VCD upgrade fails during installation tests due to full root partition

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrade fails with "Error while running installation tests and post-install scripts."
• Checking /opt/vmware/var/log/vami/updatecli.log reveals "cpio: File from package already exists" or "No space left on device" errors.
• Running df -h shows the root (/) partition ( /dev/sda3) at 95% capacity or higher.
• VCD services may fail to start after the failed upgrade attempt.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 10.x

Cause

The root partition does not have sufficient free space (minimum 2.1 GB recommended) to extract upgrade packages and execute post-install scripts. Common contributors include:

• Accumulation of request.log files in /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/logs/.
• Large Java memory dumps (.hprof files).
• Stale log bundles in the root directory.

Resolution

1. Access the VCD cell via SSH as root.
2. Verify disk usage by running:
   df -h
3. Identify large files consuming space:
   du -aShx / | sort -rh | head -20
4. Reclaim space by deleting old request logs:
   find /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/logs/ -name "*.request.log" -type f -mtime +10 -delete
5. Remove any Java dump files:
   rm /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/logs/*.hprof
6. Verify at least 2.1 GB of free space is available on the root partition.
7. Re-attempt the upgrade using the following command:
   vamicli update --install latest

Additional Information

Cloud Director Cell Partition Full

Extending root disk of Cloud Director appliance