vCenter update failing with "Failed to start vc-ws1a-broker"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• This issue can occur when patching is done via VAMI or CLI
• In the /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/Patchrunner.log, may find entries similar to:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] last_component:Patch INFO last_component Starting all VMware services... The immediate command stdout is redirected to file /var/log/
vmware/applmgmt/startAllServices.out.log and stderr is redirected to file /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/startAllServices.err.log
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] last_component:Patch INFO last_component Start All VMware services: command=['/bin/service-control', '--start', '--all'], exit-code=1
, stdout=Operation not cancellable. Please wait for it to finish...
Performing start operation on service lwsmd...
Successfully started service lwsmd
Performing start operation on service vmafdd...
Successfully started service vmafdd
Performing start operation on service vmdird...
Successfully started service vmdird
Performing start operation on service vmcad...
Successfully started service vmcad
Performing start operation on profile: ALL...
, stderr=Service-control failed. Error: Failed to start services in profile ALL. RC=1, stderr=Failed to start vc-ws1a-broker services. Error: Operation timed
out
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] WARNING root stopping status aggregation...
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] ERROR __main__ Patch vCSA failed

• In the /var/log/vmware/vc-ws1a-broker/federation-service.log, may find entries similar to:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] ERROR vCenter-FQDN:federation (main) [-;-;-;-;-;-] org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication - Application run faile
d org.springframework.beans.factory.UnsatisfiedDependencyException: Error creating bean with name 'healthResource': Unsatisfied dependency expressed through field 'acsMetadataRegistrar'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'acsMetadataRegistrar'
Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.lang.Integer.intValue()" because the return value
of "com.vmware.vidm.common.http.client.ClientConfig$ProxySettings.getPort()" is null
        at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredFieldElement.resolveFieldValue(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPo
stProcessor.java:662)

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on the environment.

Environment

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

Cause

• The VAMI proxy is set up to only process and forward HTTP requests, and will not allow or forward traffic using other protocols.
• When the vc-ws1a-broker service fails, it's because the service requires HTTPS communication, which is blocked by the proxy configuration.

Resolution

The proxy configuration can be validated from the vCenter SSH session or the VAMI interface after logging as the root user.

From vCenter SSH session : 

• cat /etc/sysconfig/proxy

example : 

# Enable a generation of the proxy settings to the profile.
# This setting allows to turn the proxy on and off while
# preserving the particular proxy setup.
#
PROXY_ENABLED="yes"

# Some programs (e.g. wget) support proxies, if set in
# the environment.
# Example: HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.provider.de:3128/"
HTTP_PROXY="http://vCenter-FQDN/user-name:80"

# Example: HTTPS_PROXY="https://proxy.provider.de:3128/"
HTTPS_PROXY=""

# Example: FTP_PROXY="http://proxy.provider.de:3128/"
FTP_PROXY=""

# Example: GOPHER_PROXY="http://proxy.provider.de:3128/"
GOPHER_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS_PROXY="socks://proxy.example.com:8080"
SOCKS_PROXY=""

# Example: SOCKS5_SERVER="office-proxy.example.com:8881"
SOCKS5_SERVER=""

# Example: NO_PROXY="www.example.com, do.main, localhost"
NO_PROXY="localhost, 127.0.0.1"

 

From the VAMI interface :

• Networking >> proxy settings configuration tab.

To resolve the issue disable the proxy using the vCenter VAMI interface's networking >> proxy settings configuration tab >> Edit proxy settings >> Deactivate HTTP by toggling it to deactivated.

 

Note : After the vCenter update is successful, proxy can be reconfigured. ( How to configure Proxy Settings for vCenter Server )