In my first post, I will discuss an issue I ran into while remediating a Java security vulnerability for vCenter. Below are the steps that were taken to correct the issue regarding VMware services failing to start after the update.
IMPORTANT: The only update between vCenter Server 5.5 U2d and vCenter Server 5.5 U2e is an updated JRE Build to patch JRE security vulnerabilities. Using the following workaround will not change the vCenter Server 5.5 Build Number. It will continue to display Build 2442329. The same would occur if you successfully applied VIMPatch-5.5.0-2646481-20150401. This is by design as the vCenter Server binaries are not changing.
- Backup or Take a snapshot of the vCenter Server machine.
- Stop the following VMware Services:
- VMware vSphere Web Client
- VMware Log Browser
- VMware vSphere Update Manager Service
- VMware Profile-Driven Storage Service
- Vmware VirtualCenter Service
- VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices
- VMware vCenter Orchestrator Server
- VMware vCenter Inventory Service
- VMware Secure Token Service
- VMware Identity Management Service
3. Confirm that no java.exe process is running via an elevated command prompt:
tasklist | findstr java
4. From the Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, uninstall the VMware vCenter Server – Java Components.
5. Confirm that the directory C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server – Java Components is completely removed. Rename the folder if it still remains.
6. Mount the vCenter Server 5.5 U2e installation media.
7. Browse the media to “Media\vJRE\”
8. Launch the VMware-jre.exe and complete the installation accepting all defaults.
Note: The VMware vCenter services will be started automatically by the VMware-jre installer.