1

Hi,

This is my 1st time with VCF and am facing an error when during Bring Up.

The networks are as below.

4 x ESXi - 192.168.35.0/24
vCenter, NSX, SDDC - 192.168.50.0/24 | vCenter - 192.168.50.5, NSX 192.168.50.6, SDDC - 192.168.50.110
vSAN - 192.168.40.0/24
vMotion - 192.168.45.0/24
NSX Overlay - 192.168.60.0/24

This is my understanding, and any one can correct me, VCF deploys vCenter, NSX, and SDDC VMs on the 4 ESXi hosts, if this is correct then I’m facing an issue with the below error from the Cloud Builder logs.

The error shows the Cloud Builder trying to ping vCenter’s IP address which is not even deployed yet, and which fails, anyone knows why ?

This is deployed in Workstation Pro, Nested so ESXi vSwitch Security settings are set to Accept all 3, no VLANS, only routing in place, no firewall, CB, SDDC, and vCenter are all in the same network 192.168.50.0/24

The vCenter is never deployed, soon as it start deploying vCenter it throws this error..

2025-05-26T09:54:39.732+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,2bc8] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.c.v.esx.EsxCommandExecutor,bringup-exec-3] Started SSH service on vcf2.vlab.lab.
2025-05-26T09:54:39.734+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,57eb] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.c.v.esx.EsxCommandExecutor,bringup-exec-4] Started SSH service on vcf3.vlab.lab.
2025-05-26T09:54:39.741+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,fa93] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.c.v.esx.EsxCommandExecutor,bringup-exec-2] Started SSH service on vcf1.vlab.lab.
2025-05-26T09:54:39.763+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,dbb8] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.c.v.esx.EsxCommandExecutor,bringup-exec-5] Started SSH service on vcf4.vlab.lab.
2025-05-26T09:54:39.948+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,fa93] ERROR [c.v.e.s.c.u.c.SshCommandExecuter,bringup-exec-2] Download from vcf1.vlab.lab:/scratch/vsan-uuid.txt failed: No such file
2025-05-26T09:54:39.965+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,2bc8] ERROR [c.v.e.s.c.u.c.SshCommandExecuter,bringup-exec-3] Download from vcf2.vlab.lab:/scratch/vsan-uuid.txt failed: No such file
2025-05-26T09:54:39.968+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,57eb] ERROR [c.v.e.s.c.u.c.SshCommandExecuter,bringup-exec-4] Download from vcf3.vlab.lab:/scratch/vsan-uuid.txt failed: No such file
2025-05-26T09:54:39.978+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,dbb8] ERROR [c.v.e.s.c.u.c.SshCommandExecuter,bringup-exec-5] Download from vcf4.vlab.lab:/scratch/vsan-uuid.txt failed: No such file

2025-05-26T09:55:40.357+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,fa93] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.h.i.HostPreparationServiceImpl,bringup-exec-2] vSAN UUID not found on vcf1.vlab.lab. Retriable operation 'Execute SSH command on ESXi vcf1.vlab.lab' failed to complete after 3 retries.
2025-05-26T09:55:40.357+0000 [bringup,513cd7507dc14668,fa93] INFO  [c.v.e.s.c.h.i.HostPreparationServiceImpl,bringup-exec-2] Preparing host {"address":"vcf1.vlab.lab","username":"svc-vcf-vcf1","password":"*****"} as a non-primary host with vsanUuid 7beec041-1524-44f3-9dc8-1078fa36ed45

2025-05-25T22:29:27.516+0000 [bringup,c4b7bbfc4f357b08,d071] ERROR [c.v.e.s.c.util.LocalProcessService,pool-3-thread-6] Local Command Failed with exit value 1.
Output Logs :LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:20 - PING vcsa.vlab.lab (192.168.50.105) 56(84) bytes of data.
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:20 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:20 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:20 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:23 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:23 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=5 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:23 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=6 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:23 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=7 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=8 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=9 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - From sddc.vlab.lab (192.168.50.110) icmp_seq=10 Destination Host Unreachable
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 -
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - --- vcsa.vlab.lab ping statistics ---
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - 10 packets transmitted, 0 received, +10 errors, 100% packet loss, time 9220ms
LocalProcess Output: 2025-05-25 22:29:27 - pipe 4

Error Logs are stored at
2025-05-25T22:29:30.356+0000 [bringup,c4b7bbfc4f357b08,d071] ERROR [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory,pool-3-thread-6] [D6KOJG] VCF_VSPHERE_VCENTER_INