Failed to download the Site Recovery plugin with "Name or service not known" error while registering vSphere Replication or VMware Live Site Recovery
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Failed to download the Site Recovery plugin with "Name or service not known" error while registering vSphere Replication or VMware Live Site Recovery

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Article ID: 411855

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Updated On:

Products

VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

  • After deploying vSphere Replication or VMware Live Site Recovery, the Site Recovery plugin download fails in vSphere Client with "Name or service not known" error while trying to register with vCenter.

  • vSphere Replication / VMware Live Site Recovery is configured with Short Name.

  • Following error reported in vsphere_client_virgo.log of vCenter:

(from /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs/vsphere_client_virgo.log)

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.status.RemotePluginStatusServiceImpl       DOWNLOADING: Downloading plugin package com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573 from https://<Host Short Name>:443/drplugin/plugin.json.zip ...
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plug-in package 'com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573' with temporary name '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573/plugin-package.tmp'.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plugin package from https://<Host Short Name>/drplugin/plugin.json.zip
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [ERROR] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plug-in package 'com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573' to '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573/plugin-package.tmp' has failed due to unknown reasons. Removing failed plugin package folder '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573'. java.net.UnknownHostException: <Host Short Name>: Name or service not known

[2026-05-01T15:50:06.940Z] [ERROR] sdk-plugin-deployer-79025     com.vmware.vise.plugin.status.RemotePluginStatusServiceImpl       DOWNLOAD_FAILED: Error downloading plugin package com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.5.0 from https://vmname-vlr:443/drplugin/plugin.json.zip. Reason: Download error. Make sure that the URL is reachable and the thumbprint is correct. com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadException: java.net.UnknownHostException: EQX2-VLR01
        at com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl.download(PluginDownloadServiceImpl.java:195)
        at com.vmware.vise.plugin.async.task.PluginDownloadTask.run(PluginDownloadTask.java:51)
        at java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture$AsyncRun.run(CompletableFuture.java:1640)
        at com.vmware.vise.util.concurrent.QueuingCachedThreadPool$2.call(QueuingCachedThreadPool.java:873)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
        at com.vmware.vise.util.concurrent.QueuingCachedThreadPool$QueueProcessor.run(QueuingCachedThreadPool.java:1271)
        at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        at com.vmware.vise.util.concurrent.WorkerThreadFactory$1.run(WorkerThreadFactory.java:64)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:750)
Caused by: java.net.UnknownHostException: vmname-vlr
        at java.net.InetAddress$CachedAddresses.get(InetAddress.java:764)
        at java.net.InetAddress.getAllByName0(InetAddress.java:1291)
        at java.net.InetAddress.getAllByName(InetAddress.java:1144)
        at java.net.InetAddress.getAllByName(InetAddress.java:1065)
        at org.apache.http.impl.conn.SystemDefaultDnsResolver.resolve(SystemDefaultDnsResolver.java:45)
        at org.apache.http.impl.conn.DefaultHttpClientConnectionOperator.connect(DefaultHttpClientConnectionOperator.java:112)
        at org.apache.http.impl.conn.PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager.connect(PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager.java:376)
        at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.MainClientExec.establishRoute(MainClientExec.java:393)
        at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.MainClientExec.execute(MainClientExec.java:236)
        at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.ProtocolExec.execute(ProtocolExec.java:186)
        at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.RetryExec.execute(RetryExec.java:89)
        at org.apache.http.impl.execchain.RedirectExec.execute(RedirectExec.java:110)
        at org.apache.http.impl.client.InternalHttpClient.doExecute(InternalHttpClient.java:185)
        at org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient.execute(CloseableHttpClient.java:72)
        at org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient.execute(CloseableHttpClient.java:221)
        at org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient.execute(CloseableHttpClient.java:165)
        at com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl.downloadPackageInfo(PluginDownloadServiceImpl.java:342)
        at com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl.download(PluginDownloadServiceImpl.java:172)
        ... 11 common frames omitted


You cannot PING via short names. 

root@vmname-vcenter [ ~ ]# ping vmname-vlr 
ping: vmname-vlr: Name or service not known

root@vmname-vlr [ ~ ]# ping vmname-vcenter
ping: vmname-vcenter: Temporary failure in name resolution
 

Environment

  • VMware vSphere Replication 9.x

  • VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x

Cause

The vSphere UI's sdk-plugin-deployer requires a successful TLS handshake and name resolution to the URL registered in the extension metadata.

  • This issue occurs because the hostname was configured using short name that cannot be resolved via DNS.

  • vCenter Server downloads the plugin from a URL like the following, using the configured hostname:
    https://<hostname>:443/drplugin/plugin.json.zip

  • If appliance hostname is configured that cannot be resolved, vCenter Server cannot access and fails to download the Site Recovery plugin with the error "Name or service not known".

  • The Hostname must be set to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that is resolved by DNS.
  • The UnknownHostException occurs because the appliance was registered with an uppercase shortname not present in the vCenter's local search path or /etc/hosts.

  • The certificate_unknown(46) error indicates that the vSphere Client does not trust the certificate chain presented by the VLR appliance, often because the URI used for the download (shortname) does not match the Subject Alternative Name (SAN) in the certificate (FQDN), or the thumbprint registered in vCenter is stale. Standardizing on lowercase FQDNs is required for Photon OS-based appliances to maintain RFC compliance and consistent service discovery.

Resolution

Configure a valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for vSphere Replication (or VMware Live Site Recovery) appliance that can be resolved by DNS. You can choose one or more of the methods below based on your scenario. 

Method # 1 

  1. Log in to the vSphere Replication Appliance VAMI using admin user.
    https:<VR/VLSR_IP or FQDN>:5480/

  2. Navigate to Summary and verify the Hostname and vCenter Server details.

  3. Go to Networking and click Edit and update it with the correct FQDN.

  4. Update the certificate: Click Change Certificate and proceed with the update.

  5. Reconfigure the appliance

  6. Verify that the plugin download succeeds in the vSphere Client.


Method # 2 

  1. SSH into the Appliance as admin first and then su as root and enter the root password 

  2. Check the hostname by running this command: hostname 

  3. If the hostname appears in UPPERCASE or both (UPPER & lowercase). Modify the hostname to lowercase by following this KB. 

  4. Follow steps 4 - 5 from Method # 1 

Method # 3

  1. Login to VCSA & VLR appliances using SSH

  2. Edit and update the /ect/hosts file to include vCenter and VLR IP & FQDN information of both the sites

  3. Format is "IP FQDN shortname"; Example: 192.#.#.1 vlr01.domain.local vlr01

  4. Reconfigure the Appliance. 


Standardizing the hostname to lowercase FQDN ensures consistency between the OS identity, DNS records, and SSL certificate SANs. The RECONFIGURE action is critical as it updates the com.vmware.drui.plugin registration in the vCenter Extension Manager. Once the download URL in the extension metadata matches a resolvable and trusted FQDN, the sdk-plugin-deployer can successfully establish a TLS connection and download the plugin package.

Additional Information

Below is the document to reconfigure the vSphere replication network settings:

Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings

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