Configuration profile pre-check fails in the vCenter Server for ESXi Desired State configuration

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When running a configuration profile pre-check on a vSphere cluster, the process fails with the following error message:

• When selecting Review issues, the below error message is observed:
  

  Impact plugin 'advanced_options' failed

   

• Affected hosts report compliance failures even though no visible issues exist in the host logs. The pre-check failure prevents cluster-wide profile compliance validation.
  
  
• The root cause was identified by comparing the exported JSON configuration profiles of affected and unaffected hosts. The obsolete advanced setting CIMvmw_hpereplicationProviderEnabled appeared exclusively in the configurations of the impacted hosts.

• The following log snippets are observed in the /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log file of the vCenter server:
  

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.Z warning vmware-vum-server[09973] [Originator@6876 sub=TaskStatsCollector] [taskStatsCollector 190] Task type or creation time not present
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.Z info vmware-vum-server[08912] [Originator@6876 sub=PM.AsyncTask.DraftPrecheckTask{436}] [vciTaskBase 1496] SerializeToVimFault fault:
  --> (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
  -->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
  -->    faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [
  -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.DraftConfigurationPrecheckTask.Failure",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "hosts",
  -->                value = "<HOST_NAME>"
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = <unset>
  -->       }
  -->    ],
  -->    reason = "vLCM Task failed, see Error Stack for details."
  -->    msg = "{
  -->     "data": null,
  -->     "error_type": "ERROR",
  -->     "messages": [
  -->         {
  -->             "args": [],
  -->             "default_message": "Draft configuration Precheck task failed or skipped on '<HOST_NAME>'.",
  -->             "id": "com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.DraftConfigurationPrecheckTask.Failure",
  -->             "localized": "Draft configuration Precheck task failed or skipped on '<HOST_NAME>'.",
  -->             "params": {
  -->                 "hosts": {
  -->                     "d": null,
  -->                     "dt": null,
  -->                     "format": null,
  -->                     "i": null,
  -->                     "l": null,
  -->                     "precision": null,
  -->                     "s": "<HOST_NAME>"
  -->                 }
  -->             }
  -->         }
  -->     ]
  --> }"
  --> }

Environment

vCenter Server Appliance 8.x
vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

The issue stems from a configuration inconsistency caused by the advanced option, CIMvmw_hpereplicationProviderEnabled. This obsolete setting persists as a host override on some ESXi hosts, even though it is absent from the cluster's reference configuration (the desired state).

When this obsolete setting exists on some hosts but not on the host used to extract the configuration, the configuration profile detects an inconsistency, preventing successful pre-check and application. The standard workflow of extracting the profile from a clean reference host or deleting the setting via the GUI or the .json file does not permanently resolve the issue because the setting is often deeply embedded as a host override.

Resolution

1. Establish an SSH session to one of the ESXi hosts that is failing the pre-check.

2. Use the configstorecli command to confirm that the obsolete parameter is present in the host's configuration store:

   configstorecli config current get -c esx -g advanced_options -k user_vars

    

3. Use the configstorecli delete command to permanently remove the parameter from the host's active and persistent configuration.

   configstorecli config current delete -c esx -g advanced_options -k user_vars -i "CIMvmw_hpereplicationProviderEnabled"

    

4. Run the get command again to confirm the setting has been successfully deleted from the configuration store:

   configstorecli config current get -c esx -g advanced_options -k user_vars

   
   The entry for CIMvmw_hpereplicationProviderEnabled should now be absent from the output.
   
   

5. Repeat Steps 1-4 for all other ESXi hosts that exhibit the compliance failure and run the pre-check again.