Missing NTP settings post upgrade to Aria Automation/Orchestrator 8.18.1 Patch 2

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

After installing Aria Automation or Aria Orchestrator 8.18.1 Patch 2, it is observed that systemd's NTP server list is missing. This affects environments where NTP server list was configured by the user prior to the upgrade to Patch 2.

Symptoms:
Running vracli ntp show-config shows an empty ntp_servers list.
In the upgrade log file /var/log/vmware/prelude/upgrade-<timestamp>.log, the following warning message is observed:
warning: /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf saved as /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf.rpmsave

Environment

Aria Automation/Aria Orchestrator 8.18.1 Patch 2

Cause

Upgrading the PhotonOS 4 systemd packages to version 247.13-13.ph4 that ship with Aria Automation/Orchestrator 8.18.1 Patch 2, causes /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf file which should contain the custom NTP settings to be overwritten.
A file named /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf.rpmsave holding the custom NTP values is created by the RPM upgrade.

Resolution

A fix with updated PhotonOS systemd packages will be provided with Aria Automation / Aria Orchestrator 8.18.1 Patch 3.

Workaround steps:

1) Verify that /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf.rpmsave file exists and contains the expected NTP settings under the ntp_servers field.

Example content:
[Time]
NTP = ntp-server1-fqdn ntp-server2-fqdn

2) Re-apply the ntp configuration, using vracli ntp command 
vracli ntp systemd --set 'ntp-server1-fqdn','ntp-server2-fqdn'

3) Validate that the expected NTP settings are applied using vracli ntp show-config.
Example content:
ntp_servers: [ 'ntp-server1-fqdn','ntp-server2-fqdn']
ntp_enabled: True
vmtools_timesync_enabled: False