vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) compliance check fails with "Unknown" status on DPU-enabled ESXi hosts due to scan timeout

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) compliance checks fail to complete on a cluster. ESXi hosts report a compliance status of "Unknown".

• Only the DPU-enabled hosts show an "Unknown" status, while the compliance check completes successfully for the other hosts in the cluster.

• In /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log on the vCenter Server, a timeout occurs approximately 2-3 minutes after the task starts. The log contains entries similar to:

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.346-06:00 info vpxd[#######] [Originator@6876 sub=HttpSvc.HTTPService.HttpConnection] HTTP Connection has timed out while waiting for further requests; <io_obj p:##################, h:-1, <UNIX '/var/run/vpxd/vpxd-webserver-pipe'>, <UNIX ''>>, N7Vmacore16TimeoutExceptionE(Operation timed out: Stream: <io_obj p:##################, h:-1, <UNIX '/var/run/vpxd/vpxd-webserver-pipe'>, <UNIX ''>>, duration: 00:00:49.057122 (hh:mm:ss.us))]

   

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The hardware scan required to retrieve the DPU (Data Processing Unit) status takes longer than the default timeout value configured in vCenter Server (typically 120 seconds). When the scan exceeds this limit, vCenter Server assumes the task has hung and forcibly terminates it, resulting in an "Unknown" compliance state.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, increase the vCenter Server task and scanning timeout values as per the requirement.

Prerequisites:

1. Ensure no backups are currently running against the vCenter Server.

2. Take a snapshot of the vCenter Server VM before making configuration changes.

   • Note: Take an online snapshot if it is a standalone vCenter Server. If the vCenter Server is in Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM), shut down all vCenter Servers in the linked setup and then take an offline snapshot.

Procedure:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.

2. Select the vCenter Server object in the inventory tree.

3. Navigate to Configure > Settings > Advanced Settings.

4. Click Edit Settings.

5. Add the following two configuration keys with a value in seconds

   • Name: config.vpxd.lifecycle.scanning.timeout | Value: (in seconds)

   • Name: config.vpxd.vmdb.task.timeout | Value: (in seconds)

   • Note: If the keys do not exist, type the name and value at the bottom of the window, click Add, then click Save.

6. Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance via SSH as root.

7. Restart the vCenter Server services to apply the changes:

   Bash

   service-control --stop --all
   service-control --start --all
   

8. Once services are back online, run the compliance check again. Allow the task to run, it may take significantly longer than previous attempts, but it will complete successfully.