Error on staging updates on vCenter: A patch with version 8.0.x.#### has been staged already. Unstage the patch and try again

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

If user trying to patch the vCenter or only staging the update packages this error will appear

A patch with version 8.0.x.#### has been staged already. Unstage the patch and try again

Environment

vCenter appliance 8.0.x  

Cause

A previous attempt to stage the packages has been performed but didn't complete

Resolution

Run the following command on vCenter "Command >" (do not type shell) 

1. Validate the existing staged patch packages:
software-packages list --staged 

2.  Unstage the patch packages that are staged
software-packages unstage

3. Try to stage and update vCenter again

Additional Information

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, see KB408591.