Download/Upload HCL data for VCF

Products

VCF - MCOE - SDDC

Issue/Introduction

When an HCL file goes "out of date", host compatibility checks may fail.
This file might become "out-of-date" in the following below situations:

1. Customers environment(SDDC-M and vCenter) does not have internet connectivity.
2. The customer is behind a firewall that blocks the public portal below:
  1. https://partnerweb.vmware.com/service/vsan/all.json
  2. vsanhealth.vmware.com
  3. vvs.esp.vmware.com

When the HCL file goes "out of date", the majority of the SDDC-M workflows fail (including the below ones):
1. Bring up SDDC-M
2. Host commission in SDDC-M
3. Create Domain/cluster in SDDC-M
If the customer is not connected to the network and needs to download files manually
- HCL precheck gives the following error on the SDDC Manager

vSAN HCL DB on SDDC Manager is out of date. This is a critical error if vSAN HCL DB has not been updated within the last 90.0 day(s) and a warning if vSAN HCL DB has not been updated within the last 60.0 day(s)

HCL precheck gives an error on vCenter

vSAN HCL DB on vCenter is out of date.

Alert: Do not perform an upgrade without addressing this issue.

HCL(Hardware compatibility list) is published by VMware at https://partnerweb.vmware.com/service/vsan/all.json.

This article will address the following:

Updating the Hardware compatibility in SDDC Manager
Updating the Hardware Compatibility in vCenter

This issue occurs due to an incorrect or old HCL database at the SDDC Manager or vCenter levels.

Resolution

Update the HCL database to the latest version

Q: How does one troubleshoot and fix the error state?

Updating the Hardware compatibility in SDDC Manager

It is very important to have the latest json on SDDC manager for all VCF Operations.

Please refer to HCL Offline Download for VMware Cloud Foundation for information to download and upload the latest HCL data.

Updating the Hardware Compatibility in vCenter

To troubleshoot this issue, verify that the vCenter server can access the VMware HCL release site at the following location:
http://partnerweb.vmware.com/service/vsan/all.json

Note: If testing potential firewall issues, make sure ports 80 & 443 are open to vmware.com.

If the vCenter server cannot access the HCL release site, you can set up a proxy:

vSAN 7.0 and later: vCenter > Configure > vSAN > Internet Connectivity

Update vSAN HCL database via the vSphere Client
1. Log in to vCenter server using vSphere Client with administrator credentials.
2. Navigate to the health sub-test: Cluster > Monitor > vSAN > Health/Skyline Health > Hardware Compatibility > vSAN HCL DB up-to-date
3. If the vCenter server can communicate with the internet, click "Get Latest Version Online".
4. If the vCenter server does not have a proxy and is unable to communicate with the internet, Click "Update From File" to upload a local copy of the vSAN HCL database file.
5. Click Retest.

Steps to download a local copy of the vSAN HCL database file

Log in to a workstation where you have internet access.
Open the below link in your HTML browser:

https://partnerweb.vmware.com/service/vsan/all.json (Right click, Save as)
Save the file as all.json. If you are unable to save the file, you must copy the entire content and create a new file with extension ".json".
Copy the file to another workstation that can access the vCenter. Log in to the vCenter server from there, and upload the file to the vCenter

Cluster > Monitor > vSAN > Health/Skyline Health > Hardware Compatibility > vSAN HCL DB up-to-date > Update from file
vCenter > Configure > vSAN > Update from file

If you receive the below error while trying to update the HCL database manually collect vCenter logs and open a ticket with VMware support for assistance.

Unable to update the release catalog. Check the vSphere Client logs for details.'

If your vCenter Server has Internet access, click the "Get Latest Version Online" button. (Do not support vCenter Server without DNS, will hit the error message "Unable to get the latest HCL database version online". Please try the method for vCenter Server doesn't have Internet access).
If your vCenter Server doesn’t have Internet access, then you can get the latest HCL DB from http://partnerweb.vmware.com/service/vsan/all.json, save this as a .json file locally then use the "Update From File" button to upload it to vCenter Server.