Troubleshooting issues when VMware vCenter Update Manager is unable to scan an ESX/ESXi host

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article guides you through the process of troubleshooting issues when VMware vCenter Update Manager is unable to scan an ESX/ESXi host. The article aims to help you eliminate the common causes for your problem by verifying certain configurations.

Symptoms:

• You are unable to scan an ESX/ESXi host using VMware vCenter Update Manager.
• You receive one or more of these errors when scanning a host:
  
  
  • Cannot find the patch metadata. You may try redownloading patches, or ensuring the network connectivity and DNS between VMware vCenter Update Manager and host are setup correctly. Check host agent, vpxa and esxupdate logs for details
  • Update Manager had a failure
  • ESX cannot resolve the DNS name of VMware vCenter Update Manager

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere Update Manager 5.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere Update Manager 5.5.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 1.0.x
VMware vCenter Update Manager 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

Resolution

Validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. Each step will provide instructions or a link to a document, in order to eliminate possible causes and take corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Do not skip a step.

1. Verify that VMware vCenter Update Manager has successfully download patches for your ESX/ESXi host. A repository that contains no patch information can cause the above errors. See Troubleshooting when Update Manager is unable to download patches (1031781) for more information regarding this issue.
   
   
2. Verify that network connectivity exists between the Update Manager server and the ESX/ESXi host you are trying to scan. See Cannot connect to the remote server when downloading the Update Manager or Converter plugins (1004887).
   
   
3. Ensure that name resolution is working correctly between all ESX/ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and vCenter Update Manager server. In order to troubleshoot this issue see Identifying issues with and setting up name resolution on ESX/ESXi Server (1003735).
   
   
4. Verify that your ESX/ESXi host has the required disk space to perform operations on the host. See Investigating disk space on an ESX or ESXi host (1003564) in order to diagnose this issue.

Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, see:

• Gather the VMware Support Script Data. For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for VMware products (1008524) .
• File a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Additional Information

Investigating disk space on an ESX or ESXi host
Identifying issues with and setting up name resolution on ESX/ESXi Server
排除在 VMware vCenter Update Manager 无法扫描 ESX/ESXi 主机时发生的问题