vCenter update/patch from 8.0U3e to 8.0U3g fails with error "Installation of one or more RPMs failed".

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Error message on VAMI: "Installation of one or more RPMs failed". 

• Log file /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.log will show entries similar to: 

XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,633 - 40298 -     functions_target::              createPhotonRepo: 292 -     INFO - appliance-photon repo created successfully
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,633 - 40298 -     functions_target::                    runCommand:  82 -    DEBUG - Invoking command [/bin/bash --login -c /usr/bin/photon-upgrade.sh --assume-yes --repos=appliance-photon --install-all]
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,583 - 40298 -     functions_target::                    runCommand:  99 -    DEBUG - Process completed. Return code [11], stdout [XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 Recording list of all installed RPMs on this machine to /tmp/photon-upgrade-xqe/rpm-qa.txt.
XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 Creating backup of RPM DB.
XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 Generating tdnf cache on Photon OS 4.0
Refreshing metadata for: 'vCenter Server Appliance Photon RPMs'
Metadata cache created.
XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 Rebuilding RPMDB.
XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 successfully rebuilt RPMDB.
XXXX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX+0800 Upgrading all installed Photon OS 4.0 packages to latest available versions.
Refreshing metadata for: 'vCenter Server Appliance Photon RPMs'
], stderr [1. package open-vm-tools-sdmp-12.3.5-1.ph4.x86_64 requires open-vm-tools = 12.3.5-1.ph4, but none of the providers can be installed
Found 1 problem(s) while resolving
Error(1301) : Solv general runtime error
2025-08-20T09:59:52+0800 Error in upgrading all packages to latest versions (tdnf error code: 21).
Original list of RPMs and RPM DB are stored in /tmp/photon-upgrade-xqe,  please provide contents of that folder along with system journal   logs for analysis; these logs can be captured using command-
 # /usr/bin/journalctl -xa > /tmp/photon-upgrade-xqe/journal.log
 Cannot continue. Aborting.
]
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,583 - 40298 -   dbfunctions_target::                    executeDML:  56 -    DEBUG - Executing Query {UPDATE install_progress SET Subphase = ?,          end_time = DATETIME('now'), status = ?          WHERE Phase = ? } with parameters ('Install Photon RPM transaction failed.', 'failed', 'Installing RPMs')
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,647 - 40298 -    update_b2b_target::            executeInstallRpms:1946 -    ERROR - RPM installation failed.
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,647 - 40298 -    update_b2b_target::                   installRpms:2399 -    ERROR - Installation of one or more RPMs failed.
..
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,656 - 40298 -   dbfunctions_target::                    executeDML:  56 -    DEBUG - Executing Query {INSERT INTO progress VALUES(NULL, ?,         DATETIME('now'), ?, ?, ?)} with parameters ('failed', 'Installation of one or more RPMs failed.. Installation failed', 100, 95)
XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX,661 - 40298 -    update_b2b_target::                       install:2981 -    ERROR - Installation of RPMs phase failed.

 

$ rpm -qa | grep -i vm-tools-sdmp
open-vm-tools-sdmp-12.3.5-1-ph4.x86_

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

Resolution

1. Take a snapshot of the vCenter.

2. SSH to the vCenter and run the command below to remove the problematic RPM.

rpm -ev --nodeps open-vm-tools-sdmp-12.3.5-1-ph4.x86_

3. Perform the vCenter update.