Deploying VM using OVF template may fail with the error : "Unable to process template."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• OVF deployment fails in the "Select a compute resource" step with the error : Unable to process template.
• /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs/vsphere_client_virgo.log may show the following :

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z] [INFO ] p-nio-127.0.0.1-5090-exec-24 ####### ######## ####### c.v.v.c.p.impl.ProvisioningResourcePoolMutationProvider           Initiate deployment of template on resource pool. template = file:///<ovf_template_name>.ovf
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z] [ERROR] p-nio-127.0.0.1-5090-exec-31 ####### ######## ####### c.v.vsphere.client.provisioning.ovf.impl.OvfDeployServiceImpl     Unable to query OVF. com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.InternalServerError: InternalServerError (com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.internal_server_error) => {
    messages = [LocalizableMessage (com.vmware.vapi.std.localizable_message) => {
    id = vapi.bindings.method.impl.unexpected,
    defaultMessage = Provider method implementation threw unexpected exception: com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.InternalServerError,
    args = [com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.InternalServerError],
    params = <null>,
    localized = <null>
}, LocalizableMessage (com.vmware.vapi.std.localizable_message) => {
    id = com.vmware.vdcs.util.unhandled_error,
    defaultMessage = An error occurred: Unexpected status code: 503,
    args = [Unexpected status code: 503],
    params = <null>,
    localized = <null>
}],
    data = <null>,
    errorType = INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR

• /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log may show the following : 

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z info vpxd[#######] [Originator@6876 sub=vmomi.soapStub[70]] SOAP request returned HTTP failure; <<cs p:##################, TCP:localhost:1080>, /sms/sdk>, method: queryProvider; code: 503(Service Unavailable); fault: (null)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z warning vpxd[#######] [Originator@6876 sub=MoCluster] Failed to get storage providers from SMS; N7Vmacore4Http13HttpExceptionE(HTTP error response: Service Unavailable)

• The UI may show the following error :
  

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x 

VMware vCenter Server 8.x 

Cause

This issue is caused due to the vmware-sps ( vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service) service being in stopped state.

Resolution

• Connect to vCenter Server via SSH using root credentials.
• Validate the status of the sps service using the command : service-control --status vmware-sps
• Start the sps service using the command : service-control --start vmware-sps
• Retry the OVF deployment.

Additional Information

To start the services on the vCenter Server, refer : Stop, Start or Restart Services on vCenter Server 7.x/8.x

For steps to deploy VM using OVF template, refer : Deploy and Export OVF and OVA Templates