When attempting to connect to the VMWare Remote Console, we encountered an error that stopped us from connecting to the MKS. There are various instances of this error and we will talk about all of them in this post. So, if you are unable to connect to the MKS while connecting to the Remote Console, check out the solutions mentioned here. We have covered all the scenarios in this guide.
Fix Unable to Connect to the MKS Pipe VMware authdpipe
You may get the following error message when connecting to the system console through the VMware vSphere client.
Unable to connect to the MKS: Could not connect to pipe \\.\pipe\vmware-authdpipe within retry period
In order to resolve this issue, we recommend you check out the following solutions.
- Check the Firewall Settings
- Access the Remote Console directly from the ESXi Host
Let us discuss them in detail.
1] Check the Firewall Settings
Your firewall might be blocking the communication between the vCenter Server or the vSphere Client and the ESXi host on Port 902, the port that the VMWare Remote Console connects to the VM console. So, go ahead and allow port 902 on your firewall for both inbound and outbound traffic if not done already, and check if the issue persists. You can go to User –> TCP/UDP 902 –> vCenter to check the configuration.
You can disable the firewall rules for the ESXi host. After connecting to your host, navigate to Networking > Firewall Rules. The VMware Host Client will display a list of active incoming and outgoing connections along with their corresponding firewall ports. All of have to do is select a connection and then select Disabled from the top drop-down menu.
2] Access the Remote Console directly from the ESXi Host
You can easily access the Remote Console directly from the ESXi host. To do so, navigate to User redirect –> TCP/UDP 902 –> ESXi Host.
Fix Unable to connect to the MKS, Internal error
MKS may generate an internal error if an ESXi host is not put into maintenance mode before migrating to a different vCenter Server.
Unable to connect to MKS: Internal error
If you encounter this issue, first try out the solutions mentioned in the previous section. Since this is a network and security issue, the solutions given earlier should work.
However, this issue has been resolved in VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 2. So, if you can, update to that version or later. We have a workaround if you can’t update or if updating is to no avail. We suggest refreshing the virtual machine’s VMX/MKS SSL cache by migrating it to another ESXi host.
If migrating doesn’t work, you need to reboot the ESXi host. So, power off the problematic VI, make sure that the ESXi host into maintenance mode, and then restart the ESXi host.
This will do the job for you.
Unable to connect to the MKS, Failed to connect to server
Unable to connect to the MKS: Failed to connect to server IP-address
You will encounter this issue when migrating to a different server if the ESXi host is not in maintenance mode. To do the same, open the vSphere Client app, go to the server you want to change the state of, right-click, and then select Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode. Finally, check if the issue is resolved
Unable to connect to the MKS, Login (username/password) incorrect
Unable to connect to the MKS: Login (username/password) incorrect.
If you are unable to connect to the MKS as the login credentials are incorrect, the most obvious thing to do is check if the username and password are actually incorrect. So, if you have noted your credentials somewhere, search and make sure that they are matching with what you are entering.
This could be a DNS issue. Try pinging the ESXi host by name. If there is no response, check your DNS server for a host entry for the ESXi host. To do the same, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Open File Explorer.
- Navigate to C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation.
- Look for the Config.ini file and open it with Notepad with administrative privilege. Alternatively, open Notepad as administrator from the Start Menu, go to File > Open, navigate to the mentioned location, and then open the Config.ini file.
- Once the file opens, look for the Client port, it should be something like authd.client.port = “902”. You need to ensure that it’s not 903 or some other value but 902.
- If you made some changes to the file, save it, and reboot your system.
Finally, try connecting to the server and see if it helps.
Unable to connect to the MKS, Host address lookup for server failed
If the client can not resolve ESX/ESXi’s hostname, there is no way the console session can establish the connection, that’s why, will receive the following error message.
Unable to connect to the MKS: Host address lookup for server failed: No such host is known.
In order to resolve it, you first ping the destination using the Command Prompt. Make sure to use the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) when trying to ping the server. You can check the domain name in the error message itself.
If the ping is not working, you need to ensure that you are running a local DNS service with the names of your ESX/ESXi host(s) entered into it or change the “hosts” file.
As for the latter, you need to open the File Explorer and then go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Then, open the hosts file in Notepad. In the hosts file, you can manually enter the domain name along with the IP address of the destination in the following format.
192.168.1.10 esxhost1 192.168.1.10 esxhost1.yourdomain
Finally, save the file, reboot your machine, and check if the issue is resolved.
Fix Unable to connect to the MKS, Ticket type
Unable to connect to the MKS: A specified parameter was not correct: ticketType
You will be unable to launch VMware Remote Console (VMRC) from the Center, because of the outdated VMRC version installed on your device. So, naturally, in order to resolve this error, you need to update VMWare Remote Console to the latest version. Once done, check if the issue is resolved.
That’s it!
Read: Install VMware Tools option is grayed out
What is MKS failed to connect to server 902?
If MKS or Mouse Keyboard Screen is not able to connect to the server’s port 902, you need to make sure that no firewall is blocking the port and the DNS is able to resolve the hostname. So, you can check out the relevant solutions mentioned earlier.
Read: How to create VM using VMware Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro for free
How do I connect to the remote console in VMWare?
To connect to the remote console in VMWare, use the URL – https://vmc.vmware.com. So, go to the website, click on Sign in, and then you can enter your profile. Once done, you are good to access all the remote sessions without any issues.
Also Read: VMWare Workstation crashing on Windows 11.
