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Cannot get exclusive access to the VirtualCenter repository

Symptoms

  • Unable to start VirtualCenter Server service
  • Cannot get exclusive access to the VirtualCenter repository
  • VirtualCenter shuts down
  • The following error appears in the vpxd logs on the VirtualCenter server:

    Unable to get exclusive access to VC repository

Purpose

VirtualCenter requires an exclusive lock on the entire SQL database when it starts or it fails to start. Any open connections to the database prevent this exclusive access.
 
This article provides steps to clear these connections.

Resolution

To clear open connections to the database:

  1. Verify that only one instance of VirtualCenter is trying to access the VirtualCenter database. You see this error if vpxd.exe is run from the command line and you try to start the service from services.msc .
  2. Using the vendor's database management tools, check the SQL Server for any connections to the VirtualCenter database. If any are found, your DBA can terminate them.
  3. If you do not have a DBA, you can stop and restart the SQL Server. This clears any connections.
Warning: Stopping and starting the database server terminates all connections to all databases being hosted on that server. Perform this action with extreme caution.
 
For those using Oracle information on terminating Oracle sessions can be found here: Killing Oracle Sessions .

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1006369
  • Updated: Aug 14, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware VirtualCenter
  • Product Versions:
    VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x
    VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x