"Source host is not reachable on address " error after upgrading to vCenter Server Appliance 6.5

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Upgrading from vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 or 6.0 to 6.5 fails at Stage 2 with the error:

Error: Source host is not reachable on address <hostname>
Resolution: Verify that the source host address is correctly typed

• In the /var/log/vmware/upgrade/upgrade-requirements.log of the newly deployed 6.5 Appliance, you see entries similar to:

YYYY-MM-DDT<time> INFO upgrade_commands Verifying source VC address <sourceVCSA> is reachable on port '22'.</time>

YYYY-MM-DDT<time></time> INFO upgrade_commands Creating GuestOps.

YYYY-MM-DDT<time></time> ERROR upgrade_commands Unreachable source host at address <hostname>

YYYY-MM-DDT<time></time> ERROR root Could not create command factory.

YYYY-MM-DDT<time></time> ERROR __main__ ERROR: Fatal error during upgrade REQUIREMENTS. For more details take a look at: /var/log/vmware/upgrade/requirements-upgrade-runner.log

YYYY-MM-DDT<time></time> INFO root Exiting with exit-code 1

• The requirements-upgrade-runner.log file specified does not exist.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 is unable to connect to the source host over port 443. By default, this connection is open.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, resolve any physical networking constraints on port 443 between the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 and the host on which it is being deployed. For more information, see VMware vSphere 6.5 Documentation Center.