vCenter upgrade stage 2 pre-check fails with error Auto Deploy service is not running or not configured properly.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• When performing a vCenter Server upgrade pre-check, the process fails with the following error in the UI:
  
  • Auto Deploy service is not running or not configured properly.

 

• The upgrade log file /var/log/vmware/upgrade/rbd_YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM.log contains an error stack similar to the following

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  ERROR
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  INFO upgrade.states.component_states rbd:CollectRequirements: Traceback (most recent call last) :
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  INFO upgrade.states.component_states rbd:CollectRequirements:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  INFO upgrade.states.component_states rbd:CollectRequirements:

dbConnection = sqlite3.connect (_getSourceDbPath () )
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  INFO upgrade.states.component_states rbd:CollectRequirements: sqlite3.OperationalError: unable to open database file
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  INFO upgrade.states.component_states rbd:CollectRequirements: 
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.466Z  ERROR prepare the upgrade spec during the collectRequirement phase for autodeploy

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 9.x

Cause

The upgrade installer is unable to read the Auto Deploy configuration because a corrupted or empty (0-byte) SQLite database file exists in the /var/lib/rbd directory on the source vCenter Server Appliance.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, remove the corrupted database file to allow the upgrade to proceed:

NOTE: Please ensure relevant snapshot and backups are in place before proceeding.

1. Log in to the source vCenter Server Appliance via SSH as root.

2. Navigate to the Auto Deploy directory: cd /var/lib/rbd

3. List the files to identify any 0-byte or corrupted database files: ls -lh

4. Remove the problematic database file: rm <FILENAME>

5. Restart the vCenter Server upgrade process.