FAILED: A general system error occurred: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host: The connection is terminated by the remote end with a reset packet. Usually, this is a sign of a network problem, timeout, or service overload.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

P2V VM conversion using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone fails at 1%  with the error 'FAILED: A general system error occurred: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host: The connection is terminated by the remote end with a reset packet. Usually, this is a sign of a network problem, timeout, or service overload.'

Environment

VMware vCenter converter standalone 6.6 

VMware vCenter server 8.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

SSTP VPN Tunnel between Source and Destination environments

• vmware-converter-worker

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss. warning vmware-converter-worker[07868] [Originator@6876 sub=IO.Connection] Failed to SSL handshake; SSL(<io_obj p:0x07483bf8, h:900, <TCP 'X.X.X.X : port'>, <TCP 'X.X.X.X : 9089'>>), e: 3360319
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss. warning vmware-converter-worker[07868] [Originator@6876 sub=HttpConnectionPool-000000] Failed to get pooled connection; <cs p:0511b460, TCP:X.X.X.X:9089>, SSL(<io_obj p:0x07483bf8, h:900, 
-- > [context]zKq7AUsEAQAAAEAAYwEQdm13YXJ1LWNvbnZlcnRlci13b3JrZXIAAEhvInZtYWNvcmUuZGxsAACg1QYApEEGA0ZbAgDZWBsA1hwSAFMkEgAGPBIA4rEbANYSGwAXJxsAu54fAQNkBHVjcnRiYXN1LmRsbAAC+WcBS0VSTkVMMzIuRExMAA09fgZudGRsbC5kbGwAA4t+Bg == [/context]

• Packet capture shows lot of packet retransmits and connection closure with Reset flag.

Cause

Low network throughput and intermittent connectivity between the source and destination environments, specifically over the SSTP VPN tunnel, causing TCP resets and SSL handshake failures. 

Resolution

1. Ensure all configuration parameters in the Converter agent, worker, and server XML files are at default settings.
   
   
2. Work with network team to verify and improve the throughput of the SSTP VPN tunnel.

References:

1. Required Converter Ports — Detailed list of ports needed for various migration scenarios.
2. Troubleshooting Reset Packets — Guidance on identifying firewall-induced connection resets.