vCenter server services won’t start.

Sometimes it happened that you’re vCenter server service (vpxd.exe) stops working or won’t start and you are the one to find out why.  It is possible to dig in to the log files and try to find out what went wrong at a certain point in time. But the vpxd-*.log ( * =0 to 9) can be a 5 MB log file to go trough. The vpxd.exe is the executable that is running as a service (VMware VirtualCenter Server)  on the vCenter server. When I get a error starting this server I directly go to the location of the file and start it by hand. The default when location of the file  is :C:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructureVirtualCenter Server . There are some options(Flags)  to start the vpxd.exe

Usage: vpxd.exe and choose the right option [FLAGS]
Flags:

-r Register VMware VirtualCenter Server

-u Unregister VMware VirtualCenter Server

-s Run as a standalone server rather than a Service

-c Print vmdb schema to stdout

-b Recreate database repository

-f cfg Use the specified file instead of the default vpxd.cfg

-l licenseKey Store license key in ldap and assign it to VirtualCenter

-e feature Set the feature to be in use for VirtualCenter. This option

takes only one feature at a time.

-p Reset the database password

-v Print the version number to stdout

When you use the vpxd.exe –s to try and start de VirtualCenter Server Service as a stand alone you will see every step that is made ( building up a connection with the Database eq). This way you get the error onscreen in the command box. and possible you may see the problem directly and have a good direction to go and work on.