'Host could not be contacted' error in VAMI in vSphere Replication/Site Recovery Manager while editing the NTP servers.

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

1. Unable to update or save NTP configuration from VAMI the Save Settings button appears unresponsive and returns error message 'Host could not be contacted'.

2. Error in /var/log/vmware/dr/drconfig.log

2025-05-29T00:00:00.000+01:00 error drconfig[00983] [SRM@6876 sub=DrConfigApplianceManager opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-setTimeSync] Command "/usr/bin/ntpdate -q 10.x.x.x" exit code: 1
--> stderr:
--> 29 May 00:00:00 ntpdate[218483]: 10.x.x.x rate limit response from server.
--> 29 May 00:00:00 ntpdate[218483]: no server suitable for synchronization found
--> 
2025-05-29T00:00:00.000+01:00 error drconfig[00983] [SRM@6876 sub=DrConfigApplianceManager opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-setTimeSync] Command /usr/bin/ntpdate failed

Environment

VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.x

VMware vSphere Replication 8.x, 9.x

VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x

Cause

Cause is un-identified at this moment. Engineering is working to fix this issue in future release.

Resolution

To fix the above mentioned issue manual command-line execution is required to modify the NTP settings on the appliance.

• Network/Connectivity Issue -

         Firewall Blocking Ports

         Required ports for communication between the VR appliance and the NTP server are open.
         curl -v IP address of NTP:123

• Check DNS and hostname resolution-

          Try ping and nslookup from the VR appliance shell to the NTP server.

• Manually Set NTP from Appliance CLI (Recommended Workaround)

         If the UI fails, you can configure NTP server settings manually via SSH/console.

        Set NTP server: netmgr ntp_servers --set  --servers 10.x.x.x ,10.x.x.x

        Post which restart NTP service settings on the appliance:

       systemctl stop ntpd.service

       systemctl start ntpd.service

 

To verify the existing NTP server settings on the appliance verify using below command

netmgr ntp_servers --get

NTPServers= 10.x.x.x ,10.x.x.x

cat /etc/ntp.conf

 

Additional Information

N/A