[VCDR] Connector in Protected Site is Unable to Reach vCenter due to Login Credentials

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

To provide the troubleshooting process when vCenter login failure issues are reported by the on-premise VCDR connectors. This error can be seen in both the VCDR UI as well as in connector ssh sessions.

Symptoms:
The following error can be seen in the VCDR UI:
"Connector <connector name> in protected site <site name> is unabe to reach vCenter <IP address>. Cannot complete login due to an incorrect username or password on port 443."


The following message is seen when running the cli command 'drc network test --scope all'  on the VCDR connector. Typically you would expect to see the local, on-premise, ESXi hosts listed in this output as well.



The expected output of the cli command 'drc network test --scope local' on the VCDR connector should also include both the vCenter information and on-premise ESXi host information. When running the 'drc network test --scope local' cli command only the on-premise vCenter information was shown along with the login error message.

Cause

The vCenter had been reprovisioned with the same IP address, but the on-premise vCenter NTP settings no longer matched the NTP settings of the on-premise ESXi host that contained the on-premise VCDR connectors. The reprovision of the vCenter also means that there was a change in the UUDI (unique identifier) tied to the on-premise vCenter. This change in the UUID is not automatically recognized by VCDR.

Resolution

Check the on-premise vCenter NTP settings and on-premise EXSi host NTP settings to verify that the settings match. There are several ways to view and configure this information. Helpful articles are posted below:

• Configuring Network Time Protocol (NTP) on an ESXi host using the vSphere Client (57147)
  • https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/57147?lang=en_US&queryTerm=check%20NTP%20settings
• Configure the System Time Zone and Time Synchronization Settings with the vCenter Server Management Interface, https://appliance-IP-address-or-FQDN:5480
  • https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vcenter.configuration.doc/GUID-A43F56F8-A89F-4AEC-AB4A-70410004242E.html

After verifying or correcting the NTP settings, the next step is to re-register the vCenter. There are two ways to re-register the vCenter:

• The reregister button in the VCDR UI.

            

• Use the cli command 'drc register-vcenter --reregister --vcenter <x.x.x.x.> --username <vsphere-user> --password <vsphere-password>' in the connector ssh session.
  1. Replace the <x.x.x.x> with the appropriate vCenter IP address.
  2. Replace the <vpshere-user> with the appropriate username. Example: [email protected].
  3. Replace <vsphere-password> with the correct password.

Additional Information

Verify VCDR Connectors Login Credentials in VCDR UI:


Helpful Articles and Documentation:

• Reregister vCenter
  • https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Disaster-Recovery/services/vmware-cloud-disaster-recovery/GUID-F302158A-347B-4147-B6E1-F641346DD306.html
• DRaaS Connector Connectivity Check CLI
  • https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Disaster-Recovery/services/vmware-cloud-disaster-recovery/GUID-A33DD6C9-EE05-48FB-9600-D15687D001FA.html
• [VCDR] System and Network Requirements
  • https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Disaster-Recovery/services/vmware-cloud-disaster-recovery/GUID-CE092BCA-0150-447F-94ED-129095665361.html
• [VCDR] Connectors unreachable (90709)
  • https://ikb.vmware.com/s/article/90709