vCenter Server Installation hangs at 0% or 80% (Stage 1) due to ESXi Free Hypervisor or Expired License

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• When attempting to deploy a new vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA), the Phase 1 deployment (OVF deployment) hangs indefinitely at 0% or 80%. This occurs even when network connectivity, DNS resolution, and firewall ports are correctly configured.
• Symptoms:
  • vCenter 7.x: Installation gets stuck at 80% (rpm_install) during Stage 1.
  • vCenter 8.x/9.x: Installation gets stuck at 0% for an extended period during Stage 1.
  • The VCSA installer UI may eventually time out with a generic "Installation failed" message.
    
    
    
• Below logging is observed in the installer.logs on the machine running the vCenter ISO (usually in %TEMP% for Windows/ ~/Library/Logs/VMware/ for Linux):
  • vCenter Server 7.x network-######-######.log:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - debug: [720]pollRpmInstallProgress:getGuestFileErr:ServerFaultCode: Current license or ESXi version prohibits execution of the requested operation.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - error: pollRpmInstallProgress reached timeout before completed: loopCount=721, installProgress=null
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - info: Cancelling the ping timer for session mgmt

• •  vCenter Server 8.x/9.x installer-######-######.log:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - error: No VM found with hostname <vCenter Server IP address>
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - debug: Error in getVmWithIPFQDN: No VM found with hostname <vCenter Server IP address>
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - info: Network Prechecks Succeeded
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - info: Terminate the ovfDeploy process
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS - error: Error on terminating the ovfDeploy process: TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'kill')

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 7.x
• VMware vCenter Server 8.x
• VMware vCenter Server 9.x

Cause

• The target ESXi host is currently assigned a vSphere Hypervisor (Free Edition) license or the Evaluation Period has expired.
• The VMware Free Hypervisor license restricts "Write" access to the vSphere SDK/API. Because the vCenter Installer must use these APIs to create the Virtual Machine shell and upload the OVF/VMDK files, the operation is blocked by the hypervisor's licensing layer.

Resolution

• Step 1: Verify Host License
  1. Log into the ESXi Host Client (https://<host-ip>/ui).
  2. Navigate to Manage > Licensing.
  3. Check the License Features. If it lists "vSphere Hypervisor" or says "Expired," you cannot install vCenter on this host.
• Step 2: Apply a Valid License: Choose one of the following options
  1. Option 1: Assign a Paid License - Assign a valid vSphere Standard, Enterprise Plus, or VCF license to the host. These licenses unlock the necessary APIs for vCenter management and OVF deployment.
  2. Option 2: Change Target Host - Deploy the vCenter Server on to a different ESXi host that already has a valid, non-free license or is currently within its 60-day evaluation period.
• Step 3: Cleanup and Retry
  1. Close the vCenter Installer.
  2. Log into the ESXi host and delete any "orphaned" VM shells created during the failed attempt.
  3. Restart the vCenter Installation.

Additional Information

Manage License Settings for ESXi Host