Aria Operations deployment via Aria Suite Lifecycle fails at firstboot status check

Products

• VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) 8.x

Issue/Introduction

When you perform a fresh deployment of Aria Operations via Aria Suite Lifecycle (LCM), the process consistently fails. The deployment remains stuck at the firstboot status check. On the Aria Operations console, the message "Firstboot is running, please wait" appears. 

Symptoms:

• In Aria Suite Lifecycle (LCM), the request fails with below error:

Error code: LCMVROPSYSTEM25063

Error while checking the first boot status of VMware Aria Operations node. Check VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle logs for more information and retry the request

• The Aria Operations console displays "Firstboot is running, please wait" during deployment.
• The deployment fails to progress beyond the firstboot phase.
• In the /var/log/firstboot/vcopssuitevmmount.log on the Aria Operations node, you will see entries similar to:

error: product/VMware-Postgres-##.rpm: Not an rpm package (or package manifest):

Note: The rpm package in the above error can be different. 

• Manual attempts to install RPMs using rpm -i /tmp/mount/product/VMware-Postgres-##.rpm fail with the same error

Note: During the firstboot phase, the root password of the Aria Operations node is not set. To login to the appliance and review the log, reset the root password as per How to Reset the Root Password for VCF Operations

Environment

Aria Operations 8.18.x

Cause

This issue occurs when there is a data transfer or corruption issue occurs between Aria Suite Lifecycle and the target vCenter Server during the OVA deployment phase.This results in an installer that is unable to install the required RPMs due to payload corruption.

Resolution

To workaround this issue, you must bypass the standard Aria Suite Lifecycle to vCenter data transfer mechanism by using the vCenter Content Library for deployment.

1. Create a publisher content library in the vCenter and upload the Aria Operations ova
2. Navigate to Datacenters in the Aria Suite Lifecycle UI.
3. Verify if the vCenter where the Aria operations node is deployed is listed. If it is not listed, add the vCenter.
4. Click Refresh Data collection to trigger a vCenter data collection
5. Initiate the deployment of Aria Operations from Aria Suite Lifecycle
6. Select Use content Library under the Infrastructure tab and click Next.
7. Select Content library items and select the Aria Operations OVA from the content library.
8. Complete the deployment wizard to initiate the installation.