Aria Operations Deployment Fails at Step 6 in Aria Suite Lifecycle with DNS Error LCMVROPSYSTEM25000

Products

• VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) 8.x
• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

During a new deployment of VMware Aria Operations through Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager (version 8.18), I encountered a critical failure at Step 6 of the deployment wizard. The system halted with the following error code:

Error Code: LCMVROPSYSTEM25000

After reviewing the logs, it became clear this was a network-related issue, specifically related to DNS resolution or network reachability for the newly deployed Aria Operations appliance.

Symptoms & Log Details

• Step 6 in the deployment workflow fails—this is typically the cluster configuration stage or validation before powering on services.

• The UI shows LCMVROPSYSTEM25000 as a generic failure code, with no detailed error output.

• In the logs (/var/log/vmware-vmsc.log) I found a critical Java exception:

java.net.NoRouteToHostException: No route to host (Host unreachable)

This stack trace strongly indicates a connectivity or resolution failure between Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager and the Aria Operations appliance.

Environment

• Aria Lifecycle Suite 8.18.x
• Aria Operations 8.18.x

Cause

This error usually points to incomplete or incorrect DNS configuration for the newly deployed Aria Operations VM. The deployment workflow depends heavily on successful name resolution (both forward and reverse lookups) to communicate with the new VM before it begins initializing services.

The relevant exception:

java.net.NoRouteToHostException: No route to host

...typically means:

• LCM can resolve the hostname, but cannot reach the host at the network level (routing, firewall, or incorrect DNS return)

• OR LCM cannot resolve the hostname at all (most often the case when reverse DNS is missing or incorrect)

DNS inconsistencies are often the root cause in tightly secured or segmented enterprise networks.

How this is Diagnosed

1. Log Review
   Checked:

   /var/log/vmware-vmsc.log

   Found Java exceptions attempting to open an HTTPS connection to the Aria Operations appliance IP/hostname.

2. Basic Network Checks

   • Ran nslookup and dig commands from the Aria LCM appliance:

     nslookup vrops-hostname.domain.local nslookup <vrops-appliance-IP> dig -x <vrops-appliance-IP>

   • Discovered that either the forward or reverse DNS entry was missing.

   • Reverse lookup (PTR record) failed, which Aria Operations requires to validate identity during cluster setup.

Resolution

To resolve the issue:

Step 1: Add Correct DNS Entries

• Ensure the following DNS entries exist before deploying Aria Operations:

  • Forward A Record:
    vrops-hostname.domain.local → <IP Address>

  • Reverse PTR Record:
    <IP Address> → vrops-hostname.domain.local

Verify using: 

nslookup vrops-hostname.domain.local nslookup <IP> dig -x <IP>

Step 2: Re-run the Deployment

• After confirming DNS is correctly configured, retry the deployment from Step 1 within Aria LCM.

• Optionally, clear out the failed environment if partial configurations exist.

 

Additional Information

• This failure occurs before Aria Operations is fully initialized, so the system hasn’t yet committed any critical state. Fixing DNS and restarting the deployment is usually safe.

• In large organizations with multiple DNS zones, ensure the DNS zone that Aria LCM uses has access to forward and reverse records for all Aria Operations components.

• For external networks or split-horizon DNS setups, validate that the records resolve properly from within the LCM appliance itself—not just from your admin workstation.