Connecting to vCenter Server Virtual Appliance using WinSCP fails with the error: Received too large (1433299822 B) SFTP packet. Max supported packet size is 1024000 B

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Connecting to vCenter Server using WinSCP fails with the error:
  Received too large (1433299822 B) SFTP packet. Max supported packet size is 1024000 B

• Attempting to upload a file to the vCenter Server using the SCP protocol via WinSCP, PSCP or other SCP clients fail with the error:
  Host is not communicating for more than 15 seconds. If the problem repeats, try turning off 'Optimize connection buffer size'.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

When using WinSCP part of the operation occurs on the target system. The default Appliance Shell cannot be the remote partner of WinSCP.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, enable the Bash shell on the appliance:

1. SSH to the vCenter Server Appliance.

2. Provide the root user user name and password when prompted.

3. If using vCenter Server 6.0, enable the BASH shell by running the command below. This is no longer needed with vCSA 6.5.x and later.
   $ shell.set --enable True

4. Access the Bash shell:
   $ shell

5. In the Bash shell, change the default shell to Bash:
    $ chsh -s /bin/bash root

Note: The following message indicates the root password has expired:
root@myvcsa [ ~ ]# chsh -s /bin/bash root
You are required to change your password immediately (root enforced)
chsh: PAM: Authentication token is no longer valid; new one required
    
Change the root password using passwd command:
$ passwd root

Verify the root account password has been changed and is no longer expired:
$ chage -l root

Minimum: 0
Maximum: 365
Warning: 7
Inactive: -1
Last Change: Feb 03, 2020
Password Expires: Feb 03, 2021
Password Inactive: Never
Account Expires: Never