"Retrieving data from the server failed" error when performing actions involving storage profiles following upgrade of vCenter Server to 8.0U2

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• You may see errors such as the following when attempting to perform operations involving storage profiles:

"Retrieving data from the server failed"
"A general runtime error occurred"

• Selecting Policies and Profiles -> VM Storage Policies in the vSphere Client may show an empty list
• Checking the /var/log/vmware/vmware-sps/sps.log on the vCenter Server shows the following error:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.619+02:00 [pool-4-thread-19] ERROR opId= com.vmware.pbm.vapi.authorization.ProfilePermissionAPIValidatorImpl - [checkProfileValidity] Exception occurred during getEffectivePrivilege
java.lang.NullPointerException: null

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

• Checking the list of identity sources configured from the vSphere Client shows the default localos identity source has been removed. This can be checked from Administration > Single Sign On > Configuration > Identity Provider > Identity Sources it would be one with Type 'Local OS' and Domain 'localos'.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0.2

Cause

The vmware-sps service is receiving a null response when querying for the localos domain to evaluate the user permissions, this is due to the missing default Local OS identity source.

Resolution

VMware is aware of this issue and working to resolve this in a future release.

Workaround:
Recreate the localos identity source on the vCenter Server:

1. Click Administration > Single Sign On > Configuration > Identity Provider > Identity Sources > ADD
2. Then select Local operating system of SSO server in the Identity Source Type dropdown menu and enter the Name as localos and click ADD.