VMWare Virtual Appliance Interface (VAMI) – Log-In Failed
The VMware Appliance has a web interface and SSH login capability. After vSphere version 5.5, the old-style Java-based client was phased out, replaced by the much more responsive HTML5 application.
VAMI Unable to Login
I encountered a bizarre problem today when I could not log in to my vCenter appliance. I know the password and the user account, but I was just getting this error:
![Vmware Appliance Management console login error "unable to login"](https://www.turbogeek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-11_39_28-Microsoft-Edge-1024x499.png)
Now, I was 100% certain of the password. To confirm, I logged into the appliance via SSH with the exact same credentials. As you can see, SSH was working fine. How Weird!
![](https://www.turbogeek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-14-11_44_22-10.1.8.205-Remote-Desktop-Connection.png)
The cause of this error was that the applmgmt service was not running. Here is how to fix it:
Step 1 – Log into your vCenter appliance via SSH
Choose Your SSH Client: While PuTTY is popular, any SSH client (like OpenSSH on Linux/macOS or even the built-in Windows OpenSSH client) will work.
Gather Credentials:
- Root Access:
Ideally, use theroot
user account. This grants the highest privileges necessary for many administrative tasks. - Alternative:
If root access is unavailable, use the[email protected]
account (replace “vsphere.local” with your Single Sign-On domain if it’s different). This account may require additional permissions for certain operations.
Obtain the VCSA’s IP Address or Hostname: Ensure you have the correct network address for your vCenter appliance.
Initiate the Connection: Open your SSH client, enter the IP address or hostname, and connect. You’ll be prompted for your username and password.
Step 2 – Check What Services are running on the vCenter Appliance
From the command line, type the following to list the running services:
service-control --status
You will get output similar to this. You are looking for the applmgmt service. See the highlighted text below.
root@vcenter# service-control --status
Running:
lwsmd pschealth vmafdd vmcad vmdird vmdnsd vmonapi vmware-analytics vmware-certificatemanagement vmware-cis-license vmware-cm vmware-content-library vmware-eam vmware-perfcharts vmware-pod vmware-postgres-archiver vmware-rhttpproxy vmware-sca vmware-sps vmware-sts-idmd vmware-stsd vmware-topologysvc vmware-updatemgr vmware-vapi-endpoint vmware-vmon vmware-vpostgres vmware-vpxd vmware-vpxd-svcs vmware-vsan-health vmware-vsm vsphere-client vsphere-ui
Stopped:
applmgmt vmcam vmware-imagebuilder vmware-mbcs vmware-netdumper vmware-rbd-watchdog vmware-statsmonitor vmware-vcha vsan-dps
Step 3 – Start the applmgmt Service
To start the service, simply type:
service-control --start applmgmt
root@vcenter [ /var/log/vmware/applmgmt ]# service-control --start applmgmt
Operation not cancellable. Please wait for it to finish…
Performing start operation on service applmgmt…
Successfully started service applmgmt
Step 4 – Test Access to the VMware Virtual Appliance
Now log into the vCenter Appliance Management Interface
![](https://www.turbogeek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/vcenter-service-control-start-applmgmt-1024x346.png)
Thanks a lot for this post. It worked in my case although I had some more services not running.
no problem. Glad it worked for you.