wcp service may not start automatically after update to vCenter version 8.0U3a/U3b/U3c

Products

• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• wcpsvc service may not start automatically but a manual restart works.
• In the wcpsvc.log below entries are seen

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss debug wcp [kubelifecycle/spherelet_lifecycle.go:268] Found cluster with clusterID: domain-<number>
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss  warning wcp [kubelifecycle/kube_instance.go:2058] [opID=domain-c12068] Failed to check if cpvm resize is supported for cluster domain-<number>. Err API call to VMware vCenter Server (vpxd) failed. Details 'object references is empty'
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss info wcp [kubelifecycle/kube_instance.go:3858] [opID=domain-<number>] Adding Host host-<id>to supervisor <id>
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss error wcp [kubelifecycle/kube_instance_db.go:889] [opID=domain-<number>] Failed to load host nodes from db: failed to add host to supervisor: host host-<id> not found in inventory
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss  fatal wcp [kubelifecycle/kube_instance.go:1105] Failed to load kubeInstances from db: failed to add host to supervisor: host host-<id> not found in inventory
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss debug wcp [compatibility/setupinfo_host_monitor.go:86] [opID=HostCacheMonitor] Initializing host cache monitor.
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss  debug wcp [compatibility/setupinfo_vpxd_cluster_monitor.go:70] [opID=ClusterMonitor] Initializing cluster monitor.
...
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss debug wcp [compatibility/setupinfo.go:1202] [opID=upsertHostCluster] Added host host-<id> to cluster domain-<number>. ESX version:  0 pkgs 0 cores

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U3a

VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U3b

VMware vCenter Server 8.0 U3c

Cause

A race condition that caused the sync not to succeed.

Resolution

This is a known issue and currently there is no resolution.

To workaround this issue manually start "Workload Control Plane" (wcp) service from the vCenter Server Management Interface (VAMI) UI or by going to vCenter Server shell and running command:
vmon-cli --start wcp

If the problem occurs when doing a patch of vCenter, please follow the same procedure as above once it fails, and then click the below option and select "Apply" (See screenshot):


vCenter patching activity should continue and finish successfully after doing this.