ESXi host upgrade from SDDC Manager fails at ESX UPGRADE VUM STAGE PRECHECK stage

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host upgrade from SDDC Manager fails at ESX UPGRADE VUM STAGE PRECHECK stage
• Error in /var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-debug.log

  INFO  [vcf_lcm,117c7c62ee17c35f,4056] [c.v.e.sddc.lcm.audit.AuditScheduler,Scheduled-8] Last upgrade status for software type ESX_HOST and resourceId 27c6####-####-####-####-########5be8 is: {"id":"80","bundleId":"3d5206d9-b537-4380-8f63-ebc764020248-apTool","bundleElementId":"02f93252-683b-4e8a-aeef-7df4d8416cf9","bundleElementOrder":1,"resourceType":"ESX_HOST","resourceId":"27c6####-####-####-####-########5be8","upgradeId":"e24a####-####-####-####-########c70a","upgradeStatus":"COMPLETED_WITH_FAILURE","upgradeError":{"errorType":"RECOVERABLE","stage":"ESX_UPGRADE_VUM_STAGE_PRECHECK","errorCode":"com.vmware.vcf.error.environment.esx.mm.enter.check.failed","errorDescription":"Dry run of Enter MAINTENANCE mode failed for Esx host with list of errors : [Unable to access the virtual machine configuration: Unable to access file [datastore1-esx01] vm01/vm01.vmx]","errorDescriptionCodes":["com.vmware.vcf.error.environment.esx.mm.enter.check.failed"],"errorDescriptionAttributes":{"0":"[Unable to access the virtual machine configuration: Unable to access file [datastore1-esx01] vm01/vm01.vmx]"},"metadata":"\nCheck for errors in the lcm log files located on SDDC Manager under

• The VM reported in the above log is hosted on ESXi local datastore

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation

Cause

ESXi host is unable to enter maintenance mode as VM(s) on the ESXi are hosted on local datastore and cannot migrate.

Resolution

1. Identify the VM(s) which are hosted on local datastore on the ESXi host and either power off the VM(s) or migrate to a shared datastore.
   • Browse to vSphere Client > Inventory > Host and Cluster > {ESXi host} > Datastore > {Local datastore}  
2. Retry the upgrade from SDDC Manager