VCSA 7.0 - Update Planner "Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates"

[Richards_DLS]

I am getting this error message for VCSA 7.0 - Update Planner "Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates"

Also getting errors under "Interoperability" - Unexpected error occurred while fetching the interoperability details

I have tried:

"SSH into VCSA 7.0 and run the below command:

rm /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf

After removing the file, VCSA patched successfully."

Also

Resetting VMware Update Manager Database on a vCenter Server Appliance:

VMware Knowledge Base

I am now stuck at why this update planner is no longer working.

Any help would be appreciated on this on.

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

this, post of July 8 you opened it with another account ?? because it's too similar ...

"Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates" in VCSA 7.0

ARomeo

[Richards_DLS]

Hi @AlessandroRomeo68

You misunderstood, That post does not solve my problem.

Thanks

[Alex_Romeo]

I didn't write that post solves your problem. I asked you if you opened it because it is identical.

[Richards_DLS]

That post is a solution, not a question.

[Richards_DLS]

Some Screenshots of the errors

[CarlMarshall]

We are also getting the same errors as yourself Richard, both with the Update Planner and Interoperability.. I will update if I find anything useful, hopefully this is something simple as I'd like to use the new features in v7.

[TechneJ]

Any news on this?

I been having this issue for a little while now.

[Richards_DLS]

No updates yet

Still having the same issue, I will open a SR with VMWare when I get a chance.

[Kev_Johnson]

Are you seeing the same issue if you try to update through VAMI? If so could you tail /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/software-packages.log when you check for updates?

[TechneJ]

Not sure about OP, but this error shows up in VAMI...

I'm shooting for a reinstall this week. Just starting with VMware lab past month. I'd like to see if this is something I did or an actual VMware error, so I can well not repeat the mistake.
Error in method invocation [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/storage/core/software-update/updates/index'

Spoke to soon, hit check for updates a few times and now it shows up. Doing the install now, we'll see if this works.

[Richards_DLS]

Strangely I can update and patch VIA VAMI, I see no issues there.

[TechneJ]

It seems the error for Interoperability and updates still exists, although it appears to have updated from Vami.

[Richards_DLS]

This is from the release notes under known issues:

When you use the Update Planner, in the vSphere Client you might see Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates

When you use Update Planner, which is part of vSphere Lifecycle Manager, used to facilitate vCenter Server updates, you might see the following error in the vSphere Client:
Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates
The issue occurs when you use a custom HTTPS port that prevents you from running interoperability reports by using the vSphere Client.

Workaround: Manually invoke the API. For more details, see the vSphere Automation API.

Although I do not use a custom port, it could still be revelant? I have also not figured out how to manually invoke the API.

[vadonka]

The latest update is a mess. Messed up my vcenter. I updated to the 7.0.0.10700, but i still see that im on the previous version and i need to install 10700.

When i try i got this: Update installation failed, vCenter Server is non-operational.

But my server is up and running, and everything is working fine, except the update manager is broke again.

Com'on vmware...

[Lieven]

I have the same error.

The /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf file however shows "UP_TO_DATE"

After removing the file /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf it is recreated and still shows "UP_TO_DATE"

Following KB 2147284 VMware Knowledge Base does not help.

VAMI shows that an update is available

I opened a Support Request with VMware (SR# 20155337309)

[Lieven]

I got an answer from support:

As per release notes from 7.0 b and 7.0 c we still have this issue ongoing and the internal teams are working on a fix:

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-700c-release-notes.html

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-700b-release-notes.html

Currently there is no resolution and the alternative/workaround is to perform it from VAMI or using the developer options.

[mariss35]

So , we have 7.0.1 and nothing changed ,Update planner and Interoperability still spews out "Unexpected error occurred while fetching updates" , anyone have any update regarding this ?

[vadonka]

From 7.0.1.00000 to 7.0.1.00100 upgrade failed (again).

[BHagenSPI]

From 7.0.1.00200 to 7.0.1.00300 upgrade, same thing as OP: Update Planner "Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates".

A couple interesting notes in my case:

1. I have two VCSAs; I updated both this morning to 00300. Now one of them (the vcsa that I upgraded first) gets this error; but the other one doesn't get this error.

2. If I log into vCenter server as [e-mail], I don't see the error on either of them.

Hmmm...

[spoofingcorp]

I pass the update 7.0.1.00200 to 7.0.1.00300

shell

rm /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf

renew the update scan, download update, apply update.

Wait long minute in dark, no progression view in VCSA Console, but the update pass in background.

We can see in syslog in ssh some mouvement operation.

VCSA restart, and you are un 7.0.1.00300 !

tested in non-production environnement, for observing the stability before apply in production 

 

[Gary_617]

If you un-check the "Check Certificate" option in the Update Settings on VCenter Server Management, the update will appear for staging and install.

[HCDataCentreTea]

"If you un-check the "Check Certificate" option in the Update Settings on VCenter Server Management, the update will appear for staging and install."

That wasn't the issue being discussed here.

[stgeorgiev]

The update 7.0.3.00000 seems to fix the issue for now I've updated today and now the error disappeared.

