vCenter 7.0.1 cannot backup after renewing cert

[pcburakq]

Hello,

I've seen that my vCenter Server wasn't backing up it's scheduled backup and saw that it's self signed SSL certificate has been expired.

I've generated and assigned a new self signed certificate via 

/usr/lib/vmware-vmca/bin/certificate-manager

And it generated a new SSL certificate and installed it.

https://prnt.sc/cb2BtZpemyCx

So far so good, however i still cannot take any form of backup.

This time, i'm even unable to initiate a backup.

Trying to initiate a backup gives me this error:

Internal error. See logs for details. https://IP_ADDRESS/appliance/support-bundle

It downloads like, whole disk of vcenter.

vc-localhost-2023-02-09--08.31\vc-localhost-2023-02-09--08.31-34526\var\log\vmware\applmgmt

backup.log
backupscheduler.log

Such logs are empty.

PS: When i try to edit existing backup schedule, it gives me the following error;

Error in method invocation 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 5: invalid start byte

Seems to be python related but i have no idea what causes it. All services are up and running beautifully so it's not related to one stubborn service not running.

https://prnt.sc/n4W-fu8qtguY

I've been at it for like 2 days, about to give up and install a new vCenter but the same might happen when it's SSL expires so any help is appreciated.

Kind Regards

[maksym007]

Have you tried to configure backup again after Cert replacement? 

It is worth trying. And why not to patch vCenter to 7.0.3?

[Kinnison]

Hi,

The self-signed certificates generated by default when installing a vCenter object are valid for 10 years, but if you over time upgraded from version to version these are not regenerated, but they are those present at the time of the first installation and therefore once their time has passed they expire.

Then I won't go into the merits of the speech because I abandoned version 7.0U1, with all its problems (and vulnerabilities remedied in later versions) a couple of years ago.

Regards,
Ferdinando

[pcburakq]

I removed the backup job, when i try to create a new backup cron it says;

Error in method invocation 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 5: invalid start byte

The same as when i tried to edit it. The only difference is that now, there is no job at all.

[pcburakq]

The problem still continues, tho I've tried to update the vcenter but while it said update was successful and system restarted itself, i was unable to login. When i logged in by resetting the password via grub (rw init=/bin/bash) i can see the Version was still 7.0.1.0000 and have not changed. Then it became a unrepairable mess so i had to rollback to an earlier snapshot.

[pcburakq]

TLDR: ERROR:vmware.vapi.provider.local:Error in invoking com.vmware.appliance.recovery.backup.schedules in create - 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 5: invalid start byte

Resolution of this error is just that, targer folder has to be empty that's all...

I wasn't able to take backups because it thought the system before new SSL has been generated was a different server.

I wasn't able to create a new backup cron because the folder wasn't empty.

Just lol.