During VVF 9.1 deployment, VCF Management Cluster Creation Fails at VM Bootstrap VCFMS-BOOTSTRAP-999

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

• During VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) installation, the deployment fails at management cluster creation phase.
• Following error is observed at var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log on VCF installer.
    "id": "##########",
  "type": "com.vmware.vcfms.task.InstallVcfmsComponent",
  "phase": "Failed",
  "status": "Failed",
  "createdBy": "<service_account>",
  "messages": [
    {
      "id": "com.vmware.vcfms.bootstrap.GenericError",
      "level": "ERROR",
      "default": "Bootstrap failed during stage 'INIT0001 - Validating configuration': INGRESS_PLATFORM_FQDN '<<FQDN>>' could not be resolved via nameserver(s): 127.0.0.1 Please retry the operation or contact support if the issue persists. [VCFMS-BOOTSTRAP-999]",
      "stage": "INIT0001 - Validating configuration",
      "args": [
        "INIT0001 - Validating configuration",
        "INGRESS_PLATFORM_FQDN <FQDN>' could not be resolved via nameserver(s): 127.0.0.1"
      ],
      "messageCode": "VCFMS-BOOTSTRAP-999"

Environment

VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1

Cause

This issue occurs due to a misconfiguration in the OS-level DNS settings on the vCenter Server. In the /etc/resolv.conf file, the actual infrastructure DNS server entry is hashed out (commented out), leaving only the local loopback address (127.0.0.1) active. Because the active nameserver is strictly local, the vCenter is unable to resolve the external infrastructure FQDNs required to pass the bootstrap configuration validation check.

Resolution

1. Establish an SSH connection to the vCenter Server Appliance and log in using the root credentials.
2. Open the DNS configuration file using a text editor:
   # vi /etc/resolv.conf
3. Locate the line containing the actual infrastructure DNS server IP address that is currently hashed/commented out.
   It will look similar to this:
   nameserver 127.0.0.1
#nameserver <DNS_IP> 
4. Remove the hash (#) to uncomment the correct nameserver entry.
5. Comment out or remove the 127.0.0.1 entry to ensure resolution relies on the external server [*optional]:
   #nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver <REDACTED_IP>

6. Save the changes and close the file.
7. Verify that DNS resolution is now functioning properly by running an nslookup command against the FQDN mentioned in the error logs:
nslookup <REDACTED_HOSTNAME>
8. Once successful name resolution is confirmed, return to the VCF installer UI and retry the management cluster creation operation.
9. *The /etc/resolv.conf file in a VC looks like this, by default 
   

   cat /etc/resolv.conf
   # This is /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
   # Do not edit.
   #
   # This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
   # /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
   #
   # This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients directly to
   # all known uplink DNS servers. This file lists all configured search domains.
   #
   # Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
   # through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
   # different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
   #
   # See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
   # operation for /etc/resolv.conf.
   
   nameserver 127.0.0.1
   nameserver XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX => your actual DNS1
   nameserver XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX => your actual DNS2
   search <domain name>           => search in domain TBD