How to change the hostname of a Aria Operations for Networks platform or a collector node

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

Changing the hostname incorrectly can lead to instability or unhealthy states in the HBase/HRegion server and Flink container services on the platform, potentially impacting other dependent services as well.

Environment

VMware vRealize Network Insight 6.9.0
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.10
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.11
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.12
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.12.1
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.13.0
VMware Aria Operations for Networks 6.14.0

Cause

• Changing the hostname is not supported in VMware Aria Operations for Networks prior to version 6.12.1.
• Starting with version 6.12.1, custom hostnames are officially supported.
• For more details refer to the official release notes for versions 6.12 and 6.12.1: VMware Aria Operations for Networks

Resolution

If the hostname was changed to a custom value prior to version 6.12, it is recommended to revert it back to the default hostname, as custom hostnames are officially supported only from version 6.12.1 onwards.

Steps for versions prior to 6.12:

• To revert the hostname, SSH into the VMware Aria Operations for Networks Platform or Collector appliance using the support user, and execute the following commands.

Single-node setup:

sudo su 

hostname vrni-platform-release

echo vrni-platform-release >/etc/hostname

• After executing the above commands, perform a Guest OS restart of the VMware Aria Operations for Networks Platform or Collector node from the vCenter GUI.
• Post reboot, verify the service status by logging in to the node as the support user and running the following commands:

ub

./check-service-health.sh -p -d

Refer to the following documents for the steps applicable to versions 6.12 and later:

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/aria/aria-operations-for-networks/6-14/vrealize-network-insight-command-line-interface-6-14/vrealize-network-insight-cli-commands/hostname.html 

Additional Information

• The official documentation https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/aria/aria-operations-for-networks/6-14/vrealize-network-insight-command-line-interface-6-14/vrealize-network-insight-cli-commands/hostname.html contains minor inconsistency in command syntax:
• The command syntax references "host name update" instead of the correct "hostname update <new_hostname>".
• Refer Clustering - General