VCSA backup via VAMI fails during vmdird database backup with error "Server in state (8) in which it cannot perform backup"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) backup via vCenter Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) fails during lotus database backup
• VMware Directory Service (vmdird) status check using vdcadmintool or dir-cli returns as Standalone (8)

/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/dir-cli state get
Enter password for [email protected]:

Directory Server State: Standalone (8)

• /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/backup.log:

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.584 [20231228-060509-20990077] [LotusBackup:PID-47680] [Lotus::BackupLotus:Lotus.py:46] INFO: Starting backup Lotus.
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.585 [20231228-060509-20990077] [LotusBackup:PID-47680] [Lotus::BackupLotus:Lotus.py:70] INFO: BackupLotus: Running /usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/bin/vdcbackup /storage/db/vmware-vmdir/ /tmp/backup
_lotus
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.754 [20231228-060509-20990077] [LotusBackup:PID-47680] [Lotus::BackupLotus:Lotus.py:74] INFO: stdout: VdcBackupDB: Server in state (8) in which it cannot perform backup. error(9125)
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.755 [20231228-060509-20990077] [LotusBackup:PID-47680] [Lotus::BackupLotus:Lotus.py:81] ERROR: BackupLotus: command "/usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/bin/vdcbackup /storage/db/vmware-vmdir/ /tmp/back
up_lotus" failed. rc: 165.
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.755 [20231228-060509-20990077] [LotusBackup:PID-47680] [Lotus::BackupLotusCleanup:Lotus.py:140] INFO: Successfully completed Lotus cleanup.
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.926 [20231228-060509-20990077] [MainProcess:PID-43852] [vpxdevent_lib::dispatch_events:vpxdevent_lib.py:275] INFO: Event com.vmware.applmgmt.backup.job.failed.event successfully posted to
http://localhost:8085/sdk
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.932 [20231228-060509-20990077] [MainProcess:PID-43852] [BackupManager::main:BackupManager.py:615] INFO: Backup job failed.

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

Cause

This issue is caused due to vmdird being set to standalone mode

Resolution

In order to identify and resolve the issue, perform the below steps

• Log in to the VCSA via ssh
• Validate the entry in the likewise registry

/opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell list_values '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\vmdir]' | grep "Arguments"

+  "Arguments"         REG_SZ          "/usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/sbin/vmdird -s -l 0 -f /usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/share/config/vmdirschema.ldif -m standalone"

• Modify the likewise registry to update the value

/opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell set_value '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\vmdir]' "Arguments" "/usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/sbin/vmdird -s -l 0 -f /usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/share/config/vmdirschema.ldif"

• Reboot the VCSA for the change to take effect