Scanning an ESXi host against an upgrade baseline fails with the error: Cannot copy files to host

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Scanning of ESXi hosts against an upgrade baseline through Update Manager fails with an error
  
  Cannot copy files to host. Check the management services status, network connectivity with vcenter and disk space on the host
  
  
• The vmware-vum-server.log located at C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Update Manager\Logs\ contains similar to:
  
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [06996 warning 'PropertyCollector'] ComputeGUReq took 1209000 microSec
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [07812 warning 'Default'] [,0] [NFC ERROR] NfcNewAuthdConnectionEx: Failed to connect to peer. Error: 554 PROXY service vpxa-nfcssl not found.
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [07812 warning 'Default'] [,0] [NFC ERROR] NfcNewAuthdConnectionEx: Failed to connect to peer. Error: 554 PROXY service vpxa-nfcssl not found.
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [02024 info 'ThreadPool'] Thread enlisted
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [02008 info 'ThreadPool'] Thread enlisted
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [04040 info 'ThreadPool'] Thread enlisted
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [05780 info 'ThreadPool'] Thread enlisted
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [02012 info 'ThreadPool'] Thread enlisted
  <YYYY-MM-DD><time> [07928 warning 'Ufa'] Empty WSDL root, failing</time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time>

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware vSphere Client 5.0
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.1.x
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance (Standalone) 5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.0
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.x
VMware Update Manager 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere Client 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance 5.x
VMware Update Manager 5.0
VMware Update Manager 6.0
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Support Assistant 5.x

Cause

authd.proxy.vpxa-nfc and authd.proxy.vpxa-nfcssl entries are not listed in the /etc/vmware/config file.

Resolution

1. Connect to the ESXi host with an SSH session. See Using ESXi Shell in ESXi.
2. Navigate to /etc/vmware/ with the command:
   
   cd /etc/vmware/
   
   
3. Edit the config file with vi.
   
   vi config
   
   
4. Add the following entries to the config file:
   
   libdir = "/usr/lib/vmware"
authd.proxy.vim = "vmware-hostd:hostd-vmdb"
authd.proxy.nfc = "vmware-hostd:ha-nfc"
authd.proxy.nfcssl = "vmware-hostd:ha-nfcssl"
authd.proxy.vpxa-nfcssl = "vmware-vpxa:vpxa-nfcssl"
authd.proxy.vpxa-nfc = "vmware-vpxa:vpxa-nfc"
authd.fullpath = "/sbin/authd"
authd.soapServer = "TRUE"
vmauthd.server.alwaysProxy = "TRUE"
   
   
5. Restart the management agents on the host. See Restarting Management Agents in ESX.