vCenter Server 8.0 Update 1 to Update 2 Patch Fails with “Installation of Photon3 RPM Failed”

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

During the patch process, the installation of Photon3 RPM packages fails. Logs from /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.log show entries similar to the following:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] - functions_target:: runCommand - Process completed. Return code [1], stdout [...], stderr [package createrepo_c-0.11.1-5.ph3.x86_64 is already installed] ... [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] - dbfunctions_target:: executeDML - UPDATE install_progress SET Subphase = 'Installation of Photon3 RPM failed.', status = 'failed'

Additional log entries may indicate:

stderr [Incorrect service configuration of the following regular file(s) was found - '/etc/systemd/

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Cause

The failure can be attributed to two primary root causes:

Cause 1: Stale Backup File in SystemD Target Directory

• A leftover .bak file (e.g., vmware-vmon.service.bak) in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants is incorrectly detected as an active unit file, leading to pre-check failures.

Cause 2: Pre-installed Target Build RPMs

• Some RPMs from the target version are already present due to a failed or partial previous attempt, causing the installer to fail with messages like:

  • package createrepo_c-0.11.1-5.ph3.x86_64 is already installed

  • package photon-upgrade-1.0-7.ph3.noarch is already installed

Resolution

Permanent Fix

This issue is addressed in vCenter Server 8.0.2.0 Patch 3 (8.0.2.0 P03), which includes validation logic for systemd service directories during the upgrade pre-checks. VMware recommends upgrading to this patch version to avoid encountering the issue.

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Workaround

Until the patch is applied, follow the steps below based on the identified root cause:

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For Cause 1: Stale Backup File

1. Revert to the last known good backup or snapshot before the upgrade attempt.

2. Navigate to /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants.

3. Identify and move any backup .bak files (e.g., vmware-vmon.service.bak) to a temporary location:
   
   mv /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/*.bak /tmp/

4. Retry the vCenter patch operation.

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For Cause 2: Pre-installed RPMs from Target Version

1. Revert to a snapshot or backup taken before the failed upgrade attempt.

2. Manually remove the installed RPMs that are blocking the upgrade:
   
   rpm -ev --nodeps createrepo_c-0.11.1-5.ph3.x86_64 rpm -ev --nodeps photon-upgrade-1.0-7.ph3.noarch

3. Proceed with the upgrade once these packages are removed.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks

• Upgrade or patch installation will fail at the RPM installation phase until the issue is resolved.

• Manual intervention is required to unblock the upgrade process in affected builds.