ESXi host upgrade fails with error: "Software or system configuration of host XXX is incompatible. Check scan results for details".

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrading ESXi host from 7.x to 8.x fails with ESXi host upgrade fails with "Software or system configuration of host <XXX> is incompatible. Check scan results for details."
  
  
• Upgrading the Host using a Lifecycle Manager upgrade baseline returns the following error:

The upgrade has VIBs that are missing dependencies: <VIB_NAME> Remove the VIBs or use Image Builder to create a custom upgrade ISO image that contains the missing dependencies, and try to upgrade again.These VIB(s) on the host do not have the required sha-256 checksum for their payloads: <VIB_NAME>. This will prevent VIB security verification and secure boot from functioning properly. Please remove these VIBs and check with your vendor for a replacement of these VIBs.

• From vmware-vum-server.log on the vCenter server, you see messages similar to the following:

[from /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log on the vCenter]

505Z error vmware-vum-server[1755688] [Originator@6876 sub=VciClusterRemediateCheckTask. VciClusterRemediateCheckTask{2077}] [vciClusterRemediateCheckTask 166] Found incompatible software config on host:
<XXX> , host Id: host-######, error: Fault cause: integrity. fault. HostUpgradeIncompatibleSoftwareConfig 

• Manually Upgrading the Host via Command line reports below error:

MISSING_DEPENDENCY_VIBS_ERROR

 

Environment

• VMware ESXi 7.x
• VMware ESXi 8.x

Cause

• The VIB in the error stack is not present in the target upgrade package. 

Resolution

• There are a few options to resolve this:
  
  

1. Ensure you are using the correct image to update the host. 

• • • A custom OEM image may contain the VIB in its ISO, where you can use the custom ISO instead. In this case, please engage the hardware Vendor to validate the Dependency VIBs in their custom image.
      
      

2. Remove the unneeded VIB from the hosts prior to upgrading.

• • • NOTE: Before removing the conflicting VIB, make sure that the VIB is not being used by the Network and Storage adapters by running the below commands:
      
      
      • For Network Adapters: 

esxcli network nic list

 

• • • • For Storage Adapters:
        
        

esxcli storage core adapter list

 

• • • • Compare and validate the output of the above commands with the corresponding Dependency VIB driver name to determine whether the VIB is currently in use  OR can it be safely removed and before removing any VIB. It's important to consult the OEM vendors to verify if the VIB can be safely removed, especially if a custom ESXi image is being used.

 

• • • To remove the conflicting VIB:

1. SSH to the esxi host with root account.

esxcli software vib list | grep <driver name>

2. If the VIB is not in use, remove the vib from ESXi (SSH/CLI), with the command: 

esxcli software vib remove -n <name of the vib>

3. If there is a supported, updated VIB available, manually add it into the Lifecycle manager (vLCM) image used by the affected host (or cluster).

1. Import the Newer VIB into vLCM Depot 

• • • • Navigate to Lifecycle Manager in the vSphere Client.
      • Go to the Image Depot tab.
      • Click Import Updates and select the updated VIB .zip file.
      • Once uploaded, the driver will appear as an available component in the depot. 

2. Update the Cluster Image

• • • • Navigate to the specific cluster in the vSphere Inventory.
      • Click the Updates tab.
      • On the Image card, click Edit.
      • In the Components section, click Add Components.
      • Search for the uploaded component, select it, and click Select.
      • Click Validate to check for dependencies, then click Save.

3. Check Compliance and Remediate

• • • • Click Check Compliance to scan the hosts against the updated image.
      • The hosts should now show as Compliant or Out of Compliance (if they need to be updated to the new version).
      • If they are out of compliance, select the host(s) and click Remediate to apply the new VIB

 

Additional Information

• For more information on using Lifecycle Manager, see TechDocs: Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle