Patching of vCenter Server fails due to "No space left on device" and VAMI returns error "Exception occurred in install precheck phase"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server 7.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Patching vCenter server Appliance (VCSA) via command line fails with traceback

Command> software-packages stage --iso
--- Logging error ---
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python3.7/logging/__init__.py", line 1029, in emit
self.flush()
File "/usr/lib/python3.7/logging/__init__.py", line 1009, in flush
self.stream.flush()
OSError: [Errno 28] No space left on device
Call stack:
File "/usr/lib/applmgmt/support/scripts/software-packages.py", line 853, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/lib/applmgmt/support/scripts/software-packages.py", line 840, in main
returncode = args.func(args)
File "/usr/lib/applmgmt/support/scripts/software-packages.py", line 343, in stage
logger.debug("Staging software update packages {args = %r}" % args)
Message: 'Staging software update packages {args = Namespace(acceptEulas=False, func=<function stage at 0x7f51f55b1b00>, iso=True, stageEulas=False, thirdParty=False, url=None)}'
Arguments: ()

• Patching/Updating VCSA using VMware Appliance Management (VAMI) returns error "Exception occurred in install precheck phase"

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x/ 8.x. 

Resolution

In order to resolve the issue, please perform the following steps

• Log in to the VCSA vis ssh(putty)
• Run the following command to see the largest directories

cd /storage/log
du -a |sort -n -r |head -n 20

• To clear the space on VCSA , refer to How to clear space on VCSA /storage/log partition

Note: Post clearing the logs, if VAMI returns "Exception occurred in install precheck phase", refer to "Exception occurred in install precheck phase" while patching

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
This issue is seen if '/storage/log' partition is full