Learn how to log in to a vCenter Server instance, configure the vSphere Client timeout settings, and edit the login banner.

How to Log in to Your vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Client

Learn how to use the vSphere Client to log in to vCenter Server and manage your vSphere inventory.

Тhe vSphere Client is automatically installed as part of the vCenter Server appliance deployment. This way, the vSphere Client always points to the same vCenter Single Sign-On instance.

Procedure

  1. Open a Web browser and enter the URL for your vCenter Server instance: https://vcenter_server_ip_address_or_fqdn
    As an alternative, you can open a Web browser and enter the URL for the vSphere Client: https://vcenter_server_ip_address_or_fqdn/ui.
  2. If a warning message about a potential security risk appears, select to continue to the website.
    Browser Action
    Microsoft Edge
    1. Click Details.
    2. Under the additional message that appears, click Go on to the webpage.
    Mozilla Firefox
    1. Click Advanced.
    2. Under the additional message that appears, click Accept the Risk and Continue.
    Google Chrome
    1. Click Advanced.
    2. Under the additional message that appears, click Proceed to vcenter_server_ip_address_or_fqdn.
  3. On the vSphere Welcome page, select Launch vSphere Client (HTML5).
  4. If the warning message about a potential security risk appears again, repeat Step 2.
  5. Enter the credentials of a user who has permissions on vCenter Server and click Login.

Results

The vSphere Client connects to all the vCenter Server systems on which the specified user has permissions, and you can view and manage the vSphere inventory.

Manage the Login Message to the vSphere Client Login Page

You can add a login message to the vSphere Client login page. You can also configure a custom login message and provide а check box for user consent.

Procedure

  1. Log in with the vSphere Client to the vCenter Server.
  2. Specify the user name and password for [email protected] or another member of the vCenter Single Sign-On Administrators group.
    If you specified a different domain during installation, log in as administrator@ mydomain.
  3. Navigate to the Configuration UI.
    1. From the Home menu, select Administration.
    2. Under Single Sign On, click Configuration.
  4. Click the Login Message tab.
  5. Click Edit and configure the login message.
    Option Description
    Show login message Toggle on Show login message to enable the login message. You cannot make changes to the login message unless you toggle on this switch.
    Login message Title of the message. By default, when Consent checkbox is toggled on, the login message text is I agree to Terms and Conditions. You must replace Terms and Conditions with your own text. If the Consent checkbox is toggled off, then Login message appears, over which you enter your message.
    Consent checkbox Toggle on Consent checkbox to require that the user clicks a check box before logging in. You can also display a message without a check box.
    Details of login message Message that the user sees when clicking the login message, for example, the text of the terms and conditions. You must enter some details in this text box.
  6. Click Save.

How to Configure Your vSphere Client Timeout Value

By default, the vSphere Client sessions close after 120 minutes of idle time, and require the user to log in again to resume using the client. You can change the timeout value by editing the webclient.properties file.

You can configure the timeout of the vSphere Client by changing the value of the session.timeout property in the webclient.properties file.

Edit the Properties File of the vSphere Client

  1. On the computer where the vSphere Client is installed, navigate to the /etc/vmware/vsphere-ui file path where the webclient.properties file is located.
  2. Edit the file to include the line session.timeout = <custom_value>, where <custom_value> is the timeout value in minutes. Uncomment the line, if necessary.

    To set the client to never timeout, specify a negative or 0 value for the timeout.

    For example, to set the timeout value to 60 minutes, include the line session.timeout = 60.

  3. Restart the VMware vSphere Client service.

Change the Client Configuration in the vSphere Client

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to Home > Administration.
  2. Under Deployment, select Client Configuration.
  3. In the Client Configuration pane, click Edit.

    The Edit client configuration dialog box appears.

  4. Enter a new value in minutes in the session timeout text box.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Restart the VMware vSphere Client service.

How Do You Refresh Data in the vSphere Client

You must manually refresh the data in the vSphere Client to see changes made to objects by other users during your session.

For performance reasons, the vSphere Client does not continuously refresh data on all objects in the inventory. All changes that you make during your current session are immediately reflected in the client user interface. Changes made by other users or in other sessions are not reflected until you manually refresh the data.

Procedure

  • ♦ To update all data in the current vSphere Client view, click the refresh icon (Used to refresh the vSphere Client view.).
    The client view is updated.