Domain Repoint using cmsso-util fails with "Replication partner must be embedded vCenter Server node. Failed to determine deployment type for the Node. Please verify."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• When attempting to link a new vCenter Server 7.x node to an existing vCenter Server 8.x deployment using cmsso-util, the process fails with the following error.
  
  "Replication partner must be embedded vCenter Server node. Failed to determine deployment type for the Node. Please verify."


• /var/log/vmware/cloudvm/cmsso-util.log analysis shows a 403 Forbidden error when attempting to query the deployment type of the existing vCenter.
  
  DD-MM-YYYY HH:MM:SS [7615]DEBUG:urllib3.connectionpool:https://<REDACTED_HOSTNAME>:5480 "GET /rest/vcenter/system-config/deployment-type HTTP/1.1" 403 142 DD-MM-YYYY HH:MM:SS [7615]ERROR:vcenter.spec_validators:Error in retrieving appliance type of server <REDACTED_HOSTNAME>: 403 Client Error: Forbidden for url: https://<REDACTED_HOSTNAME>:5480/rest/vcenter/system-config/deployment-type.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

Linking a lower version vCenter Server (7.x) to a higher version vCenter Server (8.x) in an Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) configuration is not recommended. Refer- vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode

Resolution

This is expected behavior. To maintain a supported Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) configuration, adhere to the following:

1. Ensure all vCenter Server nodes in the SSO domain are running the same version.

2. If interoperability is required, the first vCenter Server in the SSO domain must be at the same or lower version than the nodes being added; however, cross-version ELM with a 7.x node joining an 8.x node is a non-supported configuration.

3. Upgrade the vCenter Server 7.x node to 8.x to match the existing replication partner.