Error: "A vCenter upgrade is already running" when canceling upgrade in VCF Operations

Products

• VCF Operations
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• During a VMware vCenter Server upgrade, the upgrade task is stuck during the Switchover phase.
  
  
  
  
• The target vCenter Server virtual machine is manually deleted or becomes unresponsive. After bringing the source vCenter Server back online by manually fixing the vCenter services, administrators encounter the following symptoms:
  • Attempting to cancel the upgrade from VCF Operations fails with the error: "A vCenter upgrade is already running"
  • Attempting to discard the reduced downtime upgrade (RDU) from the vSphere Client fails with the error: "Discard is not allowed when upgrade is already progress. Cancel the ongoing upgrade process and try again"
    
    

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 8.x
• VMware vCenter Server 9.x
• VCF Operations 9.x

Cause

• The vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) upgrade state file on the source vCenter Server remains locked in an active upgrade state after the target vCenter virtual machine is deleted by the user during switchover.

Resolution

• Log in to the source vCenter Server Appliance via SSH using root credentials.
• Run the upgrade cancellation script: ./usr/lib/vmware-vlcm/public/upgrade_cancellation.sh

  
  
  
• Wait for the cancellation to complete. The progress can be checked in the log file /var/log/vmware/vlcm/vlcm.log.

info vlcm [stateexecutors/canceler.go:295] starting cancellation method [cleanup]
info vlcm [stateexecutors/canceler.go:350] Running Cleanup flow
info vlcm [stateexecutors/canceler.go:414] Finished post-expand cleanup.
  
  
• Navigate to VCF Operations -> Build -> Lifecycle -> Select the VCF instance  and cancel the complete upgrade process.
• Re-initiate the upgrade in VCF Operations by selecting the desired target versions and clicking Update Now or Schedule Update.

Additional Information

• Manually cancel the RDU (Reduced Downtime Upgrade) workflow on vCenter Server
• If you need assistance, please refer to our main Contact Broadcom Support page.
• To create and manage your support cases, see Creating and Managing Broadcom Support Cases.