Reinstalling the agents on ESX

Reinstalling the agents on ESX

1. Disconnect the ESX host in vCenter Server. Right-click the host and click Disconnect.
2. Log in as root to the ESX host using an SSH client.
3. Run this string of commands in the SSH session:
   
   service mgmt-vmware stop && service vmware-vpxa stop && service vmware-vmkauthd stop && service xinetd restart && rpm -qa | grep -i vpxa | awk '{print $1}' | xargs rpm -ef $1 && userdel vpxuser && rpm -qa | grep -i aam | awk '{print $1}' | xargs rpm -ef $1 && service mgmt-vmware start && service vmware-vmkauthd start
   
   Note: This is a concatenated list of commands strung together with the "&&" operator. This is useful in stringing together multiple commands as the next command does not start until the previous one has completed successfully.
   
   These are the commands you are running:
   
   • service mgmt-vmware stop && service vmware-vpxa stop && service vmware-vmkauthd stop && service xinetd restart stops the management services for the service console.
   • rpm -qa | grep -i vpxa | awk '{print $1}' | xargs rpm -ef $1 removes the vpxa agent.
   • userdel vpxuser removes the vpxa user that is installed once you connect the host to vCenter Server.
   • rpm -qa | grep -i aam | awk '{print $1}' | xargs rpm -ef $1 removes the AAM RPM (HA) which is reinstalled when you configure HA.
   • service mgmt-vmware start && service vmware-vmkauthd start restarts the services.
   • vmware-cmd -l lets you know when hostd is up and running so that you can reattach it to vCenter Server.
     
   Note: When you see a list of virtual machines output, the command sequence is complete.
   
4. Log in to the vCenter Server using VMware Infrastructure/vSphere Client.
5. Choose the ESX host from the Inventory.
6. Right-click on the ESX host and click Connect. This step initiates a re-install of the agent.