Aria Orchestrator Appliance eth0 Network Interface Not Connected After OVF Deployment

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

When deploying the Aria Orchestrator Appliance directly using an OVF in vCenter, the OVF network properties is set correctly, and the appliance starts. However, the eth0 network interface remains disconnected or inactive, leading to further configuration failures.

Symptoms

• Aria Orchestrator Appliance deployed via OVF.
• OVF properties are correctly configured during deployment.
• Appliance boots, but the eth0 network interface is not connected.
• In Remote Console you see info that network is not detected
• 
• Running /opt/vmware/share/vami/vami_config_net from the console does not resolve the issue.
• Console logs may show errors similar to:
  • Error: Failed to read network interface files for 'eth0'
• The firstboot log (/etc/bootstrap/firstboot.d/) indicates network-related failures, such as NTP resolution errors:
  /etc/bootstrap/firstboot.d/00-apply-ntp-servers.sh starting
• /usr/local/bin/vracli ntp systemd --set <ntp server> --local Couldn't reach NTP server <ntp server>
• [Errno -3] Temporary failure in name resolution No reachable NTP server found.
• /etc/bootstrap/firstboot.d/00-apply-ntp-servers.sh failed, error status 1

 

Environment

Aria Automation Orchestrator 8.18.0

Cause

The problem is due to eth0 configuration was not applied, therefore further appliance configuration fails.

 

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you need to manually verify and correct the network configuration file and then re-run the firstboot script to apply the changes.

1. Verify Network Configuration File:

   • Access the appliance console (e.g., via vCenter).

   • Navigate to the network configuration directory:
     cd /etc/systemd/network

   • Check if the 10-eth0.network file exists and contains a valid configuration for your environment. Use ls -l to list and cat or less to view its content:
     ls -l 10-eth0.network 

   • Example of a valid configuration:

     [Match]
     Name=eth0
     
     [Network]
     Gateway=###.###.###.###
     Address=###.###.###.###/24
     LinkLocalAddressing=no
     DHCP=no
     Domains= your-domainA yourdomainB
     
     [DHCP]
     UseDNS=false
     

     Copy

   • If the file is missing or contains incorrect/empty details, you must manually create or edit it using a text editor (e.g., vi) to match your network settings.

2. Set File Permissions:

   • Ensure the 10-eth0.network file has the correct permissions (644). If not, modify them:
     chmod 644 /etc/systemd/network/10-eth0.network

3. Run Firstboot Script:

   • Execute the firstboot script to apply the corrected network configuration and complete the appliance's initial setup:
     /usr/lib/bootstrap/firstboot
   • Monitor the console for any errors. The script should complete successfully.

4. Complete Initial Configuration:

   • After the firstboot script finishes, the network interface (eth0) should be active and the appliance accessible via the network.
   • For Aria Orchestrator 8.18.0: You should now be able to log in to the vRO Control Center via a web browser (typically https://<vRO_IP_or_FQDN>:8283) to configure the appliance.
   • For Aria Orchestrator 8.18.1 and above (and similar versions): The Control Center UI may no longer be available for initial configuration. In these versions, the initial authentication provider and other settings must be configured using the command-line interface (CLI). Refer to the official Broadcom documentation for detailed CLI commands:
     • Configuring the Automation Orchestrator authentication provider with the command line interface