Aria Operations Report Generation Stuck Running When Logged in as vCenter SSO Admin

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

When logged in as the vCenter SSO admin to Aria Operations (by default this is [email protected]) you experience indefinite loading or "running" status when generating reports. 

Environment

VMware Aria Operations 8.16.x

Cause

vCenter Server users cannot create or schedule reports in VMware Aria Operations

• vCenter Server Users in VMware Aria Operations

Resolution

Use Federated users or local users (preferred) to generate reports. The steps below highlight the procedure to configure this. If you wish to use Federated users, skip to Step 2

 

Step 1: Create the Local User

1. Log in to Aria Operations as an Administrator.

2. Navigate to Administration > Access Control.

3. Click the User Accounts tab and click Add.

4. Select Local Users from the dropdown (this bypasses vCenter/Entra ID authentication).

5. Enter a username and a strong password. You can leave the "Email" and "Description" fields optional.

6. Click Next.

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Step 2: Assign the Correct Role

For a user to generate reports, they need specific "Content" permissions.

1. In the Assign Roles and Objects screen, click the plus (+) icon.

2. From the Role dropdown, select PowerUser or Administrator.

   • Note: If you want to be restrictive, you can create a Custom Role that only has Content > Reports > Generate and Content > Views > Read enabled.

3. Ensure the checkbox "Assign this role to the user" is selected.

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Step 3: Set the Object Scope (Crucial for All vCenters)

This is where most people miss a step. Even if a user is an "Admin," they must be explicitly told which vCenter objects they are allowed to see in a report.

1. Under the Select Objects section, change the dropdown to Object Hierarchies.

2. Look for vCenter or Global Information.

3. To give access to everything across all vCenter adapters, select the World object (the top-level root).

4. CRITICAL: Check the box for "Allow access to all child objects".

   • This ensures that as new VMs or Hosts are added to any vCenter adapter, this user automatically gains permission to report on them.

5. Click Finish.

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Verification

Log out and log back in as this new local user. Go to Visualize > Reports, select a report, and click Run. It should move from "Running" to "Completed"