vCenter upgrade fails with error, "VCSA_CREATE_INPUT_SPEC_GET_LICENSE_KEY_FAILED"

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

vCenter upgrade fails with error, "VCSA_CREATE_INPUT_SPEC_GET_LICENSE_KEY_FAILED"

Similar errors are found in the lcm.log

/var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm.log

2023-09-07T17:01:52.456+0000 INFO  [vcf_lcm,1353dd4e8c3d6b1c,293c] [c.v.e.sddc.lcm.audit.AuditScheduler,Scheduled-7] 
Last upgrade status for software type VCENTER and resourceId ########-####-####-####-########0c8 is: 
{"id":"20","bundleId":"########-####-####-####-########076e","bundleElementId":"########-####-####-####-########19c4","bundleElementOrder":1,
"resourceType":"VCENTER","resourceId":"########-####-####-####-########f0c8","upgradeId":"########-####-####-####-########399",
"upgradeStatus":"COMPLETED_WITH_FAILURE","upgradeError":"errorType":"RECOVERABLE","stage":"VCENTER_UPGRADE_CREATE_INPUT_SPEC",
"errorCode":"VCSA_CREATE_INPUT_SPEC_GET_LICENSE_KEY_FAILED","errorDescription":"Error while fetching license keys for VC. Unable to add license key to input spec.",
"errorDescriptionAttributes":{"0":"[Ljava.lang.Object;@3db1433d"},"metadata":"\nCheck for errors in the lcm log files located on SDDC Manager under /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm.
\nPlease make sure that the license service on the VC is up and running. Run \u0027service-control --status vmware-cis-license\u0027 in bash to check if the license service is running, 
Otherwise start using \u0027service-control --start vmware-cis-license\u0027.\n Please retry the upgrade once the upgrade is available again.",
"referenceToken":"MMJG1V"},"startTime":1694105825970,"endTime":1694105916288,"numRetriesLeft":2,"upgradeStage":"[\n

 

2023-09-07T14:56:56.568+0000 ERROR [vcf_lcm,0000000000000000,0000,upgradeId=########-####-####-####-########8df7,
resourceType=VCENTER,resourceId=########-####-####-####-########f0c8,bundleElementId=########-####-####-####-########19c4] 
[c.v.e.s.c.s.a.l.LicenseServiceAdapterImpl,Upgrade-2] Failed to get licensing state
2023-09-07T14:56:56.572+0000 DEBUG [vcf_lcm,0000000000000000,0000,upgradeId=########-####-####-####-########8df7,
resourceType=VCENTER,resourceId=########-####-####-####-########f0c8,bundleElementId=########-####-####-####-########19c4] 
[c.v.e.s.l.p.i.v.VCenterUpgrader,Upgrade-2] Exception occurred when adding license key to input.json: {}
com.vmware.evo.sddc.common.services.error.SddcManagerServicesIsException: Failed to get licensing information
    at com.vmware.evo.sddc.common.services.adapters.licensing.LicenseServiceAdapterImpl.getSystemLicensingInfo(LicenseServiceAdapterImpl.java:324)

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0

Cause

The required API /v1/licensing-info is only exposed if subscription is enabled.

You receive a 404, Not Found error when running the below API from the SDDC UI. 

Developer Center > API Explorer > License Keys > GET /v1/licensing-info

Resolution

1. SSH into the SDDC Manager and elevate to root with su.
2. Add the following to the /home/vcf/feature.properties file. (Create the file if it does not already exist)
   • feature.vcf.plus.subscription=true
3. Update the permissions on the feature.properties file.
   • chown vcf:vcf /home/vcf/feature.properties
4. Restart the operationsmanager service
   • systemctl restart operationsmanager
5. Retry the upgrade from the SDDC Manager UI.