Error: The new target appliance is in failed state and cannot be used for the upgrade.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

The vCenter GUI shows the following error set:

 

Previous Error : The new target appliance is in failed state and cannot be used for the upgrade.

Previous Error
The compatibility of plug-in package(s) "com.vmware.vrUi-8.8.0.22795455" with the new vCenter Server version cannot be validated. They may not function properly after vCenter Server upgrade.

Resolution
Please contact the plug-in vendor and make sure the package is compatible with the new vCenter Server version.

 

Running VDT, you find that the Lookup Services failed and the recommendation is to run lsdoctor --stalefix, which looks something like this:

----------------

   SSO Checks
----------------

 

                   VC Lookup Service Check

                         *  SSO Site: default-first-site

                                * [FAIL]  vCenterName.domainName.com

                                       [FAIL] Port 744 Found

                                                   Please run python lsdoctor.py --stalefix option ont his node.

                                                   Services with port 7444: ['sso:groupcheck', 'sso:sts', 'sso:admin']

                                       [FAIL] 5.5 Solution User

                                                    Please run python lsdoctor.py --stalefix option ont his node.

                                                    Services to remove: ['logbrowser:logbrowser']

                                        [FAIL] 5.5 Solution User OK

                                                     Please run python lsdoctor.py --stalefix option ont his node.

 

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New appliance for new vCenter gets shutdown and deleted by the upgrade process, so there is limited information as to the real problem as gathering and searching logs while anticipating the vCenter shutting down and getting deleted is difficult.

Environment

vSphere 8.x

Cause

If vCenter is in a bad state before starting the upgrade, it is more likely to upgrade will fail. In this particular scenario, the vCenter had a stale entry for its trust anchor, and the deployment of a new appliance of the new appliance failed to start services which cause the the whole upgrade to fail.

Resolution

Protect the vCenter by taking a snapshot. In case of linked mode, powering off all the vcenters at the same time and taking snapshots before powering them back on is required.

 

Follow KB:  Using the 'lsdoctor' Tool

 

1. SSH to the vCenter as the root user.
2. Run python lsdoctor.py --stalefix on the command line per the lsdoctor KB article.
   python lsdoctor.py --stalefix
3. Restart all vCenter services:   
   service-control --stop && service-control --start
4. Retry the upgrade.