An error occurred during host configuration - Host fails to download vmware-hbr-agent VIB (After vCenter upgraded from 7.0u3 to 8.0u3)

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Following task with description Apply Solution will show Running Frequently in the task list of vCenter.

vpxa.log : /var/log/vpxa 

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ info vpxa[2100734] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=71ab0cc4-####-####-####-24c3c#####57-HMSINT-29-72-65] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-41013 -- patchManager -- vim.host.PatchManager.InstallV2: vim.fault.PlatformConfigFault:
--> Result:
--> (vim.fault.PlatformConfigFault) {
-->  faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->  faultMessage = <unset>,
-->  text = "/usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7"
-->  msg = "An error occurred during host configuration."
--> }
--> Args:
-->
--> Arg metaUrls:
--> (string) []
--> Arg bundleUrls:
--> (string) []
--> Arg vibUrls:
--> (string) [
-->  "https://vSphere-replication.###.com:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib"
--> ]
--> Arg spec:
--> (vim.host.PatchManager.PatchManagerOperationSpec) {
-->  proxy = "http://vcenter.###.com",
-->  port = 80,
-->  userName = <unset>,
-->  password = <unset>,
-->  cmdOption = <unset>
--> }

esxupdate.log : /var/log/esxupdate.log

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: downloader: INFO: Proxies configured: {'http': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80', 'https': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80', 'ftp': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80'}
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: Proxy: ERROR: Proxy server cannot connect to the endpoint: HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found^M vary: Accept-Encoding^M date: Sun, 21 Sep 2025 12:51:54 GMT^M connection: close^M content-length: 0
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: downloader: WARNING: Download failed: Proxy server vcenter_fqdn:80 returned status 404, 1 retry left...
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: downloader: INFO: Proxies configured: {'http': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80', 'https': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80', 'ftp': 'http://vcenter_fqdn:80'}
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: Proxy: ERROR: Proxy server cannot connect to the endpoint: HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found^M vary: Accept-Encoding^M date: Sun, 21 Sep 2025 12:51:57 GMT^M connection: close^M content-length: 0
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: An esxupdate error exception was caught:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last):
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 374, in _openfromurl
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     return self._retry(self._open_for_download, self.options['retry'])
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 224, in _retry
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     _checkRetry(retry, retries, e)
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 208, in _checkRetry
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     raise exception
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 214, in _retry
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     return func()
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 264, in _open_for_download
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     robj = self._urlopen(self.url)
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 198, in _urlopen
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     return opener.open(url, timeout=self.options['timeout'])
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 525, in open
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 542, in _open
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 502, in _call_chain
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Utils/Proxy.py", line 220, in _https_open
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     h.request(req.get_method(), selector, req.data, headers)
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1259, in request
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1305, in _send_request
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1254, in endheaders
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1014, in _send_output
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 954, in send
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Utils/Proxy.py", line 147, in connect
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     raise ConnectProxyError('Proxy server %s returned status %u'
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: vmware.esximage.Utils.Proxy.ConnectProxyError: Proxy server vcenter_fqdn:80 returned status 404
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last):
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 882, in _getVibsFromUrls
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     with d.Open() as rObj:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 473, in Open
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     return self._openfromurl()
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 376, in _openfromurl
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     raise DownloaderError(self.url, self.local, str(e))
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: vmware.esximage.Downloader.DownloaderError: ('https://replication_IP:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib', '', 'Proxy server vcenter_fqdn:80 returned status 404')
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last):
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/usr/sbin/esxupdate", line 222, in main
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     cmd.Run()
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esx5update/Cmdline.py", line 148, in Run
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 2216, in InitVibInstall
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     Transaction.GetVibsAndMetaFromSources(vibUrls, metaUrls, vibSpecs,
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 251, in GetVibsAndMetaFromSources
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     vibsToInstall = Transaction._getVibsFromUrls(vibUrls)
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:   File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 906, in _getVibsFromUrls
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR:     raise Errors.VibDownloadError(url, None, str(e))
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: ERROR: vmware.esximage.Errors.VibDownloadError: ('https://replication_IP:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib', None, "('https://replication_IP:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib', '', 'Proxy server vcenter_fqdn:80 returned status 404')")
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss esxupdate: 13337913: esxupdate: DEBUG: <<<

vpxd.log : /var/log/vmware/vpxd

yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ info vpxd[07995] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=c2fb10d3-####-####-####-d1f6######a2-HMSINT-46-18] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-23603 -- patchManager-10 -- vim.host.PatchManager.InstallV2: vim.fault.PlatformConfigFault:
--> Result:
--> (vim.fault.PlatformConfigFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>,
-->    text = "/usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7"
-->    msg = "An error occurred during host configuration."
--> }
--> Args:
-->
--> Arg metaUrls:
--> (string) []
--> Arg bundleUrls:
--> (string) []
--> Arg vibUrls:
--> (string) [
-->    "https://replication.###.com:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib"
--> ]
--> Arg spec:
--> (vim.host.PatchManager.PatchManagerOperationSpec) {
-->    proxy = "http://vCenter.###.com",
-->    port = 80,
-->    userName = <unset>,
-->    password = <unset>,
-->    cmdOption = <unset>
--> }

• You may encounter this issue while you are running mixed version of vCenters in Production and DR sites.

For Ex: 

Environment

vSphere Replication 8.x

vSphere Replication 9.x

Cause

The proxy settings configured in the vCenter Managed Object Browser (MOB) were not applied during the vCenter Server upgrade to version 8.0 Update 3. As a result, the vSphere Replication appliance requires reconfiguration to configure the proxy settings and restore proper connectivity and functionality.

Resolution

Resolution:

Reconfigure vSphere Replication

If you are still getting an error after the reconfigure process finishes, there is a different problem. Check below for testing.

Check if the VIB is installed 

esxcli software vib list |grep -i hbr
vmware-hbr-agent               8.0.3-0.0.24299508                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2025-06-25    host
vmware-hbrsrv                  8.0.3-0.0.24022510                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2024-06-19    host
 

 Remove the VIB from the problematic host 

[root@ESXihost:~] esxcli software vib remove -n vmware-hbr-agent
Removal Result
   Message: Operation finished successfully.
   Reboot Required: false
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_vmware-hbr-agent_8.0.3-0.0.24299508
   VIBs Skipped: 

Try installing the VIB manually and check the output 

Disable the firewall before performing the this step and enable it after its complete. 

esxcli network firewall set --enabled false
esxcli network firewall set --enabled true (Set it back to true after downloading the file) 

 Command to install the VIB manually 

root@esxi2:/tmp] esxcli software vib install  -v https://replication.###.com:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib
Installation Result
   Message: Operation finished successfully.
   VIBs Installed: VMware_bootbank_vmware-hbr-agent_8.0.3-0.0.24299508
   VIBs Removed:
   VIBs Skipped:
   Reboot Required: false
   DPU Results:


Check to see if the VIB can be downloaded without any errors:
wget --no-check-certificate https://replication.###.com:8043/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib

Connecting to ###.###.#.##:443 (###.###.#.##:443)
saving to 'vmware-hbr-agent.vib'
vmware-hbr-agent.vib 100% |***************************************************************************************************| 26.1M  0:00:00 ETA
'vmware-hbr-agent.vib' saved

 

Additional Information

From 9.0.x , the VIB download is from VRMS port 443. For vSphere Replication version earlier (8.x), the port for the vib download is 8043