Checking and unchecking "Check Certificate" actually did nothing to solve the problem, maybe it solves it to someone but unfortunately it was not solving mine.

Regards

[CJFBMF]

How did you get the update process to work though.  Let me preface with I just stood up my new VSphere 7 enterprise environment we have been using Hyper-v so everything is brand new.  I only have two ESXi servers and one VCSA 7 server so far with one other VM which is the storage controller snap in VM appliance.  So, I did what Gary_617 said to do "If you un-check the "Check Certificate" option in the Update Settings on VCenter Server Management, the update will appear for staging and install"

The update started perfectly and began but then suddenly I was logged off the vCenter website with no indication where the process was at?  I could not log back into the vCenter website so I logged into vSphere website and saw that my vCenter server was at least running again and I could log into the VCSA console.  So, I tried logging into the VCSA Management website with my administrator account and I could not I had to use the root account which worked.  Upon login to my VCSA 7 management website  I see the update still running with some kind of error - "Invalid Type, expected String, instead got NoneType" (not a type-o thats really how the message reads) and a spinning wheel?  The progress bar said 90% done which sat there for about another 45 minutes so I clicked F5 on keyboard to refresh the screen and of course was logged off and had to log back in and now I see the same progress window with the same error but the progress bar is at 0% now and has been for at least 30 minutes.  Any ideas????

[CJFBMF]

I had to stop the update process and restart my VCSA server I could then restart the Update but its still stuck at "Invalid Type, expected String, instead got NoneType" now its 80% done and the wheel is spinning.  I know these updates can take awhile but mine is a new environment and is almost nothing meaning very very small?

[CJFBMF]

If anyone is interested I tried this one more time but this time I chose Stage only for the update file then once the file was staged I ran it and it worked perfectly.

[goldeneye_007]

You mean it ran perfectly after you wasted a day and a half.

[Esxi7BugHater]

I wasted a day and a half on MANY aspects of vSphere 7.  It is the biggest pile of garbage.  Should have bought 6.4 after weeks if not months wasted googling error messages just about with every attempted task.  Not to mention the SDcard freezing bug.  That was a doozie.

[goldeneye_007]

Well, I will say that once it is going it's pretty robust but getting it initially stable can be challenging. Updates and upgrades are always a rocky road. It seems like they are trying to improve that but it's not there yet. For me the biggest challenge is ensuring that hardware is up to snuff when an upgrade occurs. I lost a raid volume during my last upgrade because it couldn't sort out the hardware. That was fun. Glad I use Veeam to back it all up.

[CJFBMF]

LOL.  Indeed. Sheesh, what a challenge especially for a noob like myself.  I've used VMWare from an operations standpoint since 5.5 never had to build an environment out and or patch/update any servers though. 

[stgeorgiev]

I had and still have the same issue with updates.

the only thing that solves the problem is as described and im sending just the commands to ease the process for someone that stumbles uppon this issue.

##################

cd /etc/applmgmt/appliance/
rm -rf software_update_state.conf
service-control --stop vmware-updatemgr
/usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/updatemgr-utility.py reset-db
rm -rf /storage/updatemgr/patch-store/*
service-control --start vmware-updatemgr

##################

after soo many updates the issue is still not resolved.

[chi201110141]

Is this a workaround for this version or a fix?

[stgeorgiev]

Hi,

this is a workaround. Sadly you have to do this for every update. 

[chi201110141]

Ran the commands:

Command> shell
Shell access is granted to root
root@dr-vcsa [ ~ ]# cd /etc/applmgmt/appliance/
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]# rm -rf software_update_state.conf
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]# service-control --stop vmware-updatemgr
Operation not cancellable. Please wait for it to finish...
Performing stop operation on service updatemgr...
Successfully stopped service updatemgr
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]# /usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/updatemgr-utility.py reset-db
Resetting vSphere Update Manager database...
Successfully reset vSphere Update Manager database
Start vSphere Update Manager service to apply the setting.
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]# rm -rf /storage/updatemgr/patch-store/*
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]# service-control --start vmware-updatemgr
Operation not cancellable. Please wait for it to finish...
Performing start operation on service updatemgr...
Successfully started service updatemgr
root@dr-vcsa [ /etc/applmgmt/appliance ]#

Still see: Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates - under update tab on vcsa.

Am i missing something here?  

[stgeorgiev]

Afterr those commands you have to start the update from https://"your_vcenter_address:5480/#/login" without rebooting VcenterServer.

It should show you the update available for your vcenter.

 

 

[Esxi7BugHater]

Worked for me.

---

 wrote:

I had and still have the same issue with updates.

the only thing that solves the problem is as described and im sending just the commands to ease the process for someone that stumbles uppon this issue.

##################

cd /etc/applmgmt/appliance/
rm -rf software_update_state.conf
service-control --stop vmware-updatemgr
/usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/updatemgr-utility.py reset-db
rm -rf /storage/updatemgr/patch-store/*
service-control --start vmware-updatemgr

##################

after soo many updates the issue is still not resolved.

