VC upgrade from 7.x to 8.x fails with "Error Encountered an internal error. see /var/log/firstboot/vpostgres-firstboot.xxxxx.stderr.log Resolution This is an unrecoverable error, please retry install."
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VC upgrade from 7.x to 8.x fails with "Error Encountered an internal error. see /var/log/firstboot/vpostgres-firstboot.xxxxx.stderr.log Resolution This is an unrecoverable error, please retry install."

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Article ID: 408150

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

  • Attempting to upgrade vCenter Server from version 7.x to 8.x fails during vPostgres firstboot stage.

  • In the /var/log/firstboot/firstbootInfrastructure.log file, the following errors are observed:

    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss INFO firstbootInfrastructure [Failed] /usr/lib/vmware-vpostgres/firstboot/vpostgres-firstboot.py is complete
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss INFO firstbootInfrastructure No localized error detail found in /var/log/firstboot/vpostgres-firstboot.py_xxxxx_stderr.log, assuming internal error
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss WARNING firstbootInfrastructure Bug component info file does not exist
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss INFO firstbootInfrastructure Firstboot duration: 99 sec
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss INFO firstbootInfrastructure First boot is a failure
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss ERROR firstbootInfrastructure Installation of vCenter server failed with firstboot scripts
    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss WARNING firstbootInfrastructure stopping status aggregation...

  • In the /var/log/firstboot/vpostgres-firstboot.py_xxxxx_stderr.log file, the following errors are observed:

2025-08-13T14:23:36.698Z  Upgrade import failed due to error Error while creating constraints: psql.bin:/storage/seat/cis-export-folder/vcdb/create_constr.sql:1201: ERROR:  insert or update on table "vpx_nic" violates foreign key constraint "fk_vpx_vn_ref_vpx_vm"
2025-08-13T14:23:36.698Z  Upgrade import step failed
2025-08-13T14:23:36.698Z  vPostgres firstboot(action=firstboot) failed

  • In the /var/log/vmware/vpostgres/postgresql.log file, the following errors are observed:

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UTC 689c9fbf.443d 0    17469 163LOG:  Updated instance status successfully.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UTC 689c9fdf.451c 21033 VCDB postgres [local] 17692 4ERROR:  insert or update on table "vpx_nic" violates foreign key constraint "fk_vpx_vn_ref_vpx_vm"
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UTC 689c9fdf.451c 21033 VCDB postgres [local] 17692 5DETAIL:  Key (entity_id)=(843) is not present in table "vpx_entity".
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UTC 689c9fdf.451c 21033 VCDB postgres [local] 17692 6CONTEXT:  SQL statement "ALTER TABLE vc.vpx_nic ADD CONSTRAINT fk_vpx_vn_ref_vpx_vm foreign key (entity_id) references vpx_entity(id) on delete cascade"
        PL/pgSQL function create_constraint_if_not_exists(text,text,text,text) line 15 at EXECUTE
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss UTC 689c9fdf.451c 21033 VCDB postgres [local] 17692 7STATEMENT:  SELECT create_constraint_if_not_exists('vc', 'vpx_nic', 'fk_vpx_vn_ref_vpx_vm', 'FOREIGN KEY (entity_id) REFERENCES vpx_entity(id) ON DELETE CASCADE');

Environment

vCenter Server 7.x
vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The issue is caused due to stale entries in vCenter Server database. 

Resolution

If you encounter the symptoms described above, please contact Broadcom Technical Support for further assistance as the resolution involves modifications to the vCenter Server database instance.

Additional Information

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