Host Profile ver 7.0 fails with error - No closing quotation

[vjrk83]

Hello , 

All the hosts in the cluster has been upgraded to 7.0u1 and vDS is also upgraded to 7.0. I was trying to update the Host Profile ver to 7.0. 

The pre-check is successfull and it says Ready to remediate , but it fails with below error when we try to remediate. 

On checking the logs /var/log/syslog.log on the host , see the below error .  Validated the host profiles configurations and I dont see anything wrong. Any thoughts ? 

2021-04-05T18:09:18Z root: Call wait loop
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ esxcli command ['iscsi', 'ibftboot', 'get'] failed with error code (1) output: Errors: Unable to get b
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ ISCSI(1617645681.843710):Checking for static boot targets, Ignore ibftboot errors^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.843785):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.843873):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.843991):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.844116):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.846212):Gathering static target info for: vmhba68^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ esxcli command ['iscsi', 'ibftboot', 'get'] failed with error code (1) output: Errors: Unable to get b
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ ISCSI(1617645681.846597):Checking for static boot targets, Ignore ibftboot errors^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.846674):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.846759):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.846869):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.846991):Calling iscsi adapter list^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.848070):Gathering vnic binding info for: vmhba68^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ISCSI(1617645681.911404):Done Gathering HBA info^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:ERROR: Exception while applying host config. Exception: No closing quotation^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ Exception while applying host config. Backtrace: ^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/usr/lib/hostprofiles/plugins/iscsi/iscsiInitiatorConfigProfile.py", line 851, in RemediateConf
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/usr/lib/hostprofiles/plugins/iscsi/iscsiPlatformUtils.py", line 2348, in ExecuteTask Execu
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/usr/lib/hostprofiles/plugins/iscsi/iscsiPlatformUtils.py", line 2324, in ExecuteTaskFromDict
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/usr/lib/hostprofiles/plugins/iscsi/iscsiCommonUtils.py", line 745, in RunEsxCli status, ou
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys/lib64/python3.5/site-packag
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib64/python3.5/shlex.
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib64/python3.5/shlex.
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib64/python3.5/shlex.
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ File "/build/mts/release/bora-17325551/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib64/python3.5/shlex.
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ Adding missing key ValueError.summary^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]⚠️ excObj is of unknown type: <class 'valueerror'="">^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: ApplyHostConfig completed^@
2021-04-05T18:01:21Z Host Profiles[2749683 opID=kmw4legq-114277-auto-2g7v-h5: 70022103-48-01-84-892e]:INFO: Cleaned up Host Configuration^@

[vjrk83]

The host Profile compliance check and Pre-check remediation are showing successfull, only the remediate is failing with error "ERROR: Exception while applying host config. Exception: No closing quotation". Any ideas ? I'm stuck with no options. Please help. Thanks. 

[Assyrian]

The many times I've had problems with Host Profiles seemed to always point towards underlying storage, i.e. USB based storage such as SD Cards. What hardware and what is your USB storage controller? Also, are you doing stateless or stateful?

This is very old stuff that VMware support has assisted me with so no promise it will work, however check out Using partedUtil command line disk partitioning utility on ESXi (1036609) (vmware.com) for checking partition tables on the disk.

[jburen]

Maybe there is a field in your host profile where you have entered text yourself and forgot a quotation mark.

[vjrk83]

The only thing I where we enter the special character is in the CHAP initiator/target secret which contains double and single quotes. I tried to escape them with \ , but that didnt help. Is there a better way of escaping it. I also enterred some other password to skip which doesnt seems to point to the exact issue. So im not sure where the issue is. The 6.7 profile works great and nothing changes on ver 7.0 . 

[vjrk83]

We are using stateful hosts and connecting to ISCSI storage using software initiator and uses bidirectinal CHAP.

[jburen]

If you perform a pre-check remediation you would be able to see the changes that would be made. Maybe you can see which option is causing this issue. Or extract a new host profile from a configured host.

[vjrk83]

Here is the pre-check details.  I tried to extract another new profile and also tried to update dummy passwords without any special characters, but still the same. Im not sure what is different in version 7.0 to cause the host profiles to fail. 

[jburen]

Can you provide a screenshot of both settings? Or try to remediate without both settings.

[vjrk83]

The remediation was successful if I remove the iscsi configuration from the host profile and applied. So what is different in this Version. 

Its exactly same configuration as of old. 

[vjrk83]

The special character must be double escaped. This is an old KB for different app but was still helpful https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/337069 

[jburen]

So kudos to you!!