vCert Parsing Error When Certificates Return ‘Will Not Expire’ – vCenter 8.0.3

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Users may encounter errors when running the vCert script, such as:

Certificate will not expire -1: syntax error in expression (error token is "will not expire -1")

Environment

 VMware vCenter Server 8.0.3.00600

Cause

The vCert tool attempts to evaluate certificate expiration values. In some environments, certain certificates return the string "Certificate will not expire" instead of a numeric expiration date. Older versions of the vCert script are unable to handle this output, which results in the syntax error shown above

Resolution

To avoid these parsing errors going forward:

1. Use the latest version of the VCF Diagnostic Tool (VDT), which includes updated certificate checks and avoids this script parsing issue.

2. Follow the instructions provided in the Broadcom KB article for running the VDT:

Using the VCF Diagnostic Tool for vSphere (VDT)

Additional Information

Important Note:
Always cross-check to confirm that none of the vCert certificates are actually expired. This is a script parsing issue, not a problem with the certificates themselves. As shown in the output