Supervisor services cannot be installed after Supervisor restore from backup showing error "The service namespace svc-tkg-domain-XXXXX already exists.. "

Products

• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service

Issue/Introduction

After a restore of the Supervisor from a backup the Supervisor services cannot be installed showing the following error in the GUI:

GUI error:

Configured Core Supervisor Services
Service: velero.vsphere.vmware.com. A general system error occurred. Error message: error installing service 'velero.vsphere.vmware.com' version '1.8.0-embedded+24668882' on cluster 'domain-cxxxxx': Failed to create Supervisor Service (velero.vsphere.vmware.com) version (1.8.0-embedded+24668882) on cluster (domain-c10876). The service namespace (svc-velero-domain-cxxxxx) already exists..

Service: tkg.vsphere.vmware.com. A general system error occurred. Error message: error installing service 'tkg.vsphere.vmware.com' version '3.3.3-embedded' on cluster 'domain-cxxxxx': Failed to create Supervisor Service (tkg.vsphere.vmware.com) version (3.3.3-embedded) on cluster (domain-c10876). The service namespace (svc-tkg-domain-cxxxxx) already exists..

 

Logs of the wcp service on the vCenter confirm the problem:

/var/log/vmware/wcp/wcpsvc.log

wcpsvc.log

2025-10-09T13:44:54.329Z error wcp [appplatform/kube_supervisor_service_version_carvel.go:178] [opID=68e7c38d] Failed to create k8s namespace svc-tkg-domain-c10876 for service (tkg.vsphere.vmware.com): <nil>
2025-10-09T13:44:54.329Z error wcp [appplatform/clustersupervisorservices.go:145] [opID=68e7c38d] failed to create supervisor service tkg.vsphere.vmware.com version 3.3.3-embedded on cluster domain-c10876: Failed to create Supervisor Service (tkg.vsphere.vmware.com) version (3.3.3-embedded) on cluster (domain-cxxxxx). The service namespace (svc-tkg-domain-cxxxxx) already exists.
2025-10-09T13:44:54.330Z debug wcp [event/event.go:150] [opID=68e7c38d] publish event for with err message {"Id":"vcenter.wcp.appplatform.clustersupervisorservice.create.ns_already_exist_error","DefaultMessage":"Failed to create Supervisor Service (tkg.vsphere.vmware.com) version (3.3.3-embedded) on cluster (domain-cxxxxx). The service namespace (svc-tkg-domain-cxxxxx) already exists.","Args":["tkg.vsphere.vmware.com","3.3.3-embedded","domain-cxxxxx","svc-tkg-domain-cxxxxx"],"Params":null,"Localized":"Failed to create Supervisor Service (tkg.vsphere.vmware.com) version (3.3.3-embedded) on cluster (domain-cxxxxx). The service namespace (svc-tkg-domain-cxxxxx) already exists."}

2025-10-09T13:59:43.233Z error wcp [appplatform/kube_supervisor_service_version_carvel.go:178] [opID=68e7d19b] Failed to create k8s namespace svc-velero-domain-c10876 for service (velero.vsphere.vmware.com): <nil>
2025-10-09T13:59:43.233Z error wcp [appplatform/clustersupervisorservices.go:145] [opID=68e7d19b] failed to create supervisor service velero.vsphere.vmware.com version 1.8.0-embedded+24668882 on cluster domain-cxxxxx: Failed to create Supervisor Service (velero.vsphere.vmware.com) version (1.8.0-embedded+24668882) on cluster (domain-cxxxxx). The service namespace (svc-velero-domain-cxxxxx) already exists.
2025-10-09T13:59:43.233Z debug wcp [event/event.go:150] [opID=68e7d19b] publish event for with err message {"Id":"vcenter.wcp.appplatform.clustersupervisorservice.create.ns_already_exist_error","DefaultMessage":"Failed to create Supervisor Service (velero.vsphere.vmware.com) version (1.8.0-embedded+24668882) on cluster (domain-cxxxxx). The service namespace (svc-velero-domain-cxxxxx) already exists.

 

Environment

vCenter 8.0 U3

Cause

When restoring the Supervisor the existing namespaces for the Supervisor services are not replaced

Resolution

The problem will fixed in a future vCenter version.

 

Workaround:

ssh into the vCenter:

1. Locate core service config file on the vCenter: /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json

2. (Important!) Backup the content of the file /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json

# cp /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services-ori.json

3. Temporarily clear the core service list: edit /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json and replace its contents with: {}

4. wait 3-5 minutes to ensure the system registers the change

5. Delete the affected namespaces mentioned in the GUI error using DCLI

root@vc [ ~ ]# dcli +i
dcli> namespaces instances delete --namespace <namespace name mentioned in GUI error>

6. Restore the original core service config /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json

# cp /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services-ori.json /etc/vmware/wcp/supervisorservices/core-services.json

7. Wait for the services to be reinstalled and reach a healthy state.