Recovery plan failed with "Failed to process Virtual Machine configuration file"

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When do recovery plan, get error:

 Failed to process Virtual Machine configuration file '[####] ####/####.vmx'. A general system error occurred: Invalid fault 

• In vmware-dr.log on SRM, "vim.fault.PasswordExpired" related log can be found.
  example:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzz error vmware-dr[16445] [SRM@6876 sub=AbrRecoveryEngine opID=####] RecoverVmFailed: Failed to recover VM 'protected-vm-####':
  --> (dr.fault.VmxProcessingError) {
  -->    faultCause = (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
  -->       faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
  -->       faultMessage = <unset>,
  -->       reason = "Invalid fault"
  -->       msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<SSL(<io_obj p:0x00007f65f00b1628, h:84, <TCP 'SRM IP : 35952'>, <TCP 'vCenter IP : 443'>>), /sdk>]: fileManagement
  --> vim.fault.PasswordExpired"
  -->    },
  -->    faultMessage = <unset>,
  -->    vmxFilePath = "[####] ####/####.vmx"
  -->    msg = ""
  --> }

• In vpxd.log on vCenter, "vim.fault.PasswordExpired" related log can be found.
  example:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzz info vpxd[40453] [Originator@6876 sub=vmomi.soapStub[16954] opID=####SOAP request returned HTTP failure; <SSL(<io_obj p:####,h:155, <TCP 'vCenter IP : 50804'>, <TCP 'Host IP: 443'>>), /sdk>, method: login; code: 500(Internal Server Error); fault (vim.fault.PasswordExpired) {
  -->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
  -->    faultMessage = <unset>
  -->    msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<SSL(<io_obj p:####, h:155, <TCP 'vCenter IP : 50804'>, <TCP ''Issue Host IP : 443'>>), /sdk>]: login
  --> Cannot complete login due to expired password."
  --> }

• In hostd.log on issue host, "Rejected password for user vpxuser" can be found.
  example:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ warning hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=####] Rejected password for user vpxuser from <vCenter IP>
  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ info hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.ha-eventmgr opID=####] Event ####: Cannot login vpxuser@ <vCenter IP>
  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ info hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=####] Throw vim.fault.PasswordExpired
  

  
  
  
• In host.log on issue host, the vpxuser password updating failure log can be found.
  example:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ info hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=####user=vpxuser] Activation finished; <<####, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 8307'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 27169'>>, ha-localacctmgr, vim.host.LocalAccountManager.updateUser>
  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ verbose hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=####user=vpxuser] Arg user:
  --> (vim.host.LocalAccountManager.AccountSpecification) {
  -->    id = "vpxuser",
  -->    password = (not shown),
  --> }
  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ info hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=####user=vpxuser] Throw vmodl.fault.SystemError
  YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.zzzZ info hostd[####] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=####user=vpxuser] Result:
  --> (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
  -->    reason = "pam_passwdqc: Error parsing parameter "min=disabled,disabled,disabled,7.7": Invalid parameter value. *** passwd: Critical error - immediate abort",
  -->    msg = "",
  --> }

  
  
  

Environment

VMware Live Recovery 9.x

Cause

The vpxuser password on the issue host expired becasue of a failure in auto updating.

Resolution

Refer Error: "cannot synchronize host" appears in the host summary page and Reconnecting a host to vCenter Server fails with the error: Rejected password for user vpxuser to renew the vpxuser password on issue host.
Resolve vpxuser auto updating issue. With the example, the Security.PasswordQualityControl setting on issue host should be adjust to "min=disabled,disabled,disabled,7,7" from "min=disabled,disabled,disabled,7.7".

Additional Information

How to modify the default expiry time for the vpxuser account