From time to time, you will need to start/restart the VMware Management service. Here is the command you would use:

# service mgmt-vmware stop
# service mgmt-vmware start (can take up to 1 minute before fully online)
OR
# service mgmt-vmware restart

This might be a handy command if you are experiencing problems with your ESX host connecting to the VMware Virtual Center server. Also, if you having problems when "kill -9 " does not stop a VM guest.

Please see this related VMware discussion topic. Be aware of the specific settings your VM guests MUST have before issuing this command.
http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=631729&#631729