VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6 Release Notes

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6 \| 19 OCT 2023 \| Build 22637188 Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6 | 19 OCT 2023 | Build 22637188

Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

What's New

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager version 1.6 introduces the following new capabilities:

VMware Cloud Director and vCloud Usage Meter integration with NSX Advanced Load Balancer

When deploying VMware Cloud Director or vCloud Usage Meter, you can configure an integration with NSX Advanced Load Balancer and allows registering the NSX Advanced Load Balancer instance in VMware Cloud Director or vCloud Usage Meter 4.7 and later as a collector.
Backup and Restore VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager

You can create a backup of your VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager appliance, download the file, and restore the appliance using an existing backup file. You can restore any VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager appliance using the backup file from a different appliance if the appliance versions are the same.

When restoring the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager by using a previously created backup file, all current data of the appliance is replaced with the data from the backup file.

The cplcmrepo data that contains the product binaries is not part of the backup process and is not updated during the appliance restore. See Backup and Restore VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager.
Maintenance Mode for VMware Cloud Director Cells

This release introduces a new capability for activation and deactivation of maintenance mode in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager on VMware Cloud Director cells whenever a maintenance of a single cell or the NFS share used by all cells is necessary. See Activate a Maintenance Mode on a VMware Cloud Director Cell in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager.
Role-Based Access Management

To enable the login of external users to VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, this release introduces integration with existing LDAP and Active Directory external authentication sources. VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager includes a preconfigured set of user roles and their rights. See Role-Based Access Control.
Improved User Experience

This release includes UI improvements for operations such as deployment and registration of existing products, appliance administration, and troubleshooting.

You can find the available product binaries using the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI.

Upgrading from Previous Releases

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6 supports an in-place upgrade from VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.3.x and later.

Documentation

To access the full set of product documentation, go to VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager Documentation.

Interoperability

For information about the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager interoperability with other VMware products, see VMware Product Interoperability Matrices.

Interoperability Bundle Releases

Interoperability Bundle Releases

Date	Version Number	Bundle Build Number	Description
07 Mar 2024	1.6.19	23420036	Added support for VMware Cloud Director 10.5.1.1. Added support for VMware RabbitMQ 3.9.17.
08 Feb 2024	1.6.18	23263779	Added support for vCloud Usage Meter 4.8.
10 Jan 2024	1.6.17	23085502	Added support for VMware Cloud Director 10.4.3.
4 Dec 2023	1.6.16	22871429	Added support for VMware Cloud Director 10.5.1.

Interoperability bundle 1.6.16

The default value for timeout for the VMware Cloud Director services is too long

The default value for timeout for the VMware Cloud Director services used to be 30 minutes. For the interoperability bundle 1.6.16, if the VMware Cloud Director services fail, VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager stops the services after 10 minutes, which is the new default value for timeout.
Registering infrastructure components or product integrations with NSX-T fails
If the password for the NSX-T infrastructure component contains one or more of the following symbols :
- %
- &
- =
,registering infrastructure components or product integrations with NSX-T fails in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager.
A task fails with the The object 'vim.VirtualMachine:vm-id' has already been deleted or has not been completely created error message
If a virtual machine has been deleted while VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager runs a task, the task might fail with the following error message.
```
The object 'vim.VirtualMachine:vm-id' has already been deleted or has not been completely created
```
The automatic discovery for VMware Cloud Director when using NSX Advanced Load Balancer fails

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager fails the automatic discovery for environment details for VMware Cloud Director when using NSX Advanced Load Balancer.
In the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, when initiating a product upgrade or when creating a interoperability report, the target versions drop-down menu fails to load
If the ova file for the current version of the product is not in the local /cplcmrepo directory, when initiating a product upgrade or when creating a interoperability report, the target versions drop-down menu fails to load. You encounter the following error message.
```
Uncaught (in promise): TypeError: d.getAlternativeVersions(...) is null
```

Interoperability bundle 1.6.19

Upgrading a registered vCloud Usage Meter instance that meters NSX Advanced Load Balancer fails with ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Collector is not configured in Usage Meter error message

When trying to upgrade a vCloud Usage Meter instance with a registered NSX Advanced Load Balancer instance for metering, you receive the following error message.

ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Collector is not configured in Usage Meter

As a result, the upgrade is unsuccessful.
If the password of an NSX-T component contains the plus symbol, you cannot register the component in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager

If the password of an NSX-T component contains the plus symbol, the registration of the component in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager and the configuration of an NSX-T integration for VMware Cloud Director fail.

Known Issues

New - Unable to check for a new interoperability bundle update
After the migration to the Broadcom Support Portal from Customer Connect, you cannot check for a new interoperability bundle update. You see the following error message.
```
Could not extract response: no suitable HttpMessageConverter found for response type [class com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode] and content type [text/html;charset=UTF-8]X
```
Workaround: None. You can find the interoperability bundles in Broadcom Support Portal .
New - The upgrade of VMware Cloud Director fails in the DB_BACKUP step with Failed to execute task step - Could not create a backup VCD database..
If the creation of a database backup takes a long time, the upgrade fails with the following error message.
```
Failed to execute task step - Could not create a backup VCD database..
```
Workaround: None.
Deployment of VMware Chargeback fails without an Aria Operations product integration

If you deploy a new VMware Chargeback instance by using a JSON file and do not specify an Aria Operations product integration, the deployment fails without an error message.

Workaround: None.
Upgrading a registered vCloud Usage Meter instance that meters NSX Advanced Load Balancer fails with ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Collector is not configured in Usage Meter error message

When trying to upgrade a vCloud Usage Meter instance with a registered NSX Advanced Load Balancer instance for metering, you receive the following error message.

ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Collector is not configured in Usage Meter

As a result, the upgrade is unsuccessful.

Workaround: None.
If the password of an NSX-T component contains the plus symbol, you cannot register the component in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager

If the password of an NSX-T component contains the plus symbol, the registration of the component in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager and the configuration of an NSX-T integration for VMware Cloud Director fail.

Workaround: None.
In the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, when initiating a product upgrade or when creating a interoperability report, the target versions drop-down menu fails to load
If the ova file for the current version of the product is not in the local /cplcmrepo directory, when initiating a product upgrade or when creating a interoperability report, the target versions drop-down menu fails to load. You encounter the following error message.
```
Uncaught (in promise): TypeError: d.getAlternativeVersions(...) is null
```
Workaround: None.
Registering infrastructure components or product integrations with NSX-T fails
If the password for the NSX-T infrastructure component contains one or more of the following symbols :
- %
- &
- =
,registering infrastructure components or product integrations with NSX-T fails in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager.
Workaround: None.
The default value for timeout for the VMware Cloud Director services is too long

The default value for timeout for the VMware Cloud Director services used to be 30 minutes. For the interoperability bundle 1.6.16, if the VMware Cloud Director services fail, VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager stops the services after 10 minutes, which is the new default value for timeout.

Workaround: None.
A task fails with the The object 'vim.VirtualMachine:vm-id' has already been deleted or has not been completely created error message
If a virtual machine has been deleted while VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager runs a task, the task might fail with the following error message.
```
The object 'vim.VirtualMachine:vm-id' has already been deleted or has not been completely created
```
Workaround: None.
The automatic discovery for VMware Cloud Director when using NSX Advanced Load Balancer fails

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager fails the automatic discovery for environment details for VMware Cloud Director when using NSX Advanced Load Balancer.

