Convergence failed during the "Uninstall vmafd client" stage.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• To determine the cause of the convergence failure during the uninstallation of the vmafd client.
• vCenter convergence is unsuccessful.
• vCenter server becomes unreachable.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x

Cause

• The issue arises when the memory configuration is manually altered through editing /etc/vmware/service-layout.mfx
  Ideally, when changing RAM sizes, the OS line should be adjusted as follows:

sum(tinyMB) + sum(CompressClassSize MB) = 10000
sum(largeMB) + sum(CompressClassSize MB) = 32000

• The memory must stay within the above mentioned permitted limit.

/var/log/vmware/converge/converge_status.json file contains:

"description": "Converge vCenter with external PSC to embedded PSC",
    "end_time": "2021-04-01 12:35:39",
    "id": "",
    "message": "Uninstalling vmware authentication framework failed.",
    "msg_id": "21",
    "progress": 100,
    "start_time": "2021-04-01 12:35:38",
    "status": "FAILED",
    "subtask": [
        {
            "key": "precheck",
            "value": {
                "description": "Precheck validations for converge",
                "status": "SUCCEEDED"
            }
        },
        {
            "key": "requirements",
            "value": {
                "description": "Gather requirements",
                "status": "SUCCEEDED"
            }
        },
        {
            "key": "leavefed",
            "value": {
                "description": "Leave federation domain",
                "status": "SUCCEEDED"
            }
        },
        {
            "key": "uninstallvmafd",
            "value": {
                "description": "Uninstall vmafd client",
                "status": "FAILED"
            }
        },
        {
            "key": "stopservices",
            "value": {
                "description": "Stop all services",
                "status": "PENDING"
            }
        },
        {
            "key": "initialize",
            "value": {
                "description": "Initialize converge",
                "status": "PENDING"

/var/log/firstboot/firstbootinfrastructure.log file contains entries similar to:

2020-04-16T19:30:23.896Z WARNING firstbootInfrastructure stopping status aggregation...
2021-04-01T12:35:38.809Z INFO firstbootInfrastructure PID:50863
2021-04-01T12:35:39.119Z ERROR firstbootInfrastructure
2021-04-01T12:35:39.119Z ERROR firstbootInfrastructure Memory allocated should be 10000, 32000 max for tiny & large.but the memory is allocated as 10096, 32096

 

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Resolution

To address this issue, please follow the below steps:

1. Take a backup of the /etc/vmware/service-layout.mfx file.
2. Open the file /etc/vmware/service-layout.mfx file.
3. Check the total memory in the tinyMB section and the CompressClassSize section. Together, they should equal 10,000MB.
4. Similarly, check the total memory under the largeMB section and the CompressClassSize section. Together, they should not exceed 32,000MB.
5. If the configured memory exceeds 10,000MB and 32,000MB, compare the service-layout.mfx file from your lab setup to determine which component has been allocated excess memory. For example, in one instance, vapi-firstboot was set to 192MB instead of the default 96MB to enhance vCenter server performance.
6. Once you have identified the component with more memory than the default, open the service-layout.mfx file in the vi editor and revert it to the default value.
7. Attempt the convergence once more.