Error: Linux P2V fails at 96% in vCenter Converter due to SSH banner interference

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When performing a Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) migration of a Linux source machine using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone, the process fails during the final synchronization phase. This article provides the cause and resolution for failures specifically occurring at the 96% completion mark related to SSH configurations.

• The P2V conversion task fails consistently at 96%.
• In the vmware-converter-helper.log, error messages similar to the following appear: SSHPASS: detected prompt, again. Wrong password. Terminating. /bin/tar: This does not look like a tar archive /bin/tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors
• The logs contain the full text of an SSH legal notice or "NOTICE TO USERS" banner immediately before the failure.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 6.x

Cause

This issue is caused by non-interactive session interference. A lengthy SSH login banner or interactive commands in the root user's shell initialization files (.bashrc or .profile) disrupt the sshpass utility and the tar pipe mechanism. The unexpected text from the banner corrupts the expected password prompt sequence or the binary data stream, leading to a "Permission denied" state and task termination.

Resolution

Ensure the source SSH environment is configured to prevent non-interactive stream interference from login banners or shell initialization scripts.

To achieve this configuration:

1. Log in to the source physical machine as root.
2. Temporarily disable the SSH banner by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Locate the Banner line and comment it out: # Banner /etc/issue
3. Restart the SSH service: service sshd restart
4. Verify that /root/.bashrc and /root/.profile do not contain echo statements or other interactive commands that generate output.
5. Clear any text in /etc/motd and /etc/issue that may be presented during the connection.
6. Restart the P2V conversion task.

For further assistance, refer to Contact Broadcom Support.