vCenter 6.5 upgrade issue and troubleshooting

This post will give you an overview of vcenter  6.5 upgrade issue and its troubleshooting steps.

Issues encountered during vCenter 6.0 to 6.5 Upgrade

Issue1:- Invalid Appliance (OS) root password

Description: – While Upgrading PSC appliance we need to provide OS *root* password and it was failing with invalid password.

Resolution1: – Reset PSC OS *root* password through web-console and try again.

  • Login to PSC URL <https://PSC_FQDN or IP Address:5480>
  • Go to Administration tab
  • Change Password

Most Important – I have noticed this issue while upgrading or migrating from vCenter 6.5 U3D to 6.5.  For other release i didn’t faced this issue.

Issue2:- VUM Extension blocking Migration

Description: – If VUM Extension is not in use un-register VUM from the vCenter server.

Resolution:- Follow this KB Article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1025360

  • Power- Off VUM server 

Issue3:- Unable to detect Network at Step 8

Description: – If vCenter server Management N/W is configured in Distributed Switch and if we provide ESXi host details at step 3 & 4 we are unable to select N/W option at Step8.

Because, “When ESXi is used as the deployment target, non-ephemeral distributed virtual port groups are not supported and hence, not shown drop-down list.

Resolution:- At Step 3 provide – Target Host details & Select Host, At Step4 provide vCenter server details for Appliance deployment.

Note:- If we provide At setep3 & step4 both vCenter details it will fails to migrate data.

vCenter migration no network
vCenter migration no network

Issue4:- AD users unable to access after PSC upgrade, In disjoint domain namespace the domain users might fail to authenticate after you update to vSphere 6.5

Description:- After PSC 6.0 to 6.5 Upgrade AD users unable to access vCenter server.

Resolution: – Delete the AD account with integrated windows authentication and add again

Note:- To perform below activity requires AD rights.

  • Remove PSC’s from AD Object
  • Login to PSC <https://PSC_FQDN or IP Address/PSC>
  • Login with “[email protected]”
  • Go to Appliance Settings –> Manage and Rejoin Server to AD Domain.
  • Enterprise AD Domain admin credentials requires from customer.
  • Reboot PSC’s.
  • Validate vCenter authentication with AD credentials.

Issue 5:- Re-Register VUM with vCenter server

Description:- If VUM extension error triggers then follow this procedure to Re-Register VUM with vCenter server.

Resolution: – Follow below steps

  • Login to VUM VM
  • Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager
  • Find ‘ VMwareUpdateManagerUtility.exe’, double click on it
  • Login to the update manager Utility using previously used SSO credentials.
  • Navigate to Re-register to vCenter Server –> enter the SSO credentials and new vCenter IP/FQDN and click Apply. This will re-register VUM to newly deployed VC
  • Once done, close the wizard, and restart the VMware vSphere update Manager Service
  • Login to vCenter and click on plug-ins and enable the VUM plug-in

Issue 6:- Error could not reach the given source vCenter server on “Port 22”

Description: – If SSH is disabled on PSC’s/Appliance vCenter server then this error triggers.

Resolution: – Enable SSH on PSC/Appliance vCenter prior to upgrade.

  • Login to PSC/Appliance vCenter through Web with port 5480
  • Go to Access
  • Click on Edit Option
  • Enable SSH
vCenter SSH login failed
vCenter SSH login failed

Issue 7 – Windows Migration to 6.5 appliance fails 

Description – If source database size is large, then migration pre-check will fail with below error

Resolution – Please check the source database, which table is utilizing more space. Once you find it, either shrink it or compress.  

Note – Please refer VMware KB 51589 here.

vCenter datbase size is full
vCenter datbase size is full

 

Issue 8 – Upgrade of vCenter failed with error, “insufficient space on source export partition “/”

vCenter Source partition error
vCenter Source partition error

Resolution – 

  1. Take a clone or snapshot of source vCenter
  2. Increase the virtual disk (running on low space), follow below VMware KB https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2145603 
  3. Followed the article to shrink the source vCenter DB                                   service-control –stop –all
    service-control –start vmware-vpostgres
    /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -U postgres -d VCDB
    vacuum full;
    vacuum analyze;
    \q
    service-control –start –all
  4. Rebooted the vCenter server appliance and restart upgrad

Issue-9 : vCenter 6.0 migration failing [Error Failed to retrieved remote PSC]

I faced this issue during migration of vCenter 6.0 installed on windows server 2008 R2 to VCSA 6.7u2 with external PSC.

Issue: Error: failed to retrieve version information from remote platform service controller.

vCenter failed to retrieve PSC
vCenter failed to retrieve PSC

Cause: Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 is the default protocol for Platform Service Controller 6.7 by default, while  TLS 1.2 is not supported by default on Windows Server 2008 R2

Resolution – 

Enable TLS 1.2 on Windows Server 2008 R2.
Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine.

  1. Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols
  2. Create a new folder and label it TLS 1.2.
  3. Create two new keys with the TLS 1.2 folder, and name the keys Client and Server.
  4. Under the Client key, create two DWORD (32-bit) values, and name them DisabledByDefault and Enabled.
  5. Under the Server key, create two DWORD (32-bit) values, and name them DisabledByDefault and Enabled.
  6. Ensure that the Value field is set to 0 and that the Base is Hexadecimal for DisabledByDefault.
  7. Ensure that the Value field is set to 1 and that the Base is Hexadecimal for Enabled.
  8. Reboot the Windows Server 2008 R2 machine.
  9. Now re-initiate the migration assistance tool it worked perfectly.

Issue 10 – Error: Internal error occurs during vSphere ESX Agent Manager pre-upgrade checks  during Stage 2 of upgrade.

I faced this issue while upgrading vCenter appliance from 6.0 to 6.5

the log shows below error — 

Waiting for VMware ESX Agent Manager.
WARNING: VMware ESX Agent Manager may have failed to start.

Cause: This issue occurs when the /etc/vmware-eam/eam.properties file is empty on the source vCenter Server Appliance.

Resolution:  To recreate the eam.properties file.

IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended to backup the vCenter Server Appliance before following this procedure.

Hope you liked the common vCenter 6.5 upgrade issue and its troubleshooting steps. You can check vCenter pre-upgrade check to avoid such issues. 

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