After upgrade to vCenter 8.0 u3, clusters are unable to enter retreat mode via the GUI

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to enter Retreat mode to remove vCLS vms in a DRS cluster, the vCenter throws an error stating: 

A general system error occurred: Cannot create path vcls/clusters/domain-c####/enabled Element domain-c#### already has value True/False

Environment

vCenter 8.0 u3

Cause

The vpxd.cfg contains data for the existing cluster from previous vCLS retreat mode configuration changes, which is preventing the vCenter from enabling retreat mode successfully.

Resolution

Edit the vpxd.cfg to remove the old vcls configuration preventing vCenter from updating the cluster status.

1. Take a snapshot of the vCenter before proceeding with any configuration edits. (If the vCenter is in ELM, please take powered of snapshots of all vCenters before proceeding to maintain ELM replication in case of any incident)
2. Open an SSH to the vCenter and connect with root user
3. Navigate to the /etc/vmware-vpx directory:
   

   cd /etc/vmware-vpx

4. Make a copy of the vpxd.cfg file:
   

   cp vpxd.cfg vpxd.cfg.old

5. Stop the vpxd service on the vCenter
   

   service-control --stop vpxd

6. Edit the vpxd.cfg with the vi command, removing cluster information that is preventing the vCenter from entering maintenance mode. Remove individual clusters as needed, or remove all lines between <vcls> and </vcls> to reset all configs for the clusters in the vCenter. Save the document after making the changes.
   
   
7. Start the vpxd service again:
   

   service-control --start vpxd

8. Enter and exit retreat mode as designed via the vCenter GUI