Patching fails with "Exception occurred in postInstallHook for B2B-pathing. Please check the logs for more details. Take corrective action and then resume."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Failure at stage software-update
• Installation Failed: Exception occurred in postInstallHook for B2B-pathing. Please check the logs for more details. Take corrective action and then resume.
• Logs located at /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/PatchRunner.log show similar messages to below:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS applmgmt:CollectRequirements ERROR applmgmt.file_based_backup_recovery An error occurred in running job: {messages : [LocalizableMessage(id='com.vmware.appliance.update.install_in_progress', default_message='Update installation is in progress', args=[], params=None, localized=None)], data : None, error_type : NOT_ALLOWED_IN_CURRENT_STATE}
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS applmgmt:CollectRequirements ERROR applmgmt.file_based_backup_recovery An error occurred in running job: {messages : [LocalizableMessage(id='com.vmware.appliance.update.install_in_progress', default_message='Update installation is in progress', args=[], params=None, localized=None)], data : None, error_type : NOT_ALLOWED_IN_CURRENT_STATE}
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmdir:Patch ERROR LdapConnection LDAP Search failed.Error Message: DNToEID (9703)((MDB_NOTFOUND: No matching key/data pair found)(cn=aggregate,cn=schemacontext))
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmdir:Patch ERROR LdapConnection Error Modifying User DN:cn=Administrators,cn=Builtin,dc=<domain>,dc=local.Error Message:Attribute (member) value (cn=<vCenterFQDN>,ou=Domain Controllers,dc=<domain>,dc=local) exists
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR service_manager Service cannot be started. Error: Error executing start on service vsan-health. Details {
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR vmware_b2b.patching.phases.patcher Patch hook Patch got unhandled exception.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR __main__ Patch vCSA failed

• Logs located at /var/log/vmware/vsan-health/vmware-vsan-health-service.log  show similar messages to below:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR vsan-mgmt[2254189] [VsanVcExtension::_Connect opID=noOpId] Get vpxd connection error ('unknown error',), trying relogin
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS ERROR vsan-mgmt[2254189] [VsanVcExtension::_Connect opID=noOpId] Get vpxd connection error ('unknown error',), trying relogin

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

Expired certificate present in the source vCenter and presented to the patch vCenter

Resolution

Check the certificate status with the KB: CertificateStatusAlarm - There are certificate that expired or about to expire/Certificate Status Change Alarm Triggered on VMware vCenter Server and replace the expired certificate.

For VMCA: Using vSphere Certificate Manager to Replace SSL Certificates

For Custom CA: Obtaining vSphere certificates from a Microsoft Certificate Authority & Replace vCenter Machine SSL certificate Custom Certificate Authority Signed Certificate

Additional Information

vSAN-Health Service fails to start

Determining expired SSL certificates in vCenter Server and ESXi 6.x and 7.0.x