"Unable to run vCenter NTP server check" error during pre-update check to 9.1.1

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

• vCenter upgrade to 9.1.1 fails during pre-check with error message:
  
  Unable to run vCenter NTP server check.
  
  
  
  
• There are no NTP/Time-sync issues on vCenter.
  
  
• vCenter logs show the following entries:
  
  /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/applmgmt.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z INFO applmgmt ### [vc@4413 tid="###" module="ms_connector" funcName="checkOrStartMicroservice" lineNum="110"] Using patching from target based on version: 9.1.1.0
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z INFO applmgmt ### [vc@4413 tid="###" module="update_pending" funcName="precheck" lineNum="360"] Got precheck result {'default_message': 'Unable to run vCenter NTP server check.', 'id': 'com.vmware.ntp.server.error.text'}, 'resolution': {'args': [], 'default_message': 'Check logs for more details.'}

/var/log/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z INFO applmgmt-update-microservice 17323 [vc@4413 module="ntp_precheck" funcName="checkNtpServers" lineNum="##"] Check for the NTP servers from vCenter
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z INFO applmgmt-update-microservice 17323 [vc@4413 module="lookup_service" funcName="__init__" lineNum="##"] Creating LookupService client with URL: https://<vCenter_FQDN>:443/lookupservice/sdk
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z INFO applmgmt-update-microservice 17323 [vc@4413 module="authentication" funcName="_load_certs_from_svc_user" lineNum="132"] Getting ephemeral certificate
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z WARNING applmgmt-update-microservice 17323 [vc@4413 module="retry_proxy" funcName="__call__" lineNum="103"] got SoapException:
faultcode: ns0:RequestFailed
faultstring: EndTime: ### MMM DD HH:MM:SS GMT YYYY is not after startTime: ### MMM DD HH:MM:SS GMT YYYY
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.###Z ERROR applmgmt-update-microservice #### [vc@4413 module="ntp_precheck" funcName="checkNtpServers" lineNum="57"] Unable to retrieve NTP servers. err: {message key of com.vmware.vcenter.patching.interop.token.error not in localizer dictionary, please add the key to locale file}
  
  
• VCF upgrade pre-check shows the following errors:
  
  The upgrade precheck encountered problems that will prevent the upgrade from completing successfully.
  
  

Environment

• vCenter 9.0.x / 9.1.0 upgrading to 9.1.1.0.

Cause

The vCenter NTP pre-check fails on appliances configured with a non-UTC timezone. This occurs because the pre-check script generates a temporary authentication certificate using local system time, but SSO interprets the timestamp as UTC, resulting in an authentication failure.

Resolution

Broadcom engineering is aware of this issue and is currently investigating a permanent fix. To receive automated notifications when this article is updated with a patch or a permanent resolution, click the Subscribe button.

Workaround

Change vCenter timezone to UTC.

1. Log in to the vCenter VAMI page - https://vcenter_fqdn_or_IP:5480.
2. Navigate to Time -> Time Zone.
3. Click Edit and change the time zone to UTC.
4. Restart the applmgmt service from VAMI.
   
   1. Services > Appliance Management Service > restart.
5. Continue with vCenter Patching.
6. (Optional) Change Timezone back to the original value after successful patching.