Patching of the vCenter Server is stuck at 83% during RPM installation
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Patching of the vCenter Server is stuck at 83% during RPM installation

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Article ID: 426377

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to patch or update a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 8.x via the vCenter Management Interface (VAMI), the process appears to stall or hang at 83% during the stage: "Setting up appliance-photon repo and installing RPMS"

Upon reviewing the update logs, you observe that the Photon OS RPM installation has technically finished, but the process does not proceed to the next stage.

Log File Location: /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.log

Log Excerpt:
dracut:  rd.lvm.lv=vg_root_0/lv_root_0
dracut:  root=/dev/mapper/vg_root_0-lv_root_0 rootfstype=ext4 rootflags=rw,relatime
dracut: *** Stripping files ***
dracut: *** Stripping files done ***
dracut: *** Creating image file '/boot/initrd.img-5.10.245-1.ph4' ***
dracut: *** Creating initramfs image file '/boot/initrd.img-5.10.245-1.ph4' done ***

Complete!
yyyy-mm-ddT18:44:32+0000 All packages were upgraded to latest versions successfully.
yyyy-mm-ddT18:44:32+0000 Rebuilding RPMDB.
yyyy-mm-ddT18:44:37+0000 successfully rebuilt RPMDB.
yyyy-mm-ddT18:44:37+0000 --install-all option was passed.
yyyy-mm-ddT18:44:37+0000 all packages from provided repos are already installed.
], stderr [initramfs (re)generation triggerin 1 2 2.0-7.ph4
initrd generation of kernel 5.10.245-1.ph4 will be triggered later
Warning: The unit file, source configuration file or drop-ins of vmtoolsd.service changed on disk. Run 'systemctl daemon-reload' to reload units.
Warning: The unit file, source configuration file or drop-ins of vgauthd.service changed on disk. Run 'systemctl daemon-reload' to reload units.
initrd of kernel 5.10.238-2.ph4 removed
(re)generate initramfs for all kernels, transfilertriggerin 2.0-7.ph4
]
yyyy-mm-dd 18:44:37,229 - 628614 -   update_b2b_target::           executeInstallRpms:2143 -   INFO - Installation of Photon RPMS completed successfully.
yyyy-mm-dd 18:44:37,229 - 628614 -   update_b2b_target::                 isDowngrade:2459 -   INFO - It is downgrade: False
yyyy-mm-dd 18:44:37,229 - 628614 -   functions_target::               runInstallVCRpm: 166 -   INFO - Installing VC RPMS.
yyyy-mm-dd 18:44:37,229 - 628614 -   functions_target::                    runCommand:  82 -  DEBUG - Invoking command [/bin/bash --login -c /bin/rpm -U
hv /storage/seat/software-update243upp4v/stage/*.rpm]
Environment
Product: VMware vCenter Server Appliance

Environment

Version: 8.x

Task: Software Update / Patching

Cause

This issue typically occurs because the update orchestrator times out after the Photon OS RPM installation phase.

Although the logs indicate the "Installation of Photon RPMS completed successfully," the handoff to the vCenter Server RPM installation phase fails to trigger the progress and leading to a hang state.

Resolution

There is currently no direct "resume" button in the UI once this timeout occurs. 

The update can be re-attempted using the Command Line Interface (CLI), which is more resilient to session timeouts.

Workaround Steps:


Revert to Snapshot:

Before the failed update, a snapshot should have been taken.

  • Power off the vCenter Server Appliance.
  • Revert the VCSA to the "Pre-Patching" snapshot.
  • Power the VCSA back on.

Perform Patching via CLI: Instead of using the web browser (VAMI), perform the update directly from the appliance shell:

  • SSH into the vCenter Server Appliance as root.

  • Access the appliance shell via SSH (or console) to run the update manually. 

    # Stage the packages and accept EULA
    software-packages stage --iso --acceptEulas

    # To view the staged packages
    software-packages list --staged

    # To install the staged packages
    software-packages install --staged

  • KB for reference: Patching vCenter Server Appliance via CLI

 

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