"Internal Server Error" error when editing Virtual Machines in Cloud Director

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Editing a VM in Cloud Director fails with the below error:

Internal Server Error

• Within /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/logs/vcloud-container-debug.log on the Cloud Director Cells the following entries are seen:

java.lang.NullPointerException
        at com.vmware.vcloud.fabric.storage.storedVm.impl.ReconfigureStoredVmActivity$ReconfigureRequestGenerator.updateBootOptions(ReconfigureStoredVmActivity.java:415)
        at com.vmware.vcloud.fabric.storage.storedVm.impl.ReconfigureStoredVmActivity$ReconfigureRequestGenerator.<init>(ReconfigureStoredVmActivity.java:203)

Environment

VMware Cloud Director for Service Provider 10.x
VMware Cloud Director 10.x

Cause

The NullPointerException is triggered when the networkBootProtocol for the VM is unset in vCenter.
The vCenter Managed Object Browser (MOB) can be used to confirm if the networkBootProtocol shows as unset for a given VM identified by its moref in vCenter:

https://<VC_FQDN>/mob/?moid=<VM_MOREF>&doPath=config.bootOptions

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware Cloud Director.
The issue is resolved in VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1 and later.

Workaround:

If Cloud Director cannot be upgraded then to workaround the issue you will need to edit the Boot Delay of the VM:

1. Confirm the VM moref in vCenter for the Cloud Director managed VM encountering the issue. For example, if the VM moref is vm-1234 we would use that as the <VM_MOREF> in all subsequent steps.
2. Confirm that the networkBootProtocol shows as unset for a given VM identified by its moref in vCenter. Use standard vSphere UI credentials such as [email protected] when accessing the MOB in a browser:

   https://<VC_FQDN>/mob/?moid=<VM_MOREF>&doPath=config.bootOptions

3. From the Cloud Director Tenant portal, navigate to the affected VM.
4. Click General, Edit and change the Boot Delay from 0 to 10 or any other desired value.
5. Save the change and the task should succeed in Cloud Director.
6. Confirm that the networkBootProtocol now shows as set for a given VM identified by its moref in the vCenter MOB:

   https://<VC_FQDN>/mob/?moid=<VM_MOREF>&doPath=config.bootOptions

7. The VM should now be manageable in the Cloud Director Tenant portal.