"LVM Snapshot based auto-backup of vCenter Server will not be taken during vcenter patching", pre-check warning message during vCenter Server patching

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• vCenter Server patching shows pre-check Warning message as below:
  
  LVM Snapshot based auto-backup of vCenter Server will not be taken during vcenter patching.
  
  
  
  
• Appliance management log reports lvm_snapshot messages as below:
  
  /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/applmgmt.log

ERROR:vmware.appliance.monitoring.stats:Got exception while reading storage stats : 'StatId storage.util.filesystem.lvm_snapshot does not exist.'
vmware.appliance.monitoring.statsMonitor.NotFoundException: 'StatId storage.util.filesystem.lvm_snapshot does not exist.'

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS AM/PM UTC [11674]INFO:vmware.appliance.update.update_pending:Got precheck result {'check_time': datetime.datetime(YYYY, MM, DD, HH, MM, SS, ###), 'estimated_time_to_install': ##, 'issues': {'errors': [], 'info': [], 'warnings': [{'id': 'com.vmware.appliance.noid', 'message': {'args': [], 'default_message': 'LVM Snapshot based auto-backup of vCenter Server will not be taken during vcenter patching.', 'id': 'vcsa.lvm.backup.precheck.error.text'}, 'resolution': {'args': [], 'default_message': 'Please ensure a valid LVM snapshot disk and altroot disk is present on vCenter Server and LVM snapshot disk has sufficient space available on it to take the backup.', 'id': 'vcsa.lvm.backup.precheck.error.resolution'}]}
  
  
• vCenter patching might also report the following error message:
  
  Error in method invocation Timeout happens while waiting for task to terminate
  
  

Environment

• vCenter Server 7.x
• vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

• This issue is caused when the lvm_snapshot mount point is missing on the vCenter Server.
• Absence of lvm_snapshot mount point can be verified using the df -h command as below:
  
  Filesystem                               1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs                                      4096        0      4096   0% /dev
tmpfs                                     10232588     1396  10231192   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs                                      4093036     1620   4091416   1% /run
tmpfs                                         4096        0      4096   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mapper/vg_root_0-lv_root_0           49222292 27906740  18782792  60% /
/dev/sda3                                   498900    37416    424788   9% /boot
/dev/sda2                                    10202     1978      8224  20% /boot/efi
tmpfs                                     10232588     4776  10227812   1% /tmp
/dev/mapper/vtsdblog_vg-vtsdblog           5066432    32804   4755512   1% /storage/vtsdblog
/dev/mapper/netdump_vg-netdump             1005120       24    936696   1% /storage/netdump
/dev/mapper/lifecycle_vg-lifecycle       102618040  4111676  93247512   5% /storage/lifecycle
/dev/mapper/log_vg-log                    10210580  4842892   4827428  51% /storage/log
/dev/mapper/vtsdb_vg-vtsdb                10210580    35684   9634636   1% /storage/vtsdb
/dev/mapper/archive_vg-archive            51282400 46151260   2493728  95% /storage/archive
/dev/mapper/dblog_vg-dblog                15367112    98340  14466368   1% /storage/dblog
/dev/mapper/imagebuilder_vg-imagebuilder  10210580       36   9670284   1% /storage/imagebuilder
/dev/mapper/db_vg-db                      10210580   637204   9033116   7% /storage/db
/dev/mapper/autodeploy_vg-autodeploy      10210580       40   9670280   1% /storage/autodeploy
/dev/mapper/seat_vg-seat                  10210580   447608   9222712   5% /storage/seat
/dev/mapper/core_vg-core                  25618660  1496820  22795148   7% /storage/core
/dev/mapper/updatemgr_vg-updatemgr       102618040  4739108  92620080   5% /storage/updatemgr
overlay                                   49222292 27906740  18782792  60% /storage/containers/vc-ws1a-broker/<ID>/rootfs

Resolution

Execute the attached script to recreate the missing lvm_snapshot mount point on vCenter Server by following the steps below:

1. Download the script "performLVMCleanup.py" attached to this KB.
2. Upload the script to vCenter Server appliance using WinSCP.
3. Login to vCenter as 'root' user via SSH.
4. Change the shell to 'bash' using 'shell' command if the default shell is Appliance shell.
   

       * List APIs: "help api list"
    * List Plugins: "help pi list"
    * Launch BASH: "shell"

   Command> shell
Shell access is granted to root
root@<hostname> [ ~ ]#

5. Execute the script:
   
   python performLVMCleanup.py
   
   
6. Retry vCenter Server patching.

Note: Contact Broadcom technical support for assistance if above steps are not helping to resolve the warning message.