A recent change to the SQL authentication account for an SRM database causes the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Server to no longer start

Problem

You’ve recently had to reset the password to the SQL authentication account used by your VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager to connect to the SRM database so you proceed to update the ODBC System DSN as such:

However, attempting to start the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager service fails with the following error:

The VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Server service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs.

The following event error is logged in the event logs after the failed start:

Log Name: Application

Source: vmware-dr

Event ID: 3

Level: Error

DBManager error: Could not initialize Vdb connection: ODBC error: (28000) - [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 10.0][SQL Server]Login failed for user 'vmware'.

Attempting to modify the installation of SRM will display the following error:

A database error has occurred.

Solution

The reason why the service is unable to start is because other than updating the ODBC System DSN, you’ll also need to use one of the steps in the following KB to update the password:

Migrating an SRM server to run on a different host (1008426)
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1008426

The step required to get the environment in this example up is #7:

Run the installcreds.exe utility to register account credentials on the new host with the old DSN:
installcreds.exe -key db:new_SRM_DSN -u sql_admin_user
The installcreds.exe utility can be found in the bin directory of the SRM installation:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Site Recovery Manager\bin

The following is an example of the executed command:

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager\bin

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager\bin>installcreds.exe -key db:SRMDR -u vmware
VMware internal use only. This program is intended for use only by the SRM installer.
Enter Password:
Installed new credentials for db:SRMDR

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager\bin>

The service should now start as the password has been updated: