VIC fails to install VCH and reports the error " vic-machine-linux failed: Create timed out"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Installing Virtual Container Host (VCH) on vSphere Integrated Containers (VIC) fails.
  
• Command line Installer fails with the following warning and error in the screen output:
  
  WARN[yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ] Could not run VCH vSphere API target check due to ServerFaultCode: A general system error occurred: vix error codes = (3016, 0).
  
  ERROR[yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ] vic-machine-linux failed: Create timed out: if slow connection, increase timeout with --timeout
  
  
• In the vCenter vpxd.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.###Z info vpxd[7FF7F9D84700] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=21792cda] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-internal-19411663 -- guestOperationsProcessManager -- vim.vm.guest.ProcessManager.startProgram: vmodl.fault.SystemError:
  
  --> Result:

--> (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {

--> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

--> reason = "vix error codes = (3016, 0).

--> ",

--> msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<cs p:00007ff7e40f6900, TCP:<ESXi-FQDN-Or-IP>:443>]: startProgram

--> Received SOAP response fault from [<cs p:1f35f9d0, TCP:localhost:8307>]: startProgram

--> A general system error occurred: vix error codes = (3016, 0).

--> "

--> }

--> Args:

-->

--> Arg vm:

--> 'vim.VirtualMachine:vm-3'

--> Arg auth:

--> (vim.vm.guest.NamePasswordAuthentication) {

--> interactiveSession = false,

--> username = "",

--> password = (not shown)

--> }

--> Arg spec:

--> (vim.vm.guest.ProcessManager.ProgramSpec) {

--> programPath = "test-vc-api",

--> arguments = https://%3cvcenter-fqdn-or-ip%3e/ ,

--> workingDirectory = "/",

--> }

Environment

VMware vSphere Integrated Containers 1.0.x

Cause

This error occurs when the VCH virtual machine is able to connect to the ESXi host but cannot connect to the vCenter Server.

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

1. Verify the following:
   
   
   • DNS IP in the install parameters
   • DNS entries for the vCenter Server
   • IP/FQDN for the vCenter Server in --target
   • VCH can ping the vCenter
     
2. Enable shell access to the VCH Endpoint VM. For more information, see Enable shell access to the VCH Endpoint VM.
   
3. If the VCH needs to route to connect to the vCenter, ensure the static routes are added to the --management-network-gateway option.
   
   Example:
   
   If the VCH IP on 192.168.1.20/24 and gateway 192.168.1.1 and the vCenter is on 192.168.33.40/24, the management network should similar to:
   
   --management-network-gateway '192.168.1.0/24,192.168.33.0/24:192.168.1.1/24'
   
   OR
   
   --management-network-gateway <required-route/#>,<optional-additional-routes/#>:<gateway-ip/#>

Additional Information

Networks Used by vSphere Integrated Containers Engine