"Resume attempted maximum number of times. Cannot resume patching anymore" error while performing vCenter Patching

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Multiple attempts to proceed with the vCSA patch have failed, displaying an error message similar to below :

"Resume attempted maximum number of times.  Cannot resume patching anymore"

OR

Installation failed

"Resume attempted maximum number of times. Cannot resume patching anymore"

"You have reached maximum number of retries to resume the patching.  Please restore the vCenter using the backup."

Additional symptoms:

• You may also see "Unknown error" or "Unknown Exception"
• In log file  var/log/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.log, you may see line similar to:

<timestamp> - 112 - 2222652 - update_functions_target::   readJsonFile: 267 -    ERROR - Can't read JSON file /storage/core/software-update/stage/stageDir.json [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/storage/core/software-update/stage/stageDir.json

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.0
VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Cause

Too many failed attempts have been made to continue the patch, and no further attempts are allowed.

Resolution

To work around this issue, follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your vCenter Appliance shell via SSH. Make sure your are in appliance shell to run steps 2-3.  You will need to change to bash shell for steps 4-7.
   Refer :Toggling the vCenter Server Appliance default shell

2. Run the following command:
   • software-packages unstage
3. Stop the appliance management service:
   • service-control --stop applmgmt
4. Remove the update files:
   • rm -rf /storage/core/software-update/updates/*
   • rm -rf /storage/core/software-update/stage/*
   • rm -rf /storage/db/patching.db
5. Move the staged configuration files:
   • mv /storage/core/software-packages/staged-configuration.json /storage/core
   • mv /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf /storage/core
6. Restart the appliance management service:
   • service-control --start applmgmt
7. Reboot the vCenter server:
   • reboot

Additional Information

Patching vCenter Server Appliance via CLI

To help understand why the patch is failing, please follow below: 

1. Please collect VC logs and ensure these are saved Collecting diagnostic information for VMware vCenter Server 7.x and 8.x
2. Please proceed to now restore VCSA to snapshot or file-based backup taken prior to the patch attempts 
3. Open a case with our support team and upload the VCSA logs to be reviewed
4. If no Backups are available, a reinstall of the vCenter environment is required