A node's status has a red x in the Admin UI due to modification to the /etc/sudoers file

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

• You tried to replace the certificate manually from Aria operations 8.18 Admin console as per KB 320343, but immediately the Primary node of the analytical cluster went offline.
• You tried to follow the instructions to reset the certificate back to default mentioned in KB 326393, but you get the below error on the Primary Node.
• You have recently applied a STIG or other security baseline that involved modifying the /etc/sudoers file.

Environment

VMware Aria Operations 8.18.x

Cause

The admin user requires passwordless sudo access to many specific commands in order for Aria Operations to operate correctly. Modifications to the /etc/sudoers file which remove this access are not supported.

Resolution

1. Log in to the primary node as root via SSH
2. SCP copy an unmodified version of the /etc/sudoers file from another node in the cluster
   

   scp root@other-node-fqdn:/etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers

   Note: Change node-fqdn to the FQDN or IP of the node to copy the unmodified file from
3. Provide the root password for the other node when prompted
4. Restore the expected permissions to the /etc/sudoers file
   

   chmod 440 /etc/sudoers

5. Restart the CaSA service. The Admin UI will become unavailable on the primary node until the service finishes starting.
   

   systemctl restart vmware-casa

Additional Information

VMware Virtual Appliances and customizations to operating system and included packages