VMware Virtual Center Service failed to start due the error “Failed to add LDAP entry”

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This post is going to share a resolution for one of the issue which i have faced yesterday. My Virtual center server windows virtual machine was hung  but it was reachable via network with ping. Even RDP it is not accessible. We tried rebooting multiple times. Finally after uninstalling some of the security software, vCenter came up. I tried to start the VMware Virtual center server service but it was failed and throwing an general windows service start failed error. To troubleshoot the Virtual Center Service. You should always to use vpxd.log logfile stored on the below location

vCenter Server 5.x and windows server 2000, 2003: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\
vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows Vista, 7, 2008: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\

When i have analyzed the vpxd.log, I found the below error messages in the vpxd.log

 [03852 error ‘win32vpxLdap_win32’] [LDAP Client] Failed to add LDAP entry cn=76c0e73g-0bd2-56ba-c706-g449de069520,ou=Instances,dc=virtualcenter,dc=vmware,dc=int: 0x68 (The object already exists.)
 [03852 error ‘vpxservicesMoServiceDirectory’] [ServiceDirectory::AddService] Error while adding service-instance entry cn=76c0e73g-0bd2-56ba-c706-g449de069520,ou=Instances,dc=virtualcenter,dc=vmware,dc=int
 [03852 error ‘vpxdvpxdMain’] [Vpxd::ServerApp::Init] Init failed: Ldap error
 [03852 error ‘Default’] Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down..

How to Resolve this Failed to add LDAP entry issue.

This issue may occur due to a stale ADAM database entry. We need delete the stale ADAM entry using the below procedure. It is recommended to take a backup of your ADAM instance data before deleting the Stale ADAM database entry.

1. Login to your vCenter Server using Administrative Credentials

2.Click on Start -> Administrative Tools ->ADSIEdit

3. Right click the ADSiEdit and click on Connect To

4.For the Connection Point, Type the below Distinguished Name or Naming Context

dc=virtualcenter,dc=vmware,dc=int

5. Under Computer, Type the localhost in the below format and click on Ok.

 localhost:389

VCenter_LDAP issue

6. Expand the  OU=Instances, find the CN which is found in your vpxd.log which is CN=76c0e73g-0bd2-56ba-c706-g449de069520

Vcenter_LDAP_2

7. Right click on the above CN  and Select Delete to delete the Stale ADAM database entry.

After deleting the Stale ADAM database entry, I tried starting the VMware virtual center Service, It started like a gem. I found this troubleshooting solution from the VMware KB Article 1029864. That’s it, All up and life is smooth. I hope this is informative for you. Thanks for Reading!!!