vRA 7.6 Looping Provision / Looping VMDispose

Mindwatering Incorporated

Author: Tripp W Black

Created: 09/15/2022 at 12:36 PM

 

Category:
VMWare
vRA

Issue:
VM Provisions or destroy fail with event subscriptions looping after completion.


Cause 1:
If VM was migrated (exported w/metadata) from old vCenter and imported to another vCenter, and
if the original is not removed, and
if the original ESXi host is in maintenance mode blocking automation, and
if vRA and "see" both, and
if they have same UUID, then vRA's proxy agents will deliver the VMDispose to both the new and the old VMs.

This will fail on the old VM, and vRA will loop waiting on the VM to come out of maintenance mode.

Solution:
Delete the old VM.


Cause 2:
If the VM is on a single ESXi host or a cluster w/all hosts in maintenance mode for upgrades, then vRA will loop waiting on the VM to come out of maintenance mode.

Solution:
N/A. Since upgrades are typically quick. vRA will proceed once a host is out of maintenance mode that hosts the VM.


Cause 3:
The proxy agents or vRA looses it's mind.


Workarounds:
1. Cancel all jobs, open SR to have VMware clean the database. Try again.

2. VMware suggested one of the following to assist vRA to break the loop:
vRA --> Infrastructure (tab) --> Administration (menu twistie) --> Global Settings (menu option) --> Group:Agent (twistie right) -->
Edit the Errors subgroup document, Unrecoverable DisposeVM Errors.

Name: Unrecoverable DisposeVM Errors
Description: Unrecoverable errors returned from DisposeVM in Regex format
Value: ^Value cannot be null

or

Name: Unrecoverable DisposeVM Errors
Description: Unrecoverable errors returned from DisposeVM in Regex format
Value: ^Object reference not set to an instance of an object


VMware KB Articles:
2144906 - Request to destroy a machine fails in VMware vRealize Automation 7.0.x
2114385 - Deployment / Provisioning requests are stuck at "In Progress" or "Pending Approval" status


Notes:
VMware wanted more than the normal VAMI log bundle.
They wanted the postgres tables (follow KB 2074214) for vRA.
They wanted the IaaS database via the MS SQL Config. Mgr. program to create full backup of the db.
Be very careful updating postgres tables if deleting columns. Make sure you have a COLD snapshot first of the vRA environment VMs.



Cause 4:
AD / IDP Failure

This one occurs when logins are also not working. Non vsphere.local domain logins will see something like:
"System configuration is not complete. Please contact your administrator. Error: Invalid IDP Metadata"

To check Directory(ies):
1. Switch to vsphere.local instead of the normal AD domain, and login with the local admin account.
2. Administration (tab) --> Directories Management (left twistie)
3. Select the directory entry to verify.
- If incorrect, update/fix; or delete and create a new entry.
- Check the sync connector entry. If this is a vRA cluster, there will be more than one sync connector.

To create a new entry:
a. Click the green "+ Add Directory" button from the Directories Management view.
b. Provide a Directory Name.
- e.g. ad.mindwatering.local
c. Typically, choose radio button, Add active directory over LDAP/IWA.
c. Leave Authentication to Yes.
d. Typically, leave the defaulted value for the Directory Search Attribute for AD.
e. Under Join Domain Details, enter the domain information below:
- Domain Name
- - e.g. mindwatering.local
- Domain Admin Username
- - e.g. administrator or myadadmin@mindwatering.local
- Domain Admin Password
f. Under Bind User Details, enter the binding information below:
- Bind User Name
e.g. myadadmin@mindwatering.local
- Bind User Password
g. Click Save and Next button.
h. Click the domain's checkbox and click the Next button.
i. On this Map User Attributes tab/page, if you have custom mapping, update the defaulted values. Click the Next button, when done.
j. On the Select the groups (users) you want to sync tab/page, use the Select button to choose the group to add. Click the Next button.
k. On the Select the Users you would like to sync tab/page, use the green + to add users not in the groups on the last page. Click the Next button.
l. On the Review tab/page, review your additions.
- If you wish to make changes, you can click the respective Edit User DNs or Edit Group DNs buttons.
- If you wish to adjust the default sync schedule, click the Edit button and set the desired schedule.
- When done, click the Sync Directory button.

Unless there is a really large sync, the sync should take a few seconds or so.







Keywords:
VMDispose Destroy Looping Issue

previous page