Payload of unsupported Workload Management solution has been identified on the following host(s)

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Converting a baseline to image cluster fails with error "Payload of unsupported Workload Management solution has been identified on the following host(s)".

• In vCenter, /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager :: EnablementManager ] [EnablementManager 2349] Loaded solution 'Workload Management' with 'spherelet' vib(s).component(s)
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: :EnablementManager ] [EnablementManager 1919]
Unsupported component lookup for 'domain-c6036' cluster.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: :EnablementManager ] [EnablementManager 1114] Looking for unsupported solutions.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### warning vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: :EnablementManager] [EnablementManager 1193] 'VMware-Spherelet-1-27' component/vib belongs to 'Workload Management' unsupported solution. Hosts containing this component/vib: <esxi fqdn>, <esxi fqdn>. This will block PMan enablement.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: :EnablementManager ] [EnablementManager 1942] Unsupported vib lookup for 'domain-c####' cluster.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: :EnablementManager] [EnablementManager 1114] Looking for unsupported solutions.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### info vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager: : EnablementManager ] [EnablementManager 1209]
Unsupported solutions were not identified.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.#### warning vmware-vum-server[946741] [Originator@6876 sub=ImageManager :: EnablementManager] [EnablementManager 1971] Payload of unsupported Workload Management solution has been identified on the following host(s): <esxi fqdn>, <esxi fqdn>. This will block PMan enablement.

Environment

• vCenter 8.x
• vCenter 9.x
• ESXi 8.x
• ESX 9.x

Cause

When a vSphere Kubernetes Service ( VKS ) enabled for a cluster and never consumed by user. Would be better to remove the spherelet vib. If it was not removed, we cannot manage or convert the image management.

Resolution

Note: Below steps are only for Non-VKS cluster or cluster where VKS was configured and never used.

To fix this issue, you just need to remove the spherelet vib from the ESXi hosts. Before removing it, follow the validation steps below to ensure the cluster/ESXi hosts are not part of VKS and that no pods are running.

How to validate ESXi host is using for VKS

1. Check the status of spherelet
   
   [user@esxi-host :~ ] /etc/init.d/spherelet status
   
   
2. Below command output indicates that service is not running and there are no kubes or pods are configured
   
   YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet spherelet init script invoked via the following hierarchy
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet #######: -sh
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet #######: sshd -i
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet #######: /usr/lib/vmware/busybox/bin/busybox inetd /var/run/inetd.conf
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet #######: /bin/init
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet Log fetcher support: True
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet Log fetcher size: 460
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet spherelet is not running
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss,### init.d/spherelet spherelet is not running
   
   

If the above output is not matching or the service is running, follow this link -  Payload of unsupported Workload Management solution for a working VKS environment 

If the above output matches, proceed to the steps below to remove the vib from the ESXi host.

1. 1. Take ssh to host and filter the vib
      
      esxcli software vib list | grep -i sphere
spherelet
      
      
   2. Now remove the vib from the host
      
      esxcli software vib remove --vibname=spherelet

Removal Result
Message: Operation finished successfully.
Reboot Required: false
VIBs Installed:
VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_spherelet_1.3.11-24498727
VIBs Skipped:
      
      
   3. Ensure, vib is removed
      
      esxcli software vib list | grep -i sphere
      
      
   4. Log in to vCenter 
   5. Select the specific vSphere Cluster
   6. Click the Updates 
   7. Click the Image
   8. UI should load without error