For troubleshooting and maintenance purposes, it is necessary to change the status of VMware vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller services such as VMware Virtual Center Server, VMware vSphere Web Client, or VMware Directory Service.
vCenter Server provides a centralized platform for management, operation, resource provisioning, and performance evaluation of virtual machines and hosts.
When you deploy the vCenter Server appliance, vCenter Server, the vCenter Server components, and the authentication services are deployed on the same system.
The following services are included in the vCenter Server appliance deployments:
When you want to troubleshoot or maintain the vCenter server, you may need to stop or restart vCenter services. This article covers 2 ways to start/stop/restart vCenter services using vSphere Client and command-line.
In VMware vCenter Server 6.x, VMware recommends to use the vSphere Web Client or Service Control command-line tool to stop, start, or restart vCenter Server and/or Platform Services Controller services.
To stop, start, or restart vCenter services using vSphere Web Client:
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client with a vCenter Single Sign-on administrator account.
2. Navigate to Administration >> Deployment >> System Configuration.
3. Click on Services, and you could see the list of all vCenter services.
4. To view a list of services for a specific node, click Nodes, select the node in question and click the Related Objects tab.
5. Right-click on the service you would like to restart and select Restart (Start/Stop).
To restart vCenter services using command line, please follow the steps:
1. Log in as an administrator through an SSH or console session on the vCenter Server Appliance.
Note: Detailed information about enabling SSH for VMware vCenter.
2. Run this command to enable the shell:
Note: This command is only applicable for in vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.
Then launch the shell:
3. Run this command to change directories to /bin:
4. Run this command to list the vCenter Server services:
5. Run this command to restart vCenter services:
☞ Start a specific service:
☞ Start all vCenter service from command line:
To perform a dry run of the command, this displays the actions that command run without executing the actions: service-control --start --all --dry-run
☞ Stop a specific service:
☞ Stop all services:
With these two methods, you can start, stop, or restart vCenter services at any time especially when you need to perform troubleshooting or maintenance.
If your enterprise environment relies on vCenter Servers, you need to prepare a complete vCenter backup, and choose a reliable VMware backup method.
If you're managing a VMware vCenter environment, keeping your data secure is paramount. Restarting vCenter services is a crucial step in maintaining the health of your system, but for comprehensive protection, using a robust backup solution like AOMEI Cyber Backup can take your data security to the next level.
AOMEI Cyber Backup work seamlessly within your vCenter environment. It allows you to directly bind virtual machines (VMs) in your vCenter inventory, simplifying large-scale backup operations. As a powerful and centralized VMware backup software, AOMEI Cyber Backup also offers you the following benefits:
✦ Agentless Backup: Create complete and independent image-level backup for VMware ESXi and Hyper-V VMs. ✦ Multiple VM Backup: Batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server, or multiple VMs on a standalone ESXi host. ✦ Multiple Storage Destinations: Store data to local, network or cloud storage. This flexibility helps manage costs effectively. ✦ Automated Execution: Schedule backups to run automatically as daily, weekly, or monthly. ✦ Restore Entire VM: Quickly restore VMware VMs from backups, minimizing downtime and ensuring continuity of operations.
AOMEI Cyber Backup supports VMware ESXi 6.0 and later versions. You can click the following button to download the 30-day free trial.
1. Bind Devices: Access to AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi host. And then click … > Bind Device.
2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type.
3. Set Task Name, Device, Target, Schedule, and Cleanup as needed.
4. Run Backup: Click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.
Created backup tasks will be listed and monitored separately, for progress checking, schedule changing and restoring. It’s easy to make a clone of a virtual machine in the same or another datastore/host, without reinstalling or configuring a new VM by clicking Restore to new location.
For large-scale virtual environment of enterprise, it even requires multiple vCenter Servers to work simultaneously.
This article covers 2 ways to restart vCenter services. You are able to restart all vCenter services in vSphere Web Client and if you are familiar with command line, it’s also easy to start/stop/restart vCenter services.