Workaround: None.
A configured external authentication source does not appear in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager

When configuring an external authentication source, if the instance name for the LDAP or Active Directory source contains a dot, VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager cannot load the configured settings for the instance and does not display the instance in the UI. As a result, when you attempt to import a user from this authentication source, the Authentication Instance Name drop-down menu does not display the instance name and you cannot add the user in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager.
Workaround:
1. SSH to the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager appliance console and log in as vcplcm.
2. Navigate to the /opt/vmware/cplcm/config directory.
  
  cd /opt/vmware/cplcm/config
3. Open the ldap.settings file.
4. Remove all lines that start with the full instance name where a dot is present.
5. Configure the authentication source again by providing the instance name without the dot.
Updating the VMware Cloud Director management certificate deactivates the maintenance mode on a cell

If a VMware Cloud Director cell is in maintenance mode and you update the management certificate of the VMware Cloud Director instance, where the cell resides, VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager deactivates the maintenance mode on the cell.

Workaround: None.
Deploying VMware Cloud Director fails with a NSXT manager is not registered in VCD error message

When registering VMware NSX with VMware Cloud Director, if the URL for the NSX Manager instance ends with a forward slash ( / ), an attempt to import the same VMware Cloud Director environment in VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager fails with a NSXT manager is not registered in VCD error message during the post deploy validation.
Workaround:
1. In VMware Cloud Director, remove the slash ( / ) from the URL for the NSX Manager instance.
2. In VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, import the VMware Cloud Director environment.
Upgrading from VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1 to a later version fails

When you attempt to upgrade VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1 to a later version, during the upgrade of the database phase, the operation fails with a The status of DB cluster is unavailable or not healthy error message.

This is happening because when VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager starts the upgrade of the next cell, the update of the database to postgres version 14 is not yet completed.
Workaround:
1. Configure the waiting time between the completion of a node upgrade and starting to upgrade the next node to 180 seconds .
  
  su -c "echo 'CPLCM_VCD_UPGRADE_WAIT_AFTER_UPDATE=180' >> /etc/environment"
2. Restart the vcplcm-api service.
  
  sudo systemctl restart vcplcm-api.service
Redeploying of a VMware Cloud Director node in a database high availability cluster fails

In the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, when you attempt to redeploy a VMware Cloud Director node that resides in a database high availability cluster, the operation fails.
Workaround:
1. Unregister the failed cell. For information, see Unregister a Failed Primary or Standby Cell in a Database High Availability Cluster in the VMware Cloud Director documentation.
2. In the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, restart the failed task.
Deploying VMware Chargeback (formerly vRealize Operations Tenant App for VMware Cloud Director) fails with a Could not update root password for vROPS TA machine error message

When you deploy VMware Chargeback by using the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, the operation fails with an error message.

Could not update root password for vROPS TA machine

This happens because VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager cannot set the root password for the VMware Chargeback appliance after deploying it.
Workaround:
1. In vCenter Server, login to the VM console of the VMware Chargeback appliance and manually set the root password.
  
  Note: Do not delete the VMware Chargeback VM from vCenter Server.
2. By using the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, restart the deployment of VMware Chargeback.
Upgrading VMware Cloud Director fails with an ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Could not create a backup VCD database.. error message

If you deploy VMware Cloud Director by using VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.4 and then you upgrade to VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6, an attempt to upgrade the existing VMware Cloud Director instance to a later version fails with an error message.

ERROR - Failed to execute task step - Could not create a backup VCD database..

No primary DB node defined, cannot create DB backup

Workaround: After upgrading to VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager 1.6, run a discovery on the VMware Cloud Director instance.

After running the discovery, if upgrading the VMware Cloud Director instance fails again, rollback and start the upgrade again.
Upgrading vCloud Usage Meter 4.4 to a later version fails with an Operation timed out error message

If you use VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager to upgrade vCloud Usage Meter 4.4 to a later version, the upgrade might fail with an error message.

Failed to upgrade Usage Meter appliance. Command output: Operation timed out.

Workaround: Resume the upgrade by using checkpoint 1 or rollback and start the upgrade process from the beginning.
Resuming a cancelled VMware Cloud Director upgrade from a checkpoint fails

If you initiate a VMware Cloud Director upgrade and you cancel the task before it completes, resuming the upgrade process from a checkpoint fails.

