Error: "A problem occurred while getting data from the source vCenter Server" while upgrading vCenter Server 6.x

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrading a PSC or vCenter Server to 6.5 or 6.7 fails with the error:

A problem occurred while getting data from the source vCenter Server.

• In the installer.log file, you see entries that indicate the wrong source VM is being contacted:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] - info: VM with hostName VC-HOSTNAME: { _type: 'VirtualMachine',
  _moid: 'vm-id',
  config: { template: false },
  guest:
   { hostName: 'INCORRECT-VC-HOSTNAME',
     ipAddress: 'INCORRECT-IP',
     net: [ [Object] ] },
  name: 'INCORRECT-VM-NAME',
  summary:
   { storage:
      { committed: 70567936125,
        uncommitted: 853394534401,
        unshared: 70538035688,
        timestamp: [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] } } }
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] - info: VM Identifier for Source VC: vm-id

Cause

This issue occurs when there is a virtual machine on the same host as the source vCenter Server, and that's hostname is a substring of the source vCenter's hostname.

For example, if the source vCenter hostname is vcenter01, and another VM with the hostname of vcenter resided on the same host, this problem would manifest.

Resolution

Resolved in vCenter Server 6.7.0c, available at Broadcom Support.

Workaround:
Migrate any virtual machines with similar hostnames to other ESXi hosts and re-attempt the upgrade.

Note: Set DRS for the cluster to Partially Automated or Manual to ensure they are not migrated back until the upgrade completes.