Can't patch vSAN witness host (VM) via Image

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

Unable to us vLCM to patch vSAN witness node

Cause

vLCM is not identifying the correct components on the vSAN witness host (VM).

 

Resolution

For changes to the witness node it recommended that instead of doing an upgrade you instead rebuild the witness machine and then replace the existing witness node with the newly created node.  

Follow these steps to find the download link.

• Go to the Broadcom support portal.
• Sign in.
• Click on "My Downloads" on the left side.
• In the Search box, enter "vSphere".
• Click on "VMware vSphere".
• Click on "VMware vSphere - Standard".
• Click on the appropriate release version.
• On the top, go to "Drivers & Tools".
• Type "Appliance" in the search box and download the version of either the witness appliance or file service appliance required for your environment.
• For vSAN 8.x witness appliance, choose either OSA and ESA as appropriate for the vSAN cluster.

Note: If the exact build version is not available for download, then download an ESXi build version lower than the physical ESXi build version so you can then upgrade the witness to match the rest of the cluster. 

The steps to replace can be found here:

• Document the config info of the current witness appliance if possible
• Ensure all vSAN objects are healthy or in a reduced availability state due to missing witness components 
• If all objects are healthy Select the vSAN Cluster > Configure > vSAN > Fault Domains > Select Disable Stretch cluster
  Note: vSAN Objects will go into a reduced availability state if not already
• Power down the old witness appliance and remove it from vCenter inventory
• Deploy the new vSAN witness appliance to a datastore of a physical ESXi host or cluster.  
  Note: This host/cluster can not be part of the vSAN cluster as the witness host provides quorum and if deployed to the vSAN cluster this creates a circular redundancy and is not supported.
• Select the vSAN Cluster > Configure > vSAN > Fault Domains > Select Configure Stretch cluster and follow the wizard to configure the stretch cluster 

 

Additional Information

Download the vSAN witness appliance

How to Replace the Witness Appliance/Host