Cannot deploy an OVF in vCenter 6.5.0b (build 5178943) and later

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

Note: This issue only affects vCenter 6.5.0b (Build 5178943) and later.

• When attempting to deploy an OVF in vCenter 6.5.0b or later you see the error:
  Unable to process template" or the wizard will hang during the validation process.
   
• In the /var/log/vmware/content-library/cls.log file, you see the content library call a try-instantiate validation request:
  2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | received event [RequestStateActivityEvent[source=TryInstantiateImportActivity(########-####-####-####-########8a98), resultName=########-####-####-####-########2e6d, eventName=TryInstantiateImportSession] submitted on Wed Apr 26 11:31:35 GMT 2017]
  2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | Try-instantiate of session ########-####-####-####-########ce9f requesting...
  2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | IntermediateResultListener | Activity ImportSessionActivity(########-####-####-####-########ce9f) posted intermediate result: ########-####-####-####-########2e6d
  2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | Try-instantiate of session ########-####-####-####-########ce9f requested
   
• The try-instantiate validation completes after 2 minutes:
  2017-04-26T11:33:26.481Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-3 | TryInstantiateImportActivity | tryInstantiate result: OvfValidationResult (com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.import_session.ovf_validation_result) => {
  parameters = [NameAndProductParams (com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.name_and_product_params) =>
   
• The import session times out after 10 minutes:
  2017-04-26T11:41:35.492Z | ERROR | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16443638-ngc-aa-51 | cls-simple-activity-5 | ImportSessionActivity | OVF import session ########-####-####-####-########ce9f terminated abnormally.
  (vim.fault.Timedout) {
  faultCause = null,
  faultMessage = null
   
• In the Web Client virgo logs (/var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/logs) you can see an exception 1 minute after the initial try-instantiate call:
  com.vmware.vise.vim.vapi.DefaultVapiConnectionControl Maximum number of attempts reached while trying to call com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.import_session.try_instantiate
  ...
  [2017-04-26T11:32:35.701Z] [ERROR] http-bio-9090-exec-5117 70929481 118317 214508 c.v.vsphere.client.provisioning.ovf.impl.OvfDeployServiceImpl Unable to query OVF. java.lang.IllegalStateException: Connection pool shut down

Resolution

This is a known issue with vCenter Server 6.5.0b (Build 5178943) and later.

This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 6.5 Update 1, available at Broadcom Downloads.

 

Note: There was no timeout value prior to vCenter 6.5.0b, so you will not experience this issue on any earlier build.

Workaround:

To work around this issue, increase the VAPI socket read timeout from the default value of one minute to ten minutes.

 

To increase the VAPI socket read timeout in a vCenter Server Appliance:

1. Log in to the VCSA using SSH.
2. Change directory to the usr directory:
   cd /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/repository/usr
    
3. Create a new temp directory:
   mkdir temp
    
4. Change to the new temp directory:
   cd temp
    
5. Unzip the vim-services.jar file from the directory above to the temp directory:
   unzip ../vim-services.jar
    
6. Open the vim-services.properties file with the vim text editor using this command:
   vim vim-services.properties
    
7. Change this line:
   vim.services.vapi.socket.timeout=60000
   to
   vim.services.vapi.socket.timeout=600000
    
8. Run this command to write the changes, save the file, and close the vim editor:
   :wq!
    
9. Run this command to zip the vim-services.jar file:
   zip -r vim-services.jar .
    
10. Change to the parent directory using this command:
    cd ..
     
11. Create a backup of the original vim-services.jar file by renaming the file:
    mv vim-services.jar vim-services.jar.original
     
12. Copy the edited vim-services.jar
    cp temp/vim-services.jar .
     
13. Remove the temp directory you created in step 3:
    rm -rf temp
     
14. Stop and then restart the vsphere-client service using these commands:
    service-control --stop vsphere-client
    service-control --start vsphere-client

Additional Information