the VC server but no other PC's there has to be something blocking it on the VC server. Is there anything else installed on the PC at all, is VMware Converter installed by chance, it now uses port 443 also.

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

tcpview shows the connection as the vc welcome screen is displayed on both the workstation and the server.

When you add the /ui to the url tcpview shows the connection go red and drop out.

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

forcing https and 443 produces the same results.

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

The only thing showing as listening on https is vpxd. Converter is not installed.

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Can you connect to the ESX server directly through web access? Have you tried re-installing VC? The front-end web server is built into vpxd.exe which is the process that is listening on port 443/80. The tomcat app server runs separately on ports 8086/8009/8005. Do you have any restrictive group policies that apply to your browsers on your PC's?

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

Does Tomcat show as listening?

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, I can connect directly my esx servers directly via web access. No, I have not tried re-installing VC. I don't mind doing this if I won't lose any configs (is everything[/b] stored in the sql db?).

No restrictions or group policies on the server or my workstations.

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aardvark
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, tomcat is listening.

I can connect just fine on the VC server, just not from a workstation. Connecting locally would still require tomcat and all the ports to work.

When connecting from a workstation I do get a cert warning, so the 443 connection starts as the certificate is being read/anaylized.

It's definitely something on the VC server as any make/model of browser fails from any workstation. Just got to figure out what.

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VirtualNoitall
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hello,

Reinstalling VC should be pretty painless and is a good option at this point. Be sure to not overwrite your database when prompted though. Just in case do a SQL backup of your DB before you do anything.

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esiebert7625
Immortal
Immortal

And just to emphasis this, the prompt to overwrite your database is a little mis-leading, many people have overwritten their database by choosing the wrong option. See this post...

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=589339&#589339

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adolopo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Plug in your server name on your DNS server or (local) HOSTS file.

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