VAMI backup failing on vCenter Server 9.0 with the following error "BackupManager encountered an exception." or scheduled backup will not start.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• While creating a backup of vCenter Server appliance from VAMI on vCenter Server 9.0, it fails with the following error "BackupManager encountered an exception."
• Scheduled backups will not run.
• Log snippets observed under /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/backup.log file :
  
  

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS [ComponentScriptsBackup:PID-#####] [Log::run:Log.py:64] ERROR: Failed to get HOK token with error 'Failed to get HoK token with error  SoapException:\nfaultcode: ns0:RequestFailed\nfaultstring: EndTime: [Timestamp for the Token] is not after startTime: [Timestamp for the Token]\nfaultxml: <?xml version=\'1.0\' encoding=\'UTF-8\'?><S:Envelope xmlns:S="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"><S:Body><S:Fault xmlns:ns4="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"><faultcode xmlns:ns0="http://docs.oasis-open.org/ws-sx/ws-trust/200512">ns0:RequestFailed</faultcode><faultstring>EndTime: [Timestamp for the Token] is not after startTime: [Timestamp for the Token]</faultstring></S:Fault></S:Body></S:Envelope>

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 9.0 

Cause

During the backup process, the WCP service generates a token based on the local timestamp, but since validation occurs in UTC, the time difference causes the token verification to fail.

Resolution

This is currently a known issue in vCenter Server 9.0.
As a workaround, set the vCenter Server Appliance time zone to 'UTC' rather than 'local time' and then attempt to take the backup again. The time zone on the vCenter Server can be edited by following : 

1. Access the VAMI page by logging in to the following URL - https://vCenter_Server_FQDN:5480 
2. Change the time zone under Time > Time Zone > Edit > Choose time zone as 'UTC'.