Error "Failed to install update: Is a directory" when attempting to upgrade SRM

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

An administrator will see an error "Failed to install update: Is a directory" while upgrading SRM from 8.x to 9.x after attaching the ISO to the VM and running the install from the management UI (port 5480)

Environment

VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.X

Resolution

To remediate the issue, take snapshot of the SRM appliance run the command : rpm -e --nodeps openssl-devel and perform the upgrade again.

Additional Information

Log entries from /var/log/vmware/dr/drconfig.log may look similar to:

2025-05-19T14:50:29.114Z verbose drconfig[01000] [SRM@6876 sub=Installing packages opID=3afff14c-eec7-4571-91b0-4f89b24e890a-installUpdate:eee7] Command "/usr/bin/bash -x /tmp/9.0.2.8708/install.sh" exit code: 21
2025-05-19T14:50:29.114Z info drconfig[01000] [SRM@6876 sub=InstallUpdateOp opID=3afff14c-eec7-4571-91b0-4f89b24e890a-installUpdate:eee7] Exiting Start
2025-05-19T14:50:29.114Z error drconfig[01000] [SRM@6876 sub=InstallUpdateOp opID=3afff14c-eec7-4571-91b0-4f89b24e890a-installUpdate:eee7] Failed to install update: 'N7Vmacore15SystemExceptionE Is a directory (21)
--> [context]zKq7AVECAAQAAMX4YgELZHJjb25maWcAAMzrG2xpYnZtYWNvcmUuc28AAC+JSQEhuABsaWJhcHBsaWFuY2UtdXBncmFkZS5zbwACuy0PZHItY29uZmlndXJhdG9yAAJKiBMC308JAN5INQDiYTUAsItKA7COAGxpYnB0aHJlYWQuc28uMAAE7/oPbGliYy5zby42AA==[/context]'
2025-05-19T14:50:29.115Z error drconfig[01000] [SRM@6876 sub=InstallUpdateOp opID=3afff14c-eec7-4571-91b0-4f89b24e890a-installUpdate:eee7] Operation failed
--> (drConfig.fault.InstallUpdateFailedWithMsgFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>,
-->    reason = "Is a directory"
-->    msg = ""
--> }
--> [context]zKq7AVECAAQAAMX4YgEKZHJjb25maWcAAMzrG2xpYnZtYWNvcmUuc28AAUNBD2RyLWNvbmZpZ3VyYXRvcgABbmwEAUqIEwHfTwkA3kg1AOJhNQCwi0oCsI4AbGlicHRocmVhZC5zby4wAAPv+g9saWJjLnNvLjYA[/context]
2025-05-19T14:50:29.117Z verbose drconfig[01054] [SRM@6876 sub=DrConfigUpdateManager ctxID=f7c6432b opID=3afff14c-eec7-4571-91b0-4f89b24e890a-installUpdate:eee7] OnError: Update task failed
--> (drConfig.fault.InstallUpdateFailedWithMsgFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>,
-->    reason = "Is a directory"
-->    msg = ""
-->