VMware Aria Easy Installer hangs at Select Compute Resource when attempting to install Aria Suite Lifecycle Manger 8.18

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

When you attempt to deploy VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.18, the VMware Aria Easy Installer hangs or becomes unresponsive at the Select Compute Resource step. This prevents the completion of the installation using the standard UI wizard.

Environment

VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.18

Cause

• The Easy Installer UI wizard may encounter an issue retrieving or rendering compute resources, causing the deployment process to hang indefinitely.
• Depending on the issue, you can review the installer.log to see what errors, if any, are present.
• In the event of this particular issue, it is unclear why the Easy Installer does not complete successfully.

Resolution

1. Extract the OVA from the ISO
   1. Download the standard VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Easy Installer ISO from the Broadcom Support portal. My Downloads>VMware Aria Suite>VMware Aria Suite - Enterprise>2019>VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle/View group>VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.18 Easy Installer.
   2. Mount the .iso file on your local machine (in Windows, right-click and select Mount) or extract it using an archiving tool.
   3. Browse the contents of the mounted ISO and navigate to the vrlcm folder. Inside, locate the appliance file (e.g., VMware-Aria-Suite-Lifecycle-Appliance-[version].ova).
   4. Copy this .ova file to a local directory on your machine so it is easily accessible for vCenter.
   5. Alternatively, you can select Extract Here and extract the contents of the ISO to get the .ova file and then upload it to vCenter.
2. Deploy the OVF Template in vSphere
   1. Log in to your vSphere Client.
   2. Right-click your target cluster or host and select Deploy OVF Template.
   3. Select Local file, click Upload Files, and select the .ova file you copied from the vrlcm folder. Click Next.
   4. Provide a virtual machine name and select a target folder or datacenter.
   5. Select your target compute resource (cluster or specific host).
   6. Review the template details and accept the End User License Agreements (EULA).
   7. Select the appropriate storage (datastore) and disk format. (Thin Provision is usually sufficient for lab/test environments; Thick Provisioning is recommended for production).
   8. Select the Destination Network for the appliance.
3. Configure the OVF Properties

   You must manually define the appliance configurations that the Easy Installer normally handles for you during this step:

   • Passwords: Set the root and admin passwords. Ensure they meet complexity requirements (uppercase, lowercase, number, special character).
   • Networking Properties: Fill in the Default Gateway, DNS Servers, Domain Name, Domain Search Path, Appliance IP Address, and Netmask.
   • System Properties: Provide the Hostname (FQDN) and configure your NTP Servers.
   Note: Accurate timekeeping is critical for VMware Aria Suite products; ensure your NTP server IP is correct.
4. Power On and Initialize
   1. Review your settings and click Finish to begin the deployment.
   2. Once the OVA deployment task completes in vCenter, power on the virtual machine.
   3. Allow the appliance 10–15 minutes to initialize its services.
   4. Open a web browser and navigate to the user interface: https://<Appliance-IP-or-FQDN>/vrlcm
   5. Log in. The default username is typically admin@localhost or admin@local. The password is the one you specified in the OVF template.

Additional Information

By deploying the OVA manually, you only deploy VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle. The Easy Installer normally automates the subsequent deployments of VMware Identity Manager and VMware Aria Automation. Because you bypass the installer, you must map the product binaries inside the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle UI and trigger the deployments of those additional products manually.