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pdrace
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Converter fails at loading inventory

We have an ongoing problem with Converter and Vcenter since we upgrade to Vcenter 4.

When we attempt to Import a machine it fails on the Preparing to Import dialog "Loading virtual machine inventory" .

The message is unknown error generated from client. When you look in the client log there is this error:

Task

failed: Incomplete header received

I can't find anything searching for this error. I had opened a case and the problem was "fixed" by uninstalling Converter and reinstalling on the server which was a 2.5U4 server that was upgraded to version 4. This is intermittent.It had been working for the last week or so. I rebooted the server for patches this morning and it is now failing again.

Anybody else experience this and found a solution?

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gummi_bar
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I have also experienced the same problem. It started after a hardware failure crashed the server holding vCenter’s database. The issue was resolved once I did a database restore from the previous day. In our case it seems like the issue was caused by vCenter’s database getting corrupted.

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IamTHEvilONE
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If you are referring to Converter standalone, this is being looked at.

In the mean time, please use an ESX host IP address as a workaround.

This has to do with how long it takes for vCenter to generate the inventory listing, and has to do with how large the inventory is (vm/datastore/networks).



Regards,

EvilOne

VMware vExpert 2009

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NOTE: If your problem or questions has been resolved, please mark this thread as answered and award points accordingly.

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pdrace
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This occcurs using the VC plug in.

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gummi_bar
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I have also experienced the same problem. It started after a hardware failure crashed the server holding vCenter’s database. The issue was resolved once I did a database restore from the previous day. In our case it seems like the issue was caused by vCenter’s database getting corrupted.

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pdrace
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We finally got this escalated by support. They suspected a database problem. The problem was fixed by removing all the hosts from VC and adding them back.

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s1m0nb
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Hi

Did you ever get a real fix for this? Removing and re-adding the hosts is really not a good option

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pdrace
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I don't think there is a better solution as it is a symptom of Database corruption not a bug.

Removing the hosts and readding wasn't that a big deal for me but I only had 8 hosts on the server.

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tkjoffs
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Seriously, any fix for this? I can't see this as database corruption as it randomly occurs both with the converter standalone and plugin.

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pdrace
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If you are using the Stand alone product but pointing to a VC server it is still going to attempt to load the inventory from the VC database.

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tkjoffs
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I can connect to any of my ESX hosts with the converter directly and it works. I have dropped and re-added all the ESX hosts. Still same issue.

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pdrace
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I have no idea what your issue is. I would call support. Call your sales rep and get it escalated if you don't get results. We uploaded logs,etc. for weeks and got no answers until I did.

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Jawdat
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Uninstall and reinstall did not do it for us either.

The workaround was to use the standalone converter (4.0.1 build 161434) and connecting to the esx host directly, connecting to vCentre would through an error.

Instructions provide the steps to do it but you still have to apply your intelect.
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Jawdat
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Im my case there were underlying issues specifically a hung / unresponsive vm.

To identify the assailant VM was a big job though, I went through my hosts one by one disconnecting and connecting but it paid off as by fixing this problem I managed to sort 3 other issues I had one of which has a pending incident with vmware support for.

When I connected back one of the hosts I got an error: "Reconnect host esx999 A general system error occurred: internal error"

It then asked me where to add the host and its VMs to and for the hosts root credentials, as if adding this host into the cluster for the first time. one of the vms got automatically restrated and then I was able to use Import Machine... without the errors and was able to carryout a P2V.

I recommend you read: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101612...

Strange how a bad VM can have such an impact and affect several features. Saying that did not affect any of the other 100s of production VMs.

I hope this help anyone, if so don't forget to reward points.

Thanks.

Instructions provide the steps to do it but you still have to apply your intelect.
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