vSphere Web Access 503 Service Unavailable Error And Solution

By default vSphere does not provide client for Linux or OS X. You need to use Windows system to manage your VMware ESX server. However, it does provides vSphere Web Access which allows you to organize and share virtual machines using web browser. If you try to access vSphere Web Access you may get an error which read as follows:

ADVERTISEMENTS

503 Service Unavailable

You can fix this problem as follows.

Login to your vmware server as root user.

Type the following command to turn on the service:
# chkconfig vmware-webAccess on
# service vmware-webAccess start

Now login as root to your server:

Once logged in you can setup guest operating systems, start and stop vms and so on. This can be done using any browser under Linux / OS X or Windows operating systems:

Alternatively, you can use MS-Windows vSphere client to start and stop vSphere web access services without using shell prompt.

Category	List of Unix and Linux commands
File Management	cat
Firewall	CentOS 8 • OpenSUSE • RHEL 8 • Ubuntu 16.04 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04
Network Utilities	dig • host • ip • nmap
OpenVPN	CentOS 7 • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Debian 8/9 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04
Package Manager	apk • apt
Processes Management	bg • chroot • cron • disown • fg • jobs • killall • kill • pidof • pstree • pwdx • time
Searching	grep • whereis • which
User Information	groups • id • lastcomm • last • lid/libuser-lid • logname • members • users • whoami • who • w
WireGuard VPN	CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Firewall • Ubuntu 20.04