Update Manager fails to update some hosts with an Unknown Error

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Update Manager fails to update some hosts and displays the message:
  
  Unknown Error
   
• The vmware-vum-server-log4cpp.log file (located at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\Update Manager or C:\Users\All Users\VMware\VMware Update Manager\Logs on the Update Manager server) contains errors similar to:
  
  'HostUpdateDepotManager' 7692 ERROR] Unknown Host Error:
  'SingleHostStageTask.SingleHostStageTask{155}' 7692 ERROR] [singleHostStageTask, 266] SingleHostStage: Unknown Host Error:

Environment

VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs if a host cannot find the Patch Depot for updates.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, update the PatchDepotUrl/> line in the vci-integrity.xml file:

1. Make a backup of the file C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager\vci-integrity.xml.
2. Open vci-integrity.xml for editing.
3. Locate the <PatchDepotUrl> entry.
4. Modify this entry to:
   
   <PatchDepotUrl>http://VC_IP:80/vci/hostupdates/hostupdatePatchDepotUrl>
   
   Where VC_IP is the IP address of your vCenter Server.
    
5. Save and close the file.
6. Restart the Update Manager services. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting the vSphere Update Manager service.