Troubleshooting the vCenter Server Appliance with Single Sign-On login (2033338)

Details

• The two most common network-related problems when connecting to a vCenter Server Appliance using the Web Client and Single Sign-On (SSO) are SSL certificate failure and a changed SSO server IP address.
• You see these errors:
  
• Failed to connect to VMware Lookup Servicehttps://vCVA_IP_address:7444/lookupservice/sdk - SSL certificate verification failed.
• Failed to communicate with the vCenter Single Sign On server https://vCVA_IP_address:7444/ims/STSService.

Solution

If the SSO SSL certificate failed, the network identification for the vCenter Server Appliance has changed, but the SSO SSL certificate has not been updated to match it. For instructions on changing the certificate,

Note: These issues affect the Web Client and other related services running within the vCenter Server Appliance. These steps involve logging into the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) which should not be affected.

To resolve this issue, toggle the certificate settings.

To toggle the certificate settings:

1. Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Web interface at https://hostname:5480/.
2. Click the Admin tab.
3. Regenerate certificates:
   
   • vCenter Server 5.1: Select Toggle certificate setting so that the Certificate regeneration enabled displays Yes.
   • vCenter Server 5.5: Select Yes under Certificate regeneration enabled.
     
4. Click Submit.
5. Restart the vCenter Server Appliance.
6. After the vCenter Server Appliance restarts, confirm that the Certificate regeneration enabled option is set to disabled.

Notes:

• vCenter Server generates new default certificates using this option. For systems that use custom certificates, regenerate the certificates manually.
• Regeneration of default certificates takes longer time to complete.