Pre-upgrade check on the SDDC manager for the cluster fails with the error "Failed to Deserialize Software Specification"

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

1. A pre-upgrade check on the SDDC Manager for a workload cluster fails with the error "Failed to Deserialize Software Specification"
2. The image being used is a custom ISO or extracted image created from a different reference cluster (e.g., management cluster).
   1. 
3. In the vCenter Server logs (/var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vum-server-###.log), you see errors similar to: 
   • YYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:Sec.736Z error vmware-vum-server[627064] [Originator@6876 sub=Hsl::ProviderManager] [ProviderManager 567] Failed to get Hardware Support Package Information
 for  hsm - com.dell.plugin.OpenManager_HWSupportManager, pkg - VCF Management Domain VSAN, pkgVersion - 1.0.0-0 because - Error:
-->    com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.not_found
--> No messages!
-->
YYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:Sec..736Z error vmware-vum-server[627064] [Originator@6876 sub=VumVapi::Lib::Utils] [EmbeddedPyServiceProvider 285] Cannot get hardware support package info:
 Error:
-->    com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.not_found
--> No messages!
-->
YYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:Sec..737Z error vmware-vum-server[627064] [Originator@6876 sub=VumVapi::Lib::Utils] [Utils 358] Deserialization error : Error:
-->    invalid_argument
--> No messages!
-->
YYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:Sec.737Z error vmware-vum-server[627064] [Originator@6876 sub=VumVapi::Lib::Utils] [Utils 187] Exception occurred during Deserialization of object, Deserili
zation error.
YYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:Sec..737Z error vmware-vum-server[627064] [Originator@6876 sub=DraftsManager] [DraftsManager 220] VmaCore Error: Failed to Serialize/Deserialize Object, Call

Environment

SDDC Manger 5.2.x 

Cause

The error occurs when the cluster image contains a Hardware Support Manager (HSM) package or software specification that is incompatible with the hardware version or model of the target cluster. This commonly happens when an image from one hardware model (e.g., Dell PowerEdge ) is applied to a different version or when OEM-specific metadata (personality files) conflicts during the deserialization process in SDDC Manager.

Resolution

Step 1: SDDC Manager Preparation

1. Take a snapshot of the SDDC Manager VM.
2. Log in via SSH and remove the conflicting JSON personality file; How to delete Custom Exported Image in Image Management From SDDC Manager
3. Restart the Life Cycle Management service to clear metadata by running the command; systemctl restart lcm

Step 2: Re-create and Import Correct Image

1. In vSphere Client, go to Updates > Image > Setup Image. Use Use a host as the source, select a reference host from the cluster, and click Extract Image.
2.  In SDDC Manager, go to Lifecycle Management > Image Management. Click Import from vCenter, select the cluster, and choose the newly extracted software specification.

Step 3: Validate

1. Run the Pre-upgrade Check in SDDC Manager again.
2. Verify the Software Specification check now shows as Passed.