Service Discovery Authentication fails after changing guest credentials in VMware Aria Operations 8.x

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Service Discovery Authentication fails for a VM that was once working, after the guest credentials changed.
• For credential-less Service Discovery, the authentication status of a VM is displayed as "Guest Alias" in VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations)

Environment

VMware vRealize Operations 8.x

Cause

This issue is caused when the previously used credentials were the root user or a full Administrator user and have since been changed to another user in VMware Aria Operations (formerly known as vRealize Operations).

For credential-less Service Discovery, the authentication status of a VM is displayed as "Guest Alias". This can occur if VMware Tools services are stopped or if data collection is not functioning as expected in VMware Aria Operations (formerly known as vRealize Operations).

Resolution

To resolve this issue, clear the instance ID folder from the guest VM.

1. Log into the guest VM as an administrative user.
2. Delete the following folder:

Linux:
/tmp/VMware-SDMP-Scripts-instanceID-instanceUUID

Windows:
C:\Temp\VMware-SDMP-Scripts"-instanceID-instanceUUID

The agent should authenticate correctly on the next collection cycle and resume collections.

For credential-less Service Discovery.

To resolve the issue, follow these steps:

1. Log into the guest VM as an administrative user.
2. Delete the corresponding instance ID folder:
• For Linux: /tmp/VMware-SDMP-Scripts-instanceID-instanceUUID
• For Windows: C:\Temp\VMware-SDMP-Scripts-instanceID-instanceUUID
3. Install VMware Tools on the VM by running the following command on Linux:
           tdnf -y install open-vm-tools
4. Restart the VMware Tools service:
• On Linux: Restart the VMware Tools service using the command:
  systemctl restart vmtoolsd.service
• On Windows (for versions 7, 8, 8.1, 10, or 11), open the Run dialog, enter services.msc, and restart the VMware Tools service.
5. Stop the vCenter adapter collection in Data Sources >Integration > vCenter adapter > Stop collecting in VMware Aria Operations.
6. Start the vCenter adapter collection in Data Sources >Integration > vCenter adapter > Start collecting in VMware Aria Operations.
7. Activate the service discovery for the VM in SDMP Manage Services > Application > VMware Aria Operations.
8. Verify the authentication status for the VM in SDMP Manage Services > Application > VMware Aria Operations.

After completing these steps, the agent should authenticate correctly during the next collection cycle, and the authentication status will update to "Credentials Less."

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
This issue impacts all credential-based authentication methods (for both guest alias and common credentials)