Converting a Linux machine fails with the error: Unable to SSH to the source machine. Please check if a firewall is blocking access to the SSH daemon on the source machine

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
When you attempt to convert a Linux machine using VMware Converter, you experience these symptoms:

• You are connecting to the source machine with the user root.
• All required ports for the conversion are open. For more information, see Required VMware vCenter Converter 4.x/5.x ports (1010056).
• The conversion fails with the error:
  
  Unable to SSH to the source machine. Please check if a firewall is blocking access to the SSH daemon on the source machine.
  
  
• The converter-worker.log file contains the errors:
  
  Note: For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Converter (1010633).
  
  ...
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] Took too long to read from ssh client.
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] [Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] while trying to execute "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\pscp.exe -noprompt -stdin -nokeycheck -P 22 C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\vmware-sysinfo-lin64.tar.gz root@IP_Address:/tmp/.vmware-sysinfo-mswjhbivliseacmo/vmware-sysinfo-lin64.tar.gz" received error code (247) with result:
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] [Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] Query(): Caught exception, cleaning up before bailing out ([Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] ssh connection timed out)
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PIDerror 'App'] [Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] while trying to execute "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone\plink.exe -noprompt -stdin -nokeycheck -P 22 root@IP_Address cat /tmp/.vmware-sysinfo-mswjhbivliseacmo/vmware-sysinfo.log" received error code (1) with result:
  cat: /tmp/.vmware-sysinfo-mswjhbivliseacmo/vmware-sysinfo.log: No such file or directory
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] [Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] received an error code (1) from the ssh client that will be handled later
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] Converter Agent SysinfoQuery failed to grab log file; return code: 1; result:
  ...
  Missing updates: 0
  cat: /tmp/.vmware-sysinfo-mswjhbivliseacmo/vmware-sysinfo.log: No such file or directory
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID error 'App'] Sysinfo Query failed with error [Converter Agent SysinfoQuery] ssh connection timed out
  [<YYYY-MM-DD>T<time> PID info 'App'] Scheduled timer canceled, StopKeepAlive succeeds
  ...</time></time></time></time></time></time></time></time>

Cause

This issue occurs when a notice entry is present in the /root/.bashrc file and prevents Converter from copying the require files to the source machine using SSH.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, comment out the notice section in the /root/.bashrc file.

To comment out the notice section of the /root/.bashrc file:

1. Log in to the source machine as root.
2. Run this command to view the contents of the /root/.bashrc file:
   
   cat /root/.bashrc
   
   
3. Verify that this line exists:
   
   if [[ -e ~/.notice ]]; then cat ~/.notice; fi
   
   
4. Run this command to save a copy of the original .bashrc file:
   
   cp /root/.bashrc /root/.bashrc.orig
   
   
5. Using a text editor add a hash (#) before if [[ -e ~/.notice ]]; then cat ~/.notice; fi in the /root/.bashrc file to comment out the notice section.
   
   Note: The example below is a sample of a /root/.bashrc file. Depending on your environment, the /root/.bashrc file may not reflect this example and may contain additional entries. Only modify the line referenced in this step.
   
   Original
   
   # .bashrc
   # User specific aliases and functions
   alias rm='rm -i'
   alias cp='cp -i'
   alias mv='mv -i'
   # Source global definitions
   if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
   . /etc/bashrc
   fi
   if [[ -e ~/.notice ]]; then cat ~/.notice; fi
   
   Modified
   
   # .bashrc
   # User specific aliases and functions
   alias rm='rm -i'
   alias cp='cp -i'
   alias mv='mv -i'
   # Source global definitions
   if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
   . /etc/bashrc
   fi
   
   # if [[ -e ~/.notice ]]; then cat ~/.notice; fi
   
   
6. Save the changes to the file.
7. Restart the conversion.

Additional Information

Required VMware vCenter Converter ports
Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Converter
转换 Linux 计算机失败并显示错误：无法使用 SSH 连接到源计算机。请检查防火墙是否阻止访问源计算机上的 SSH 守护进程 (Please check if a firewall is blocking access to the SSH daemon on the source machine)