Error: "Invalid time zone specified" in Automation Central Schedule tab after updating VCF Operations 8.18.x

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

When you navigate to Automation Central > Schedule in VCF Operations (formerly VMware Aria Operations) 8.18.x, the page fails to load and displays a continuous loading spinner.

If you inspect the browser developer tools console, the following error is present: AppUtils.js:37 Uncaught RangeError: Invalid time zone specified: GMT-05:00

This issue typically occurs following a patch or upgrade to version 8.18.6 or higher.

Environment

VCF Operations 8.18.x

Cause

The VCF Operations user interface cannot parse legacy or non-standard IANA timezone strings, such as "GMT-05:00", which may be associated with historical automation jobs. When the UI attempts to render these jobs in the calendar view, the JavaScript engine throws a RangeError, preventing the Schedule tab from loading.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must identify and update the jobs with the invalid time zone configuration.

Step 1: Identify the Problematic Job

1. Open VCF Operations in your browser and navigate to Automation Central.

2. Open the browser Developer Tools (F12) and select the Console tab.

3. Ensure the browser context is set to ops_iframe.

4. Paste and execute the following script to list jobs with invalid date configurations:

Ext.Ajax.request({
 url: 'jobManagement.action',
 params: {
 mainAction: 'getJobsWithConfigurations'
 },
 disableCaching: true,
 scope: this,
 method: 'POST',
 success: function(response) {
 const me = this;
 const data = JSON.parse(response.responseText);
 const calendarData = data.calendarData;
 calendarData.forEach(function(data) {
 if (data.expireOn != null) {
 try {
 Date.toLocaleString('en-US', { timeZone: data.timeZone });
 } catch(e) {
 console.log("Problematic Job Name = " + data.title);
 }
 }
 });
 }
});

Step 2: Correct the Job Configuration

1. In the VCF Operations UI, navigate to the Jobs tab (instead of the Schedule tab).

2. Locate the job(s) identified in Step 1.

3. Click Edit on the problematic job.

4. Navigate to the time zone settings, select a valid IANA Time Zone from the dropdown, and click Save.

5. Refresh your browser and verify the Schedule tab now loads correctly.