Upgrade stuck at step 9 of 14 with missing witness node - Aria Operations 8.18.x

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

• Aria Operations upgrade via VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle (LCM) hangs at stage 10/step 9 of 14.
• The Admin UI displays a red 'X' for the witness node state.
• The witness node is missing from the Software Update section.
• Console access to the witness node shows a failed reboot.

Environment

Aria Operations 8.18.x

Cause

The witness node becomes unresponsive during the automated reboot phase of the upgrade. This is caused by the liagent service failing to stop gracefully, preventing the guest OS from completing the reboot cycle.

Resolution

1. Log into the vSphere client with administrative privileges.
2. Locate the impacted witness node VM.
3. Select Actions → Power → Reset to force a manual reboot.
4. Monitor the witness node console until it returns to a login prompt.
5. Log into the Aria Operations Admin UI and verify the witness node now appears under Software Update.
6. The upgrade process will resume automatically once the node is back online.