Installation Failure of NSX Bare Metal Edge Node

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

During the installation of an NSX Bare Metal Edge Node, the process fails and presents the following error message on screen:

start: subiquity/ErrorReporter/##########.#########.install_fail/add_info
finish:      subiquity/Install/install/postinstall/install_nsx-edge-node/cmd-system-install: curtin command system-install
finish: subiquity/ErrorReporter/##########.#########.install_fail/add_info: written to /var/crash/##########.#########.install_fail.crash

An error occurred. Press enter to start a shell

Environment

VMware NSX

Cause

This error typically indicates a failure in the installation phase, specifically when executing the curtin command system-install. Diagnostic data is saved to a crash file located in /var/crash/.

 

Resolution

To resolve the installation error, follow the steps below:

1. Verify Hardware Compatibility

   • Ensure the server meets all hardware prerequisites as outlined in the official Broadcom TechDocs associated to the specific version: NSX Edge Bare Metal System Requirements

2. Validate ISO Integrity

   • Confirm the checksum of NSX Edge ISO image matches the expected hash values to rule out corruption during download.

3. Use the Latest NSX Edge Image

   • Attempt the installation using a newer NSX Edge image version, as the issue may be resolved in a more recent build.

4. Collect Crash Logs for Analysis

   • If the installation still fails:

     • Collect the diagnostic crash bundle from: /var/crash/

     • If networking isn’t yet configured, consider booting into a Live Ubuntu image to retrieve the dump file for investigation.

5. Engage Broadcom Technical Support

   • Raise a support case with Broadcom and attach the crash data for further troubleshooting: Creating and Managing Broadcom Support Cases

 

Additional Information

Please note that there is a known issue affecting Bare Metal Edge installation in versions between NSX 4.2.0 and 4.2.1.1 EP. This issue has been resolved in NSX version 4.2.1.1 and later. For more information, please refer to the release notes linked below.

Fixed Issue 3469038: The Bare Metal Edge ISO installation fails.
New installations of the Bare Metal Edge of impacted versions (4.2.0 till 4.2.1.1 EP) from the NSX Edge ISO image will fail with status code 100. However, existing users upgrading their instances to any NSX version from 4.2.0 or later will not encounter this issue.
​New install failure is due to ​​DNS name lookup failure and this is addressed in 4.2.1.2 and later versions.

​https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/nsx/vmware-nsx/4-2/release-notes/vmware-nsx-4212-release-notes.html