VMWare vCenter Appliance stuck at localhost login screen

If you reboot your VMWare vCenter Appliance, you may get into a situation where it reboots into the localhost login screen instead of the more familiar black and yellow/blue two tone layout with the management IP addresses shown like below:

The first thing to do is not to panic. I have seen people get very frustrated with this situation and try all sorts of different methods to get around it.

However, the true solution is that there is not a problem in the first place!

VMWare Details Screen

This localhost login screen is simply just a second screen that can be displayed when a VCSA is rebooted. All you need to do is to ensure that you are on the VCSA and press and hold the ALT key and then press the F2 key – then watch as the screen magically changes back to your more familiar VMWare screen like below:

Then there you have it – back into more familiar surroundings just by pressing two keys!

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