ESXi host "Install" task for vmware-hbr-agent fails with "/usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• On ESXi hosts managed by vCenter Server, the automated "Install" task for the hbr-agent (Host-Based Replication) fails repeatedly. 
• The vSphere Client displays the following error message: 
  • An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7

• When reviewing the /var/run/log/esxupdate.log on the affected ESXi host, you observe timeouts during the VIB download process:
• From /var/run/log/esxupdate.log 
  • YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(14) esxupdate[32######44]: Opening https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib for download
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 4 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 3 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 2 retry left...
2026-01-22T02:42:01Z Wa(12) esxupdate[32######44]: Download failed: <urlopen error timed out>, 1 retry left...
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(14) esxupdate[32######44]: Successfully executed cmd: localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ networkinternal firewall firewallRuleset set --r
uleset-id esxupdate --service-name esxupdate --enabled false
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: An esxupdate error exception was caught:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 1354, in do_open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1259, in request
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1305, in _send_request
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1254, in endheaders
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1014, in _send_output
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 954, in send
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 1421, in connect
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/http/client.py", line 925, in connect
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/socket.py", line 808, in create_connection
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/socket.py", line 796, in create_connection
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: socket.timeout: timed out
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 375, in _openfromurl
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return self._retry(self._open_for_download, self.options['retry'])
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 224, in _retry
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: _checkRetry(retry, retries, e)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 375, in _openfromurl
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return self._retry(self._open_for_download, self.options['retry'])
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 224, in _retry
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: _checkRetry(retry, retries, e)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 208, in _checkRetry
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: raise exception
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 214, in _retry
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return func()
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 265, in _open_for_download
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: robj = self._urlopen(self.url)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 198, in _urlopen
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return opener.open(url, timeout=self.options['timeout'])
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 525, in open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 542, in _open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 502, in _call_chain
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 1397, in https_open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/urllib/request.py", line 1357, in do_open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: urllib.error.URLError: <urlopen error timed out>
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: Traceback (most recent call last):
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 913, in _getVibsFromUrls
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: with d.Open() as rObj:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 474, in Open
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: return self._openfromurl()
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Downloader.py", line 377, in _openfromurl
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: raise DownloaderError(self.url, self.local, str(e))
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ Er(11) esxupdate[32######44]: esximage.Downloader.DownloaderError: ('https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib', '', '<urlopen error timed out>')
    
    
• Attempts to manually retrieve the VIB using wget from the ESXi command line also fail to establish a connection.
  
  • [root@esxi:~] wget https://<replication_server>:443/vib/vmware-hbr-agent.vib
Connecting to <replication_server>:443 (<ip_address>:443)

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.X 
• VMware vCenter Server 8.X

Cause

• The ESXi host is unable to establish a network connection to the vSphere Replication Appliance. This prevents the host from downloading the vmware-hbr-agent.vib package required from replication server appliance.
  
  
• If attempt to ping the replication server it fails.
  • [root@esxi:~] ping <IP_ address>
PING <IP_ address> (<IP_ address>): 56 data bytes

--- <IP_ address> ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
    
    
• Also, port  connectivity to replication server over 443 is getting timed out. 
  • [root@esxi:~] nc -zv <IP_ address> 443
nc: connect to <IP_ address> port 443 (tcp) failed: Connection timed out

Resolution

To resolve this issue, network connectivity must be restored between the ESXi host and the vSphere Replication Appliance.

• Verify Appliance State:
  • Ensure the vSphere Replication Appliance is powered on and the management services are running.
• Check Network Path:
  • Ensure there is a valid network path between the host and the appliance.
• Firewall Configuration:
  • Verify that port TCP 443 is open in the physical network firewall and any guest-level firewalls between the ESXi host and the Replication Server.
• Engage Internal Networking Team:
  • Provide the results of the ping and nc tests to your internal network administration team to identify where the traffic is being dropped.

Once connectivity is restored, the "Install" task will be installed successfully.

 

Additional Information

Also refer: Continues failed tasks on vCenter "An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 7."