NSX Upgrade prechecks raise an error to stage NSX upgrade bits, "STAGE" link in the Host Upgrade tab failed with "java.lang.NullPointerException"

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

• vLCM is enabled.
• Option Stage in vSphere Lifecycle Manager is enabled on the NSX upgrade group or cluster.
• NSX Upgrade prechecks were run.
• Under Host Pre-check, the following error is raised:
  "The host upgrade plan contains clusters that have not been staged yet. Please stage the NSX upgrade bits by clicking on the "STAGE" link."
  
• Stage the NSX upgrade bits by clicking on the "STAGE" link in the Host Upgrade tab.
• Upon doing so, a "java.lang.NullPointerException" pop-up.
  

• In the Update Coordinator logs (/var/log/search/upgrade-coordinator.log) shows the error similar to the following, 
  

  <Timestamp>  INFO http-nio-127.0.0.1-7442-exec-1 FacadeInterceptorHelperImpl 583813 SYSTEM [nsx@6876 comp="nsx-manager" level="INFO" subcomp="upgrade-coordinator"] Caught error in facade interceptor
  java.lang.NullPointerException: null
          at com.vmware.nsx.management.upgrade.plugin.host.esx.upgrade.task.ESXVlcmUpgradeTask.isLcpBundleAlreadyUploaded(ESXVlcmUpgradeTask.java:219) ~[libnsx-upgrade-plugins.jar:?]
  ......
          at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source) ~[?:?]
  <Timestamp>  INFO http-nio-127.0.0.1-7442-exec-1 NsxBaseRestController 583813 SYSTEM [nsx@6876 audit="true" comp="nsx-manager" level="INFO" subcomp="upgrade-coordinator"] UserName:'admin' ModuleName:'common-services' Operation:'POST@/api/v1/upgrade/plan' Operation status: 'failure' Error: General error has occurred

Environment

VMware NSX

Cause

The PUB file does not contain all the necessary contents for staging. Hence, while forming the LCP bundle URL, the backend code fails with a NullPointerException.

Resolution

To perform the staging of the NSX upgrade bits, please follow the steps below:

1. Under the Prepare for Upgrade tab, upload the MUB file.
2. Still under the Prepare for Upgrade tab, click the Begin Upgrade button.
   This step does not upgrade any NSX Edge, Manager, or ESXi host. It upgrades the Upgrade Coordinator service running on the NSX Manager.
3. Under the Hosts tab, click the STAGE button.
   The NSX upgrade bits will be staged.

If the above steps don't resolve the issue and you continue to get the java.lang.NullPointerException, please check and resolve whether the source or target version is null or different, as documented in the article "NSX unable to upgrade due to java.lang.NullPointerException."

This issue is resolved in VMware NSX 4.2.2, 9.0.1 and 9.1.0,
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