'Failed to configure vAPI Endpoint Service at the firstboot time' error while upgrading VCSA 6.7 with no DNS record fails

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
To learn more about firstboot issues see: Understanding and Troubleshooting vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Firstboot Install/Deployment, Upgrade, or Migration Failures​.
To collect a log bundle or review log files for a vCenter Server Appliance install, upgrade, or migration issues reference Triaging a vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 installation, upgrade, or migration (6.0 U2m) failure.  The relevant logs will be on the newly deployed appliance.  

firstbootStatus.json contains the following:

 
"failedSteps": "vapi_firstboot"

vapi_firstboot.py_####_stderr.log contains the following:

 

"Failed to configure vAPI Endpoint Service at the firstboot time"

cloudvm.log contains the following: 

Stdout: DNS reverse lookup on [IP_Address] has failed.
Unable to obtain hostname from DNS reverse lookup.
Please examine DNS/network configuration.

Note: 

• vCenter Server Appliance - Firstboot logs are located in the /var/log/firstboot directory.

endpoint.log contains the following:

Cannot initialize STS SSL trust certificate settings​

Note:

• vCenter Server Appliance - Each service will have it's own folder in the /var/log/vmware/ directory.  The endpoint logs are located in the /var/log/vmware/vapi/endpoint folder.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x

Cause

This issue occurs when deploying a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an IP address that has no DNS record configured.  IP based deployments without DNS are not supported.

Resolution

Before deploying a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with a static IP address, verify that the IP address has a valid (internal) domain name system (DNS) registration.  

For more information about DNS requirements see: DNS Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance.