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boersego
Contributor
Contributor

Updatemanager fails after vSpher 4.1 upgrade

Hi all,

i upgraded our vSphere 4.0 Cluster up to 4.1

After that i reinstalled the updatemanager too.

Tried 2 times with new and existing database.

Recreate the update baselines

But the scan for updates fails any time i try.

In the log he told me first successfullry scanned host for patches and a second later there is a error: Could not scan host for patches.

May anybody have an idea?

Cheers

Oliver

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16 Replies
illvilja
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi,

Are you using a 32-bit DSN for VUM? (It is required)



VCP3/VCP4/VTSP/VSP/MCTS: Virtualization

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stingray75
Contributor
Contributor

I notice the same problem on my vCenter v4.1. It looks like a bug as it happens on every v4 host. When I scan ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5 hosts I don't see the error.

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Are you running ESX or ESXi? Is Update Manager installed on the vCenter server, or it's own server? How large is your cluster? Which baselines are you having it scan with? Which version of SQL are you using?

I did have some trouble getting the 4.1 VUM plugin to work initially (first getting the 32 bit DSN to work and then needing to use the IP of the vCenter server instead of the FQDN). I think a lot of the issues will go away when VMware updates VUM to use the same 64 bit DSN as vCenter. I ended up routing VUM's DSN to a 32 bit SQL server, and vCenter to a new 64 bit SQL server. While this might not be the best solution (I would have preferred to use a single SQL server) it works for both items.

I also just attached the two host patches baselines to the host scanning and it ran without any issue/error. So either I got lucky in how I set mine up, or you got unlucky in how you set yours up. I would suggest trying to set up a fresh vCenter server, with new databases for it to connect to. This should help to rule out any legacy items from the 4.0.x installations buggering the works for you...

Network Administrator

VMware VCP4

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boersego
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

i just tested the 2 default baslines, but with the same result.

I have to Clusters, one 2 node and one 6 node cluster.

Both won't be scanned by the UpdateManager Smiley Sad

Greets

Oli

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

I know it's a PitA, but try building up a fresh/clean vCenter and Update Manager configuration... At least for testing purposes. That will at least eliminate any legacy items on either setup from causing the issue. I would point to fresh databases for both as well. I would migrate a single host to the new configuration (when time allows) and test against it. Hopefully, you've got enough horsepower to pull one of the hosts from the six node cluster for this. If it works properly, you can migrate the existing hosts over to the new vCenter/VUM configuration during a lower load period.

I've found it's usually safer to build up new vCenter/VUM servers when a major release comes out. I know that many people probably don't do this, but if you're experiencing issues with the updated configuration (from the older release) then it's at least a good test. Since you're on the same release between the two configurations, you don't need to worry about updating much of anything on the hosts when shifting them between vCenter configurations.

I built a new vCenter/VUM configuration when I migrated to 4.1. This was driven by the need to have both reside on a 64 bit OS server. I've been tending to shy away from 2008 R2, instead I went with 2008 x64. What's the OS you're running vCenter/VUM on now?

Network Administrator

VMware VCP4

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boersego
Contributor
Contributor

My next step would be to reinstall the complete vcenter on a fresh machine.

At the moment the vcenter runs on a Windows 2008 R2 Standard

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

I would use 2008 x64 (not R2) on the next build... Depending on the environment size, you can use a VM for vCenter and VUM... I would also use the IP of the vCenter server when you configure up VUM. If you're going to use the same server for both items, use a local admin account (to eliminate domain issues). If you use a second VM to run VUM, then use an account from the domain admin's group, or seperate accounts created for vCenter and VUM services. Add the accounts to the servers admin groups, so that they have complete access.

Network Administrator

VMware VCP4

Consider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

boersego
Contributor
Contributor

After a complete reinstall on a win 2008 non r2 machine, updatemanager runs fine again

so i think i have to reinstall the live vcenter server too, not the best method for me Smiley Sad

greets

Oliver

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kghammond2009
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

We have the same problem.

Migrated from vCenter 4.0 Update 1 to 4.1.

4.0U1 was running on Windows 2003 R2 x86. 4.1 is running on Windows 2008 x64.

As of right now, we cannot scan any ESX 4U1 hosts. Our ESX 4.1 hosts work fine with Update Manager.

One theory is this is some SSL certificate related. Another theory is that this is a result of upgrading our ESX 4U1 hosts to a "new" vCenter server. Maybe something in the vcenter agent on the ESX hosts is not working correctly.

I am considering removing one of the hosts from the cluster and re-adding it to see if that fixes the issue.

We have a case opened with VMware. I will post results later.

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kghammond2009
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Here is our update:

Removing and re-adding the ESX host from the vCenter cluster resolved our problems. Ibelieve the a sympton of our problem was that we retained the same computer name but changed the IP address.

I am not sure if it was a name resolution issue or a SSL certificate issue, but one of the two or both seem to have been fixed by re-adding the host to the cluster.

Kevin

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boersego
Contributor
Contributor

ok, then you're a lucky one.

I had to reinstall the complete vcenter and readd the server.

just a readd with same name and ip didn't solve the problem.

however, the main thing is a working updatemanager Smiley Happy

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markubiCZ
Contributor
Contributor

Same by me. One cluster, three hosts, all after 4.1.0 upgrade can't scan for patches. I've try remove/add host from/to cluster. But without success to resolve this problem. I've try to make 4.1 only patch group baseline, but same error.

Error occures only witch patch scan. With UPGRADE sacan only is everything fine.

Maybe we must wait till first 4.1 patches are out.

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kghammond2009
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Well this just got more complicated...

I just tried rescanning one of our ESX 4.0 hosts that was not removed and re-added to the cluster. IT Worked!!!

The only other change we made was that we fixed the hosts file on each ESX host. The hosts file contained an old entry for vcenter. BUT, after we fixed the hosts file, we immediately rescanned a few ESX hosts and they still failed. So if the hosts file made a difference, it is somehow time dependant. We also added localhost.localdomain to the 127.0.0.1 line.

The other possiblity is that re-adding a ESX 4 host triggered some change in Update Manager, the cluster or something on all the other hosts with the updated hosts file....

There is some crazy VMware magic going on here...

Our support case has been closed since update manager is now working, but there is no root cause analyzed by VMware.

Kevin

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markubiCZ
Contributor
Contributor

SOLVED!:

Yesterday I reinstall UPDATE MANAGER from vCenter and everything works again. Don't forget convert database during instalation.

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Paul69
Contributor
Contributor

IT WORKS!

I also confirm: uninstalling and reinstalling VMware Update Manager fixed the problem.

During the installation I have specified "create an empty database".

Greets

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kastrosmartis
Contributor
Contributor

Problem is that you have manualy open Firewall on ESX for Update Manager.

Security Profile through vSphere client....

Regards

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