Does vCenter automatically restore SQL DB connectivity after interruption?

[vmproteau]

We run vCenter 4.1 on WIndows 2008 R2. vCenter uses a seperate server running SQL2008 Database.

The database server recently had maintenance and was rebooted. I would guess it was down 5-10 minutes at the most. After the SQL server was up for some time, I was still unable to connect and was forced to reboot the vCenter server to reestablish connectivity. This happened to both production vCenter (physical server) and the lab vCenter (VM). Both use the same external SQL server.

If it's normal, I'll just add a pre-req to take vCenter down prior to DB updates but, wanted to verify that others experience the same behavior.

[Troy_Clavell]

If it's normal, I'll just add a pre-req to take vCenter down prior to DB  updates but, wanted to verify that others experience the same behavior.

The vCenter Server service should try and restart itself to connect back to the DB instance.  However, that is not always the case.  Anytime we do DB maintenance, we first stop the vCenter Service, do our maintenance, then restart the service.  Whether right or wrong, that's just practice we have gotten used to.

[vmroyale · Accepted solution]

Hello.

I'm following the same practive as Troy here.  I've seen vCenter sometimes survive a db reboot and other times not.  To me, the inconsistency is unacceptable and I plan accordingly.

Good Luck!

[vmproteau]

Agreed. I wanted to verify this wasn't an environmental issue on our side. It appears it is somewhat expected behaviour. I will implement the same process here.