I’ve come across this issue a few times now and I mention this in my video on vCenter 5.1 Upgrade Part 2 – vSphere Web Client and Inventory Service Installation where you might receive a 404 error on the vSphere 5.1 web interface. In the video I point out an article from VMware which helps to resolve this error, for those who have not seen my video, here is an extract from the website and a link to the direct article on VMware
SYMPTOMS
- The vSphere Web Client service fails to start
- Accessing the vSphere Web client URL results in a Page Not Found or 404 error
- The vSphere Web Client service starts and then stops immediately after being enabled
The vSphere Web Client service terminated with service-specific error Incorrect function…..
Event ID 7024
EventRecord ID 2655
CAUSE
This issue occurs if the vSphere Web client service is incorrectly reading the directory path listed under the image path registry value.
RESOLUTION
vSphere 5 web client service starts and then stops immediately after being enabled (2012473)