vCenter Server restore fails at stage 2 with “RestoreManager encountered an exception”

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• During a file-based restore of VMware vCenter Server, the restore process fails at stage 2. The UI displays the following error:
  
RestoreManager encountered an exception. See logs for details:
https://<vcenter_fqdn>:5480/vami/backend/vc-support.cgi
  
  
• In /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/restore.log:
  
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] [YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-########] [MainProcess: PID-#####] [RestoreManager::PostRestore:RestoreManager.py:467] ERROR: Reconciliation job failed to start. Error: error code: 1


• In /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/reconciliation.log:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] [YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-########] [MainProcess: PID-#####]  [ReconciliationManager::main:ReconciliationManager.py:301] ERROR: Failed to complete reconciliation.
Error Failed to synchronize SSO data with partners.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] [YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-########] [vpxdevent_lib::dispatch_events:vpxdevent_lib.py:253] ERROR: Failed to get vCenter server endpoint urls. Err [Errno 111] Connection refused

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The failure occurs because the VMware Directory Service (vmdird) is in a Read only state.

During stage 2 of the restore workflow, vCenter performs a reconciliation process to synchronize SSO data. If vmdird is not in the Normal state, reconciliation cannot complete, which prevents vCenter services from starting.

Resolution

Verify the state of the VMware Directory Service and set it to Normal if it is in Read only mode.

1. Log in to vCenter with the root credentials via SSH.
2. Check vmdird status with option 6:
   
   /usr/lib/vmware-vmdir/bin/vdcadmintool
   
   
3. If the state is shown as Read only, select option 5 to set the vmdir state to Normal.
4. Restart VCSA services:
   
   service-control --stop --all && service-control --start --all