Error: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7 during vmware-hbr-agent installation

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Automated installation of the Host-Based Replication (HBR) agent fails on managed ESXi hosts. This issue prevents the deployment of the vmware-hbr-agent.vib package required for vSphere Replication and VMware Live Recovery. This article provides troubleshooting steps to identify network blocks and configuration errors resulting in esxupdate exit status 7.

vCenter tasks show: An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7.
On ESXi hosts managed by vCenter Server, the automated "Install" task for the hbr-agent (Host-Based Replication) fails repeatedly.
vCenter has following error confirming host throwing error while installing VIB:

In /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log:

-- > (vim. fault.PlatformConfigFault) {
faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
faultMessage = <unset>,
text = "/usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7"
msg = "An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7."

ESXi hosts report the following errors:
In /var/run/log/esxupdate.log:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(14) esxupdate[32######44]: Opening https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib for download
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 4 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 3 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 2 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 1 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(14) esxupdate[32######44]: Successfully executed cmd: localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ networkinternal firewall firewallRuleset set --ruleset-id esxupdate --service-name esxupdate --enabled false
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: An esxupdate error exception was caught:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 1354, in do_open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1259, in request
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1305, in _send_request
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1254, in endheaders
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1014, in _send_output
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 954, in send
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1421, in connect
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 925, in connect
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/socket.py", line 808, in create_connection
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/socket.py", line 796, in create_connection
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: socket.timeout: timed out:
:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 913, in _getVibsFromUrls
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: with d.Open() as rObj:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 474, in Open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return self._openfromurl()
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 377, in _openfromurl
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: raise DownloaderError(self.url, self.local, str(e))
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: esximage.Downloader.DownloaderError: ('https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib', '', '<urlopen error timed out>')

Attempts to manually retrieve the VIB using wget from the ESXi command line also fail to establish a connection.

[root@esxi:~] wget https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib
Connecting to <replication_server>:443 (<ip_address>:443)

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x / 8.x
VMware vSphere Replication 8.x / 9.x
VMware Live Recovery

Cause

The ESXi host is unable to download the vSphere Replication (HBR) VIB because it cannot resolve the hostname of the vSphere Replication appliance. This typically occurs when:

1. DNS settings are missing or incorrect on the ESXi host.
2. The vSphere Replication appliance is configured with a short name/hostname that the ESXi host cannot resolve.
3. Network port 8043 or 443 is blocked between the host and the appliance.

Resolution

Verify Host DNS:

Log in to the ESXi host and verify DNS configuration using esxcli network ip dns server list.

Ensure the host can resolve the FQDN of the vSphere Replication appliance.

Verify Connectivity:

From the ESXi host, verify it can reach the appliance over the required ports:

nc -zv [Appliance_FQDN] 443

Validate connectivity from the ESXi host using the following command: Review this command before running it.

nc -zv <Appliance_IP> 443

If the command returns Connection timed out, engage the internal network administration team to identify where traffic is being dropped.

Once connectivity is restored, the "Install" task will be installed successfully.

Additional Information

If connectivity is verified but the error persists, ensure the vSphere Replication certificate uses a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) rather than a short hostname. See Continues failed tasks on vCenter "An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7."

VMware Ports and Protocols