vCenter Appliance fails to start with an error Dependency failed for /sysroot or /storage/log

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

After a storage outage vCenter appliance may fail to start with errors indicating a file system corruption, such as:

[FAILED] Failed to start File System on /dev/vg_root_0/lv_root_0.

[FAILED] Failed to start File System ##########-####-####-####-###########.

You may also see the below dependency error. 

[DEPEND] Dependency failed for /storage/log.

[DEPEND] Dependency failed for Local File Systems. 

 

 

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 7.x
• VMware vCenter Server 8.x

 

Cause

Potential causes can include physical storage outage, storage disconnection, disk replacement or re-built RAID causing inconsistencies.

Resolution

1. Take a snapshot or backup of the vCenter Server Appliance. 
2. Reboot the vCenter Server Appliance.
3. After the VCSA Photon OS starts, press the e key to enter the GNU GRUB Edit Menu.
4. Locate the line that begins with the word Linux. The line should look like the following screenshot:

5. After consoleblank=0 remove: scsi_mod.scan=sync $systemd_cmdline fi\ps=1
6. Append these entries to the end of the line: fsck.repair=yes 

7.Press F10 to continue booting.

8.Once the vCenter boots to the login screen, perform another reboot and the vCenter will be back on the network.