The log file displays an Error while retrieving information for DB cluster health: error message.

Workaround: To complete the product upgrade, you can resume by using an earlier checkpoint or rollback and start the upgrade process from the beginning.
After configuring vRealize Operations Tenant App 8.6 or 8.6.1 with VMware Cloud Director, the vRealize Operations Manager UI is not visible in VMware Cloud Director

After you configure vRealize Operations Tenant App 8.6 or 8.6.1 with VMware Cloud Director 10.3.x, the vRealize Operations Manager UI might not be visible in VMware Cloud Director.
Workaround:

You must upload the vRealize Operations Tenant App plug-in to your VMware Cloud Director Service Provider Admin Portal.
1. From the /opt/vmware/plugin directory on the vRealize Operations Tenant App appliance, copy the plugin.zip file locally to your machine.
2. Log in to your VMware Cloud Director Service Provider Admin Portal and upload the plug-in file. For information, see Upload a Plug-in in the VMware Cloud Director Service Provider Admin Portal Guide documentation.
3. Log off and log in to your VMware Cloud Director Service Provider Admin Portal.
The VAMI displays the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager health status as Unknown

After upgrading VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, the Summary page of the VAMI displays the appliance health status as Unknown.

Workaround: Restart the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager appliance.
Upgrading to VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1 fails with a Timeout error message

Using the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager UI, when you attempt to upgrade to VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1, the upgrade process fails with a Timeout error message.

This happens when the upgrade timeout setting is set to its default value of 30 minutes.
Workaround: Change the upgrade timeout setting.
1. Log in to the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager console.
2. Change the environment variable for the timeout setting by running the command.
  
  su -c "echo CPLCM_VCD_UPGRADE_PROCESS_TIMEOUT={timeout_value_in_minutes} >> /etc/environment; systemctl restart vcplcm-api.service"
  
  You are prompted for the root password.
Updating an existing deployment of vRealize Operations Tenant App 2.5.x, 2.6.x, or 8.6.x fails

When you use VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager to update an existing vRealize Operations Tenant App 2.5.x, 2.6.x, or 8.6.x deployment, the REST API task fails with an ERROR status.
Workaround:
1. In vCenter Server, open the vRealize Operations Tenant App VM console.
2. Manually update the root password for vRealize Operations Tenant App to match the password you configure in the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager REST API request.
3. In VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, run the update REST API request.
Deployment and upgrade tasks for vRealize Operations Tenant App can take a long time to complete or fail with an error message

In VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, when you try to deploy or upgrade vRealize Operations Tenant App, the API task can take a long time to complete or fail with an error message such as:

ERROR

Vrops TA service or VM tools did not start successfully on VM
Workaround:
1. In vCenter Server, open the vRealize Operations Tenant App VM console.
2. Restart the vRealize Operations Tenant App virtual machine.
3. In VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, run the deploy REST API request.

Interoperability bundle 1.6.16
Interoperability bundle 1.6.19

Interoperability bundle 1.6.16

After updating a node for a VMware Cloud Director instance, the status of the instance is PARTIALLY_OFF

The status of a VMware Cloud Director instance is PARTIALLY_OFF after upgrading a node. The node restarts during the upgrade and as a result, the vmware-vcd.service service needs 1-2 minutes to start running properly again.

Workaround: After the vmware-vcd.service service starts running properly again, run a discovery for the VMware Cloud Director instance. The status automatically changes to OK.

Interoperability bundle 1.6.19

New - VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager does not support the deployment of VMware RabbitMQ versions 3.8.6 and 3.8.14

VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager does not support the deployment of VMware RabbitMQ versions 3.8.6 and 3.8.14 because the OVA files are no longer available. VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager supports deploying version 3.9.17 that you can download from VMware Marketplace.

Workaround: None.