Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager upgrade fails because /tmp directory fills up when downloading

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

• How to temporarily increase the size of the /tmp directory.
• After rebooting the system, /tmp directory will go back to its default size.
• Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager Upgrade Error: Fails to download due to full /tmp directory (Error Code: LCMPATCHUPDATE16002) with messages "Failed to apply patch; check logs" and "Error creating local patch file".
• VRLCM upgrade not proceeding, stuck on "Move saltrpms Files"
• Installation may become stuck in progress In the UI for some time without failing
• Logs at /var/log/vrlcm/patchcli.log do not proceed past "Move APUAT Files", "Move saltrpms Files" or "Move FIPS module Files"

Environment

VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.x

Cause

The /tmp directory fills up because while downloading the upgrade files, the size of the upgrade files exceeds the space available in /tmp directory.

Resolution

1. If installation is stuck, revert to snapshot from before the upgrade was started
2. SSH to the Aria Suite Lifecycle appliance as root.
3. Using df -h /tmp command, determine if /tmp folder is 100% full.

4. Remount the /tmp directory with an increased partition size. For this example, we will give the /tmp directory 20 GB of space to work with.
    This size limit should be more than enough. However, it can be changed based on the environment requirement. : mount -o remount,size=20G /tmp/

5. With the /tmp directory dismounted and remounted with the increased partition size, the /tmp directory should no longer be filled up.

    Execute df -h /tmp to confirm.

Note: Once the upgrade is completed and the Aria Suite Lifecycle appliance is restarted, SSH to the Aria Suite Lifecycle again and check the amount of disk space available in /tmp: df -h /tmp. The /tmp file system will be back to its default size.

 To make the change persistent by editing /etc/fstab: Open the /etc/fstab file in a text editor (like vi or nano):

    vi /etc/fstab

Add or modify the line for /tmp to include the desired size. It should look something like this:

  tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,size=20G 0 0

If a line for /tmp already exists, modify the options to include size=20G. If it doesn't exist, add the line above. 

Save and close the file.

Now, the /tmp directory will be mounted with 20GB of space every time the system reboots.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks: The download process of upgrade packages stops and the upgrade fails.