A collection of a few problems I recently encountered with vCenter…

Problem: entries in the log C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\Vpxd-XXX.log:

2015-02-03T17:04:41.874+01:00 [06244 error 'win32vpxLdap_win32'] [LDAP Client] Failed to add LDAP entry CN=396B4052-A620-474B-BE8E-0446D1E1E831,OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,dc=virtualcenter,dc=vmware,dc=int: 0x68 (The object already exists.)

Solution: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2044680

Problem: entries in C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\wrapper.log:

INFO | jvm 1 | 2015/02/02 17:09:21 | SEVERE: Unable to expose the remote JMX registry.
INFO | jvm 1 | 2015/02/02 17:09:21 | java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Port value out of range: -1

Solution: VMware documentation

In short: edit the base.jmx.port variable in C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure omcat\conf\catalina.properties:

base.jmx.port=-1

change it to:

base.jmx.port=6969

Problem: how to restore the configuration, in other words generally about configuration backup (but this is worth doing earlier ;-P).

Solution: VMware KB 1029864

Problem: where are the logs stored?

Solution: typical log locations:

C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\Inventory Service\Logs
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs

Problem: what does the vCenter database structure look like?

Solution: http://support.hp.com/pl-pl/document/c01271538