VCF vCenter 9.1 Upgrade Pre-check Error: "vCenter backup should not be located on SDDC Manager"

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

When performing an upgrade pre-check for a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) vCenter instance upgrade to version 9.1, the validation fails with the following error:

• The Precheck Report displays the following error: 

  ERROR, VCManager, <vcenter>, vCenter backup location, VALIDATION_FAILED, High: Do not perform upgrade without addressing this issue., vcenter-base-backup-not-on-sddch mgr, CRITICAL, false, VManager, Check Center backup is nat located on SDDC Manager, ERROR, venter backup should not be located on SDDC Manager, "["message': Please reconfigure venter backup to use another location"", ""link"": *"")]", High: Do not perform upgrade without addressing this issue.

 

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1
• VMware vCenter 8.x (Source Version)
• VMware vCenter 9.1 (Target Version)

Cause

VCF 9.1 introduces stricter validation for management component recoverability. If the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) is configured to use the SDDC Manager’s internal storage (or an IP/FQDN matching the SDDC Manager) as its file-based backup destination, the pre-check will block the upgrade. This is to ensure that backups are available even if the SDDC Manager is unavailable during the upgrade process.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must reconfigure the vCenter Server to use an external backup target (SFTP/FTP/HTTP/NFS) that is not the SDDC Manager.

1. Log in to the vCenter VAMI: Access the vCenter Server Management Interface (VAMI) at https://<vcenter-fqdn>:5480.
2. Navigate to Backup Settings: Click on Backup in the left-hand navigation pane.
3. Edit Backup Configuration: Click Configure (or Edit if a schedule already exists).
4. Update Backup Location:
   • Change the Backup Location to an external SFTP server or supported network share.
   • Example: sftp://external-backup-server.domain.com/vcenter-backups/
   • Note: Do not use the SDDC Manager IP or FQDN in this field.
5. Test the Configuration: Ensure the credentials and path are valid and run a Backup Now operation to verify the new location is functional.
6. Re-run VCF Pre-check: Return to the SDDC Manager UI and re-trigger the upgrade pre-check. The validation should now pass.

Contact Broadcom Support for additional assistance

Additional Information

Manually make vCenter backup from VAMI.

Contact Broadcom support