"NT_STATUS_NOT_FOUND" error for file based backups of vCenter Server using the SMB protocol following update to 8.0U2

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• File based backups of vCenter Server via VAMI are configured to use SMB protocol.
• Both manual and scheduled backups which were previously working ok fail following update to 8.0U2.
• The Backup location in the backup settings uses the shortname instead of the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
• The /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/applmgmt.log shows entries similar to the following at the time of the failed backup:

[13051]INFO:plugins.SMBClientStorageIOLib:Running Command: ['/usr/bin/smbclient', '//vcsa-backup/vCenterBackups/', '-A', '/dev/shm/smbCredentialFile1a2b0cde', '-t', '140', '-c', 'cd >VSIvCenterConfiguration/; ls'
[13051]ERROR:plugins.SMBClientStorageIOLib:smb cmd failed. RC: 1, Err: do_connect: Connection to vcsa-backup failed (Error NT_STATUS_NOT_FOUND)

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 8.0.2 Appliance. 
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0.3 Appliance.

Cause

In vCenter Server environments using static IP configuration, the DNS search domain entries may be missing from the network configuration, preventing hostname resolution for short hostnames.

Resolution

Change the Backup location parameter in the backup settings to use the FQDN of the backup server rather than the shortname.
See the Configure and Schedule Backups section of the vCenter Server Configuration documentation for setting this parameter. 

Or, 

 

Choose one of the following solutions:

1. Use FQDN Instead of Short Hostname:
   1. Log into the VAMI interface
   2. Navigate to Backup
   3. When configuring the backup location, use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the backup server instead of the short hostname
      
      
2. Add DNS Search Domain to Network Configuration:
   1. Log into the vCenter Server shell
   2. Edit the network configuration file for your primary interface (typically /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.network)
   3. Add the following line under the [Network] section:
      
            Domains=your.domain.name
      
      
   4. Restart the network service or reboot the vCenter Server
      
      
3.    Add Hostname Entry to Hosts File:
   1. Log into the vCenter Server shell
   2. Edit the /etc/hosts file
   3. Add an entry in the following format:
      
            <IP_ADDRESS> <FQDN> <SHORT_HOSTNAME>
      
      
   4. Save the file

Additional Information

Similar issue reported with vCenter Server 7.0U3h vCenter Server backups configured via SMB using Domain-based DFS fails with error "Failed to create backup directory on backup server"