File-based Backups via SFTP in vCenter 7.0 Update 2d failing with "General system error reported by backup server."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

1. The vCenter Appliance was updated to 7.0.2.00500.
2. The file-based backups were working prior updating to 7.0.2.00500.
3. An SFTP server is used as a backup target. (Certain SFTP servers affected)
4. Other backup protocols than SFTP are working as expected.
5. There are core.curl.* files (crashdumps) in /var/core/ on the vCenter Appliance.
6. A very generic error message can be seen when backup fails:

"General system error reported by backup server."

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.0.3
VMware vCenter Server 7.0.2

Cause

During the backup process the utility curl is used for transferring data to the specified SFTP server. Because of an issue the process crashes during the backup process, leading to the backup failure.

Resolution

The issue has been fixed in vCenter 7.0 Update 3d.

Workaround:
Please use a different backup protocol than SFTP for performing file-based backups.