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vCenter Service Status displays an error for com.vmware.converter

Symptoms

After installing or upgrading to vCenter Server 4.1, the com.vmware.converter item in the vCenter Service Status page is displayed in red.
You see the error:

Unable to retrieve health data from https://VC servername or IP address/converter/health.xmlNote: For German customers, the vCenter Service Status message is:Daten zum Systemzustand konnen nicht von https:///converter/health.xml abgerufen werden
Registering the Converter with vCenter Server by short name, FQDN, or IP address does not resolve this issue
In the vws.log file, you may see messages similar to:
- Thread-34 ERROR com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Unable to retrieve health for com.vmware. converter from any of its health URLs Thread-34 ERROR com.vmware.vim.health.impl.XmlUtil] Error validating health from stream ERROR com.vmware.vim.health.impl.XmlUtil] Invalid health data: org.apache.commons.httpclient.AutoCloseInputStream@705c358b org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: cvc-complex-type.4: Attribute 'id' must appear on element 'message'.
- Thread-16 DEBUG com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Setting up HttpClient for component com.vmware.converter and url https://192.168.1.6/converter/health.xml Thread-16 DEBUG com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Set up login URL https://192.168.1.6 for component com.vmware.converter Thread-16 ERROR com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Unable to retrieve health for com.vmware.converter from https://192.168.1.6/converter/health.xml
If you do not see the vws.log file errors, enable debug logging in the vws.log file. If you enable debug logging, the vws.log file contains messages similar to:

DEBUG com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Setting up HttpClient for component com.vmware.converter and url https://xx.xx.xx.xx/converter/health.xml
DEBUG com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Set up login URL https://192.168.1.6 for component com.vmware.converter ERROR com.vmware.vim.health.impl.ComponentSpec] Unable to retrieve health for com.vmware.converter from https://xx.xx.xx.xx/converter/health.xml
Unable to retrieve health for com.vmware.vcIntegrity from (IP address) /vci/downloads /health.xml.

Note: The URL https://xx.xx.xx.xx/converter/health.xml can be accessed via a web browser on the vCenter Server machine.

Resolution

This issue has been resolved in vCenter Server 4.1 Update 1. Download vCenter Server 4.1 Update 1 from the VMware Download Center.

Prior to vCenter Server 4.1 Update 1, this message may be caused by an SSL Certificate handshake issue. It does not appear to impact Converter functionality.

To work around this issue, try using a fully qualified domain name or IP address to register vCenter Converter with vCenter Server. This may help in some cases.

Alternatively, replace the thumbprint entry of Converter in the ADAM LDAP database with the vCenter Server thumbprint.

To replace the Converter thumbprint with the vCenter Server thumbprint:

Caution: This workaround has only been tested for configurations where vCenter Server and Converter co-exist on the same machine. Do not perform this workaround if vCenter Server and Converter are on different servers.

Notes:

To apply this workaround, you must must have ldp.exe binary or adsiedit.msc on your system (to read and update the ADAM data). You can download ldp.exe or adsiedit.msc from the Windows Support Tools or the Microsoft Download Center .

Note: The preceding link was correct as of January 14, 2012. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
In Windows 2008 server you can find ldp.exe under Server Manager > Roles > Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services > Advance Tools.
For adsiedit.msc, on Windows 2003 or Windows 2008, click Start > Run, then type adsiedit.msc.

To connect to the LDAP server running on vCenter Server using ldp.exe:
1. Install ldp.exe if it is not already installed, then open ldp.exe.
2. Go to Connection > Connect and enter the hostname of the vCenter Server to which you want to connect.
3. Go to Connection > Bind and enter authentication information. You can use the admin account.
4. To see all contexts of the ADAM server, go to View > Tree View. Do not fill anything in Base DN. Click OK.
To connect to the LDAP server running on vCenter Server using adsiedit.msc:
1. Install adsi.msc if it is not already installed, then open adsiedit.msc.
2. Right-click ADSI Edit in the MMC, then click Connect.
3. Under Connection point, in the Select or type a Distinguished Name field, enter DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int.
4. Windows 2008 only: Select the Computer radio button, then under Select or type a domain or server, enter the vCenter server name followed by 389.
  
  Example: vcentername:389
Note the vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint attribute values of vCenter Server's SSL certificate:
1. Double-click DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int, then double click:
  - OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
  - OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
  - CN=<GUID>,OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
  - CN=<GUID>.vpxd,CN=<GUID>,OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
2. When you double-click the last node, you see a list of attributes under the object. Look at vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint and note the vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint attribute value.
Replace the vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint attribute values of Converter health component-spec:
1. Double-click DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int, then double-click:
  - OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
  - OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
  - CN=com.vmware.converter,CN=<GUID>,OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
2. Note the vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint attribute value for backup.
3. Right-click CN=com.vmware.converter,CN=<GUID>,OU=ComponentSpecs,OU=Health,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int and choose Modify.
4. Enter this data:
  - Attribute: vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint
  - Values: the vmw-vc-SSLThumbprint attribute value from step 3b
  - Operation: Replace
5. Click Enter.
6. Click Run.
7. At this point it may be neccesary to restart the VirtualCenter Server service and the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).

Note: This issue is also reported in the VMware vCenter Converter 4.2 for vCenter Server 4.1 Release Notes. For more information, see the Known Issues section.

Additional Information

To enable debug logging for vws on vSphere 4.1:

Using a text editor, open the file log4j.properties.

Note: This file is located in C:\ProgramFiles\VMware\Infrastructure\tomcat\webapps\vws\WEB-INF\classes.
Change these parameters:
- log4j.logger.com.vmware.vim=DEBUG
- log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Threshold=DEBUG
- log4j.appender.LOGFILE.MaxBackupIndex=1000

To enable debug logging for vws on vSphere 4.0.x:

Using a text editor, open the file log4j.properties.

Note: This file is located in C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\tomcat\webapps\vws\WEB-INF\classes.
Change these parameters:
- log4j.logger.com.vmware.vim=DEBUG
- log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Threshold=DEBUG
- log4j.appender.LOGFILE.MaxBackupIndex=1000

Windows 2003: VWS.log can be located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs.

Windows 2008: VWS.log can be located in C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs.

Update History

09/28/11 - Added VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x in products; Edited the additional information section to the correct file path.

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