Failed to download the Site Recovery plugin with "Name or service not known" error while registering vSphere Replication or VMware Live Site Recovery

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• After deploying vSphere Replication or VMware Live Site Recovery, the Site Recovery plugin download fails in vSphere Client with "Name or service not known" error while trying to register with vCenter.
  
  
• vSphere Replication / VMware Live Site Recovery is configured with Short Name.
  
  
• Following error reported in vsphere_client_virgo.log of vCenter:

(from /var/log/vmware/vsphere-ui/logs/vsphere_client_virgo.log)


[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.status.RemotePluginStatusServiceImpl       DOWNLOADING: Downloading plugin package com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573 from https://<Host Short Name>:443/drplugin/plugin.json.zip ...
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plug-in package 'com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573' with temporary name '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573/plugin-package.tmp'.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [INFO ] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plugin package from https://<Host Short Name>/drplugin/plugin.json.zip
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.985Z] [ERROR] sdk-plugin-deployer-769       com.vmware.vise.plugin.download.PluginDownloadServiceImpl         Downloading plug-in package 'com.vmware.drui.plugin:9.0.2.24570573' to '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573/plugin-package.tmp' has failed due to unknown reasons. Removing failed plugin package folder '/etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/vc-packages/vsphere-client-serenity/com.vmware.drui.plugin-9.0.2.24570573'. java.net.UnknownHostException: <Host Short Name>: Name or service not known

 

Environment

• VMware vSphere Replication 9.x
  
  
• VMware Live Site Recovery 9.x

Cause

• This issue occurs because the hostname was configured using short name that cannot be resolved via DNS.
  
  
• vCenter Server downloads the plugin from a URL like the following, using the configured hostname:
  https://<hostname>:443/drplugin/plugin.json.zip
  
  
• If appliance hostname is configured that cannot be resolved, vCenter Server cannot access and fails to download the Site Recovery plugin with the error "Name or service not known".
  
  
• The Hostname must be set to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that is resolved by DNS.

Resolution

Configure a valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for vSphere Replication (or VMware Live Site Recovery) appliance that can be resolved by DNS.

Steps to follow:

1. Log in to the vSphere Replication Appliance VAMI using admin user.
   https:<VR/VLSR_IP or FQDN>:5480/
   
   
2. Navigate to Summary and verify the Hostname and vCenter Server details.
   
   
3. Go to Networking and click Edit and update it with the correct FQDN.
   
   
4. Update the certificate
   Click Change Certificate and proceed with the update.
   
   
5. Reconfigure the appliance
   
   
6. Verify that the plugin download succeeds in the vSphere Client.

Additional Information

Below is the document to reconfigure the vSphere replication network settings:

Configure vSphere Replication Network Settings