vCenter installation/vami restore is failing with a message: "The installer is unable to connect to the vCenter Server Management interface."
Article ID: 371223
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
When installing a new vCenter or restoring vCenter from VAMI backup, stage one gets to 99% then either completes or fails.
Before stage 2 can start, there is an error message observed:
The installer is unable to connect to the vCenter Server Management interface.
Unable to proceed with stage 2 of the deployment process.
You may attempt to continue with stage 2 by logging into the vCenter Server at https://vCenterFQDN:5480
The following entries are seen in the installer.log at the following location on the Jump Box:C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\vcsaUiInstaller
<time> - error: Could not get response for get request from url https://<vcname>:5480/: Error: connect ETIMEDOUT <vcname>:5480
<time> - error: VAMI is NOT accessilbe[15]: https://<vcname>/, err: Could not get a response for get request from url https://<vcname>:5480/: Error: connect ETIMEDOUT <vcname>:5480
Running a curl command fails from a jumpbox that is not on the same subnet as the deployed vCenter VM:
curl -kv https://vCenterFQDN:5480
Trying xx.xx.xx.xx:5480...
Connected to vCenterFQDN (xx.xx.xx.xx) port 5480
schannel: disabled automatic use of client certificate
ALPN: curl offers http/1.1
Recv failure: Connection was reset
schannel: failed to receive handshake, SSL/TLS connection failed
Closing connection
schannel: shutting down SSL/TLS connection with vCenterFQDN port 5480
Send failure: Connection was reset
schannel: failed to send close msg: Failed sending data to the peer (bytes written: -1)
curl: (35) Recv failure: Connection was reset
Example:
Running a curl command from a jumpbox on the same subnet as the vCenter instance is successful:
curl -kvvv https://vCenterFQDN:5480
Trying vCenterIP:5480
Connected to https://vCenterFQDN (xx.xx.xx.xx) port 5480 (#0)
ALPN: offers http/1.1
TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS Handshake, Client hello (1):
TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS Handshake, Server hello (2):
TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS Handshake, Certificate (11):
TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS Handshake, Server key exchange (12):
TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS Handshake,Server finished (14):
TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS Handshake, Client key exchange (16):
TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS Handshake, Finished (20):
TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS Handshake, Finished (20):
SSL connection usingTLSv1.2 / ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
ALPN: server did not agree on a protocol. Uses default.
Server Certificate:
...
SSL certificate result: self-signed certificate (18), continuing anyway.
using HTTP/1.x
> Get / HTTP1.1
> Host: vCenterFQDN:5480
> User-Agent: Curl/8.1.2
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< X-UA-compatible: IE=edge
< X-Frame-Options: Deny
< Content Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
< Accept-Ranges: bytes
< ETag: "888593732"
< Last-Modified:<date>
< Content-Length: 1116
< Date:<date>
< Server: vami
<
<!doctype html> ...
This indicates an issue on the network since the jumpbox on the same subnet is able to connect, but the jumpbox on a different subnet cannot connect on port 5480.
Environment
vCenter Server 7x
vCenter Server 8x
Cause
- The Jump Box is unable to communicate with the newly deployed appliance on port 5480. Port 5480 is the default port for VCSA.
- You may want to confirm that the port group you're selecting for the VM is actually reachable from the PC you're running the installer on.
- One of the most common reasons is that the Jump Box is a machine connected to a VPN.
- Check for any firewall rules that may be blocking communication
Resolution
This is an environmental network issue.
Please check with the networking and firewall team to look for anything that would be blocking communication on port 5480 between the deployment jumbox and the VM.
This would include any application default settings on the firewall on the jumpbox VM, please ensure that an exception is added for port 5480.
Workaround:
Run the vCenter installer ISO from a jumpbox on the same ESXi host as the location for the deployment vCenter VM.
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