Import-VApp Times Out When Run With -RunAsync Parameter

[anthonyjvoss]

I'm deploying an OVA using the Import-VApp PowerCLI cmdlet. When I run the cmdlet without -RunAsync it sits at 10% complete for a while and then finally completes successfully.

In an effort to run in parallel and as a background task, I attempted to run with the -RunAsync parameter as I have 300+ VMs to provision in this manner.  Adding this parameter executes the process as a background task, however it throws a timeout error after approximately 5 minutes every time.

Is this a known bug or is this related to the HttpNfcLease post here (Import-VApp slow & times out )

I did find a single unanswered post on Reddit by a user expressing the same issue (https://www.reddit.com/r/powercli/comments/62jo3y/importvapp_times_out_when_using_runasync/ )

Any feedback would be much appreciated!!  Thanks!

PowerCLI Version 6.3 Release 1

ESXi Host Version 5.5.0

[LucD]

Did you already try changing the timeout with the Set-PowerCLIConfiguration cmdlet and the WebOperationTimeoutSeconds parameter?

PS: is there a reason why you are using an older PowerCLI version?

If not I would advise to go for a more recent release.

[anthonyjvoss]

Hey LucD​, thanks for your response.  I set the WebOperationTimeoutSeconds at 1800 but the task still timed out after just over 5 minutes (~5 min 10 sec).

I'm currently restricted to this version of PowerCLI due to a compatibility issue w/another environment we manage.  I will try and see if I can attempt the deployment from another server running a newer version of PowerCLI.

[LucD]

Can you try with the following script?

It talks to the HttpNfc directly.

$ovfPath = 'C:\OVFFolder'

$ovfName = 'vApp1'

$appName = 'TestVApp1'

$clusterName = 'MyCluster'

$dsName = 'MyDS'

Get-VApp -Name $appName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Remove-VApp -DeletePermanently -Confirm:$false

$si = Get-View ServiceInstance

$ovfMgr = Get-View -Id $si.Content.OvfManager

$cluster = Get-Cluster -Name $clusterName

$rp = Get-ResourcePool -Name Resources -Location $cluster

$folder = Get-Folder -Name vm -Type VM

$ds = Get-Datastore -Name $dsName

$ovfDescriptor = Get-Content -Path "$($ovfPath)\$($ovfName).ovf" | Out-String

$cisp = New-Object VMware.Vim.OvfCreateImportSpecParams

$cisp.Locale = ''

$cisp.DeploymentOption = ''

$cisp.EntityName = $appName

$iSpec = $ovfMgr.CreateImportSpec($ovfDescriptor,$rp.ExtensionData.MoRef,$ds.ExtensionData.MoRef,$cisp)

$leaseMoRef = $rp.ExtensionData.ImportVApp($iSpec.ImportSpec,$folder.ExtensionData.MoRef,$cluster.ExtensionData.Host[0])

$lease = Get-View -Id $leaseMoRef

while($lease.State -eq [VMware.Vim.HttpNfcLeaseState]::initializing){

    sleep 1

    $lease.UpdateViewData('State')

}

$lease.UpdateViewData()

if($lease.State -eq [VMware.Vim.HttpNfcLeaseState]::ready){

    Write-Host "Lease timeout $($lease.Info.LeaseTimeout)"

    $leaseRefreshAction = {

        $lease.HttpNfcLeaseProgress([int](($bytesWritten + $readFromFile)/$totalBytes*100))

    }

    $headers = @{"Content-Type" = "application/x-vnd.vmware-streamVmdk"}

    $bufferSize = 10KB

    $Timeout = 300

    $bytesWritten = 0

    $totalBytes = $iSpec.FileItem | Measure-Object -Property Size -Sum | Select -ExpandProperty Sum

    $leaseRefreshTimer = New-Object Timers.Timer

    $leaseRefreshTimer.Interval = 1000  # Refresh every 1 second

    Register-ObjectEvent -InputObject $leaseRefreshTimer -EventName Elapsed –SourceIdentifier LeaseTimer -Action $leaseRefreshAction > $null

    $leaseRefreshTimer.Start()

    foreach($device in $lease.Info.DeviceUrl){

        $file = $iSpec.FileItem | where{$_.DeviceId -eq $device.ImportKey}

        Write-Host "Transferring $($file.Path)"

        $ovfFile = "$($ovfPath)\$($file.Path)"

        $url = $device.Url

        [System.Net.HttpWebRequest] $webRequest = [System.Net.WebRequest]::Create($url)

        $webRequest.Timeout = $Timeout

        $webRequest.Method = "POST"

        $webRequest.ContentType = "application/x-vnd.vmware-streamVmdk"

        $webRequest.AllowWriteStreamBuffering = $false

        $webRequest.SendChunked = $true

        $requestStream = $webRequest.GetRequestStream()

        $fileStream = [System.IO.File]::OpenRead($ovfFile)

        $chunk = New-Object byte[] $bufferSize

        $readFromFile = 0

        while($bytesRead = $fileStream.Read($chunk,0,$bufferSize)){

            $readFromFile += $bytesRead

            $requestStream.Write($chunk, 0, $bytesRead)

            $requestStream.Flush()

        }

        $responceStream = $webRequest.GetResponse()

        $FileStream.Close()

        $requestStream.Close()

        $responceStream.Close()

        $bytesWritten += $file.Size

        $lease.HttpNfcLeaseProgress([int]($bytesWritten/$totalBytes*100))

        Write-Host "Bytes written $($bytesWritten)"

    }

    $leaseRefreshTimer.Stop()

    Unregister-Event -SourceIdentifier LeaseTimer

    $lease.HttpNfcLeaseComplete()

}

else{

    Write-Host "Import failed"

    Write-Host $lease.Error[0].LocalizedMessage

}