vSphere Client Instability and Session Timeouts After vCenter Server 8.0.3.00200 Upgrade: How to Resolve

After upgrading to vCenter Server 8.0.3.00200, some users have reported issues with the vSphere Client becoming unstable, particularly after long periods of session idleness (typically 1-2 hours). This instability may manifest in a variety of ways, including session timeouts, continuous loading indicators, and errors when browsing the inventory.

Root Cause

The root cause of this instability appears to be related to a misconfiguration in how the vSphere Client handles facade recycling within the Apache Catalina Connector.

Solution: Updating the Catalina Configuration

root@vcsa-home [ ~ ]# cp /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/conf/catalina.properties /root/catalina.properties.bak

root@vcsa-home [ ~ ]# echo "org.apache.catalina.connector.RECYCLE_FACADES=false" >> /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/conf/catalina.properties

root@vcsa-home [ ~ ]# service-control --restart vsphere-ui

Author: Daniel Micanek

Senior Service Architect, SAP Platform Services Team at Tietoevry | SUSE SCA | vExpert ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | vExpert NSX | VCIX-DCV/NV | VCAP-DCV/NV Design+Deploy | VCP-DCV/NV/CMA/TKO/DTM | NCIE-DP | OCP | Azure Solutions Architect | Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)