Restarting ESXi management agents may come in handy in many cases. VMware ESXi may have many errors that affect communication. While working with the server, it is possible that this message "Virtual machine creation may fail because the agent is unable to retrieve VM creation options from the host." have encountered. This message has only one meaning; the ESXi management agent has lost its connection with the host. In such cases, restarting can be a suitable and logical option. In this article, we are going to examine this issue together.
Consider this first!
To avoid losing information, virtual machines and data, you should ensure that you have backed them up. It would help if you considered how damaging data loss could be. NAKIVO Backup & Replication will help you in this regard because it is specially made for backing up VMware vSphere data.
Why do we need to restart ESXi management agents?
Management agents are a special department responsible for managing and regulating VMware. Therefore, it allows you to access the vCenter through the ESXi host. Such a feature is provided for you by default when you install ESXi. If you also have access to vCenter or your host is standalone, you may need to restart management agents in both cases.
How to restart ESXi management agents
There are many ways to restart ESXi management. For example, you can use DCUI menus or select SSH connection as a solution and reach the desired result using the command line. The ESXi Direct Console User is one of the best ways to achieve the desired result. For this, you must have access to the ESXi server. To access the Internet, you need a keyboard and a monitor connected to the server.
Press the F2 key on your keyboard to start. By doing this, you will access the DCUI system. You will then need to enter your login information, such as username and password. After doing this, you can restart any hanging management services. But remember that it may take a few minutes, and you must be patient. You can also do this to access the SSH connection. Troubleshooting Mode Options > Restart Management Agents.
System Customization menu
After entering the username and password, you will face the main menu. At this point, look for Troubleshooting Options and select it. It will be available in the menu on the right if you need additional information. After opening the next menu, select Restart Management Agents. At this time, a message will be displayed to you about restarting the system. You can easily start the operation by using the F11 key on the keyboard.
After restarting ESXi management agents, check and see if your problem is solved or not. You need to use the ESXi command line if the problem is not solved.
VMware Host Client
VMware Host Client is another smart way to restart ESXi management agents. This section works by restarting VMware vCenter Agent (VPXA). Type the ESXi host IP address into your browser to start. It would be best if you had your username and password to log in to the VMware Host Client. After logging in, look at the left side of the screen and go to Host > Manage. Now you have to select Services, right-click on the VPXA option, and select the Restart option.
ESXi Shell (SSH)
If none of the above steps works for you, you can easily use the ESXi command-line interface tool. You can also do troubleshooting in this section. SSH client is very useful and allows people to use the remote connection from the ESXi host. You need to enter the ESXi server IP address and hostname to start. In the next step, you must enter the port and credentials.
To access and restart ESXi management agents, proceed as follows:
/etc/init.d/hostd restart
/etc/init.d/vpxa restart
Using this command will also be useful:
services.sh restart &tail -f /var/log/jumpstart-stdout.log
You can also use VMware PowerCLI for managing ESXi and vCenter:
Get-VMHostService -VMHost 192.165.103.208 –Refresh
Final word
Restarting ESXi management agents is sometimes unavoidable. Usually, users feel confused In this satiation. This article introduced most of the easy ways to do this. Don't forget to secure and backup before operating the ESXi host.
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