Short answer: in vSphere 9 the vCenter Managed Object Browser (MOB, https://<vcenter>/mob) is disabled by default. To enable it, add <enableDebugBrowse>true</enableDebugBrowse> inside the <vpxd> block of /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg and restart vmware-vpxd. Set it back to false when you’re done.
The MOB is a web interface for browsing the vSphere API object model: managed objects, their properties and methods. It’s handy for debugging, for looking up managed object IDs, or for checking which extension manages a VM (for example the vCLS VMs, see vCLS Retreat Mode).
When you try to access the Managed Object Browser (MOB) on your vCenter Server, you might be greeted with a screen like this:
“The MOB is disabled — The Managed Object Browser on this server is currently disabled. Please, contact your Virtual Infrastructure Administrator to enable it.”
Starting with vSphere 9, the MOB is disabled by default for security reasons. If you need to enable it (for example, for debugging or advanced troubleshooting), you can do so by editing the vpxd.cfg configuration file.
Below are the steps to enable the MOB safely:
✅ How to Enable MOB in vSphere 9
1️⃣ Take a backup of the configuration file
cp /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg /var/core/vpxd.cfg
2️⃣ Open the config file in a text editor
vi /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg
3️⃣ Add or update the entry
Inside the <vpxd> block, add:
<enableDebugBrowse>true</enableDebugBrowse>
For example:
<vpxd>
...
...
<enableDebugBrowse>true</enableDebugBrowse>
...
...
</vpxd>
4️⃣ Restart the vpxd service
service-control --restart vmware-vpxd
📚 Reference
For more information, see the official KB: How to disable access to the Managed Object Browser
✅ Tip: Remember to disable the MOB again after use to follow security best practices.
How to disable the MOB again
Change the entry in /etc/vmware-vpx/vpxd.cfg to <enableDebugBrowse>false</enableDebugBrowse> and restart the service with service-control --restart vmware-vpxd. The same setting disables the MOB on vCenter 7.x and 8.x (KB 320012).