---

Remember to upgrade from https://"your_vcenter_address:5480/#/login" after you run his commands.  Worked perfectly.

[spoofingcorp]

I pass the update 7.0.1.00200 to 7.0.1.00300

shell

rm /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf

renew the update scan, download update, apply update.

Wait long minute in dark, no progression view in VCSA Console, but the update pass in background.

We can see in syslog in ssh some mouvement operation.

VCSA restart, and you are un 7.0.1.00300 !

tested in non-production environnement, for observing the stability before apply in production 

[Diagnh]

I've the same issue. Any help?

Thanks for in advance.

[HCDataCentreTea]

Same issue after upgrading from vCenter 7.0.1 to 7.0.2.

7.0.1 worked perfectly.

Any ideas?

[L-the-Herzer]

We have the same issue on 7.0.2

• Version: 7.0.2
• Build: 17694817
•  

Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates

Checking directly from the vCenter Appliance it works.

 

In some old VC known issues release notes I found:

When you use the Update Planner, in the vSphere Client you might see Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates When you use Update Planner, which is part of vSphere Lifecycle Manager, used to facilitate vCenter Server updates, you might see the following error in the vSphere Client: Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates The issue occurs when you use a custom HTTPS port that prevents you from running interoperability reports by using the vSphere Client.

We're not using a custom HTTPS port.

[HCDataCentreTea]

It's listed under "known issues from previous releases" link in the release notes.

 

Still not fixed in VCSA 7.0 U2a.

 

 

[bsw-ideal]

VCSA 7.0.2.00000

still experiencing the issue, it was about the only thing i was excited about, actual update management like every other major software platform.

only thing still not working...

[ekzidua]

Same situation here:

vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00000 Build number 17694817 

 

[NeilColyn]

Same issue here - current feedback from VMware GSS

"As of today, we do not have a conclusive answer based on the investigation of the problem report.
As always, I will keep you updated."

 

[Biemer]

Same situation in vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00100 Build number 17920168

[ninjabrum]

Same error here: vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00100 Build number 17920168.  Did not have this error in v7.0.1.

[Alinden]

Error is happening on vCenter 7.0.2 build 17920168

[NeilColyn]

Update from  VMware Support:

"... The issue is resolved in an upcoming release: vCenter P03
We do not have an exact date for this release date as VMware does not make this information publicly available.

There is no workaround that can fix the Interoperability page. If interoperability report needs to be generated before VC 7.0 P03 is released, it can be generated by manually invoking the API:

https://developer.vmware.com/docs/vsphere-automation/latest/vcenter/api/vcenter/lcm/discovery/interop-reportvmw-tasktrue/post/

Moderator edit by wila: Fixed link to remove the domain protection crap from mimecast where you have to "register your device" in order to visit the link above because it gets rerouted through mimecast.

[itsupp_ail]

I also had same error when at: vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00100 Build number 17920168.

As probably most people know, there is a new Critical patch released on 24th May 2021: vCenter Server 7.0 Update 2b.

Read: https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0010.html

After I installed the patch, this warning went away. This brings the vCentre to vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00200 Build number 17958471.

[itsupp_ail]

Sorry, after a while, the error warning came back 

[TD99]

Yep. Also on vCenter Version: 7.0.2.00200 Build number 17958471.

"Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates"

[virtual-power]

Most users are seeing this issue on all 7.0 versions. There is a code change planned and the fix will be available in 7.0 U3 (expected Oct 2021)

[NeilColyn]

Thanks for the confirmation! Looking forward to it.

[kenmook]

Appears to be resolved in 7.0 Update 2c Release Notes

• You see an unexpected error message in Update Planner

  If the PNID of the management network of your vCenter Server system contains lower and upper case characters, the Update Planner fails to fetch updates and generate interoperability reports. In the vSphere Client, you see an error such as Unexpected error occurred while fetching the updates.

  This issue is resolved in this release.

[voimala]

Not for everyone—we still see it on 7.0.2.00400 18356314 aka 7.0 Update 2c.

[HCDataCentreTea]

We see it in update 2d as well

[goldeneye_007]

At this point I expect to see:

"This is by design. Will not fix."

This bug has been with us over a year now.

[shawnmthomas]

Sure do!

[chi201110141]

I had this on 7.0 build 17920168 and upgrade via the appliance console to 18455184 but still get the error in the vcenter gui.

 

[bsw-ideal]

Ever since they went web in 5 whatever, it has been nothing but downhill.

The full on application was bullet proof, since its just been bug after bug after bug.

[goldeneye_007]

Dude there's hardly anything that actually works anymore. It's become the new normal.

Woohoo! Glad I'm near retirement because it's out of hand.

[Andy_M_]

I don’t understand the need to complicate your life by typing all the necessary commands, just use VAMI ... it works perfectly.

Stage it and then install it.

[Esxi7BugHater]

VAMI was the first thing I tried.  It gave back a bunch of errors, so I used the commands to reset and that worked in VAMI afterwards.  We all got to whatever revision we were running different ways, and I think that's what is breaking the updates for some.