Precheck Failed: vSphere HA agent cannot be installed or configured

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
Upgrade precheck fails with error:
"vSphere HA agent for host <hostname> has an error in <cluster_name> in <workloadomain_name>. vSphere HA agent cannot be installed or configured."

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 3.x

Cause

This issue can occur when network traffic throughput between ESXi and vCenter Server is insufficient and the vCenter Server cannot push the FDM agent to the ESX host over the network in a timely manner.

Resolution

Run through the steps below to correct this:

1. 1. • Connect to the ESXi with SSH
        1. Confirm that fdm isn't installed already :
           • esxcli software vib list |grep fdm
      • Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance using SSH.
      • Verify that you can ping the ESX host: 
        • vmkping -I vmkx destination-ip
      • Verify that SSH is enabled on the ESXi host and that port 22 is not blocked: 
        • nc -z <destination-ip> 22
      • For more information on testing network connectivity see here
      • Using WinSCP, SCP or a similar protocol, copy the fdm vib file located at /etc/vmware-vpx/docRoot/vSphere-HA-depot/vib20/vmware-fdm/ to the ESXi /tmp folder,
        • For Example: scp VMware_bootbank_vmware-fdm_6.0.0-3634794.vib root@ESXi_FQDN:/tmp
      • If the file fails to copy or takes a long time to copy to the host, insufficient network traffic throughput between ESXi and vCenter Server is preventing the agent from installing.
      • Install the VIB on ESXi :
        • esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/VMware_bootbank_vmware-fdm_x.x.0-xxxxxx.vib
      • Confirm that agent is installed by running : 
        • esxcli software vib list |grep fdm

Workaround:
Reconfigure HA if the workaround does not work, then follow the steps above.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
1. Host cannot not participate in the HA cluster.
2. Cannot proceed with the cluster upgrade.