vCenter Server patch/upgrade fails due to an incorrect machine ID in lwregshell

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• vCenter Server failed to upgrade with 'Exception occured in postInstallHook' error.
• When reviewing /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/PatchRunner.log, the below errors are seen:

patch_errors.UserError: vstats.patch.incrementalPatching.fail: Failed to apply patch: patch_04 due to: {
    "detail": [
        {
            "id": "install.ciscommon.command.errinvoke",
            "translatable": "An error occurred while invoking external command : '%(0)s'",
            "args": [
                "Error 166 while adding user vpxd-extension-########-####-####-####-############ to SSO group \"vStatsGroup\":\ndir-cli failed, error= Specified User or Group to be added doesn't exist. 100006\n"
            ],
            "localized": "An error occurred while invoking external command : 'Error 166 while adding user vpxd-extension-########-####-####-####-############ to SSO group \"vStatsGroup\":\ndir-cli failed, error= Specified User or Group to be added doesn't exist. 100006\n'"
        }
    ],
    "componentKey": null,
    "problemId": null,
    "resolution": null
}, 5, {
    "detail": [
        {
            "id": "install.ciscommon.command.errinvoke",
            "translatable": "An error occurred while invoking external command : '%(0)s'",
            "args": [
                "Error 166 while adding user vpxd-extension-########-####-####-####-############ to SSO group \"vStatsGroup\":\ndir-cli failed, error= Specified User or Group to be added doesn't exist. 100006\n"
            ],
            "localized": "An error occurred while invoking external command : 'Error 166 while adding user vpxd-extension-########-####-####-####-############ to SSO group \"vStatsGroup\":\ndir-cli failed, error= Specified User or Group to be added doesn't exist. 100006\n'"
        }
    ],
    "componentKey": null,
    "problemId": null,
    "resolution": null
}

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x

Cause

This is caused due to an incorrect or missing machine ID in lwregshell

Resolution

1) Check the current machine ID.
   /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-machine-id --server-name localhost
   
2) Download vSphere Diagnostic Tool and upload to vCenter Server
   https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/344917/using-the-vcf-diagnostic-tool-for-vspher.html
   
3) Unzip vdt and execute: python vdt.py to find the correct machine ID and ensure it matches the output from step 1.

4) Update the correct machine ID in lwregshell using:
   /opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell set_value '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\vmdir]' "MachineGuid" <Correct Machine-ID from step 3>

5) If MachineGuid section is missing in lwregshell, set_value would fail.
   To check if MachineGuid field exists, run this:
   /opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell ls "[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\vmdir]"
   
6) If MachineGuid field does not exist, add it manually using a temporary value.
   /opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell add_value '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\vmdir]' MachineGuid REG_SZ 1

7) Update the correct machine ID using the CMD from step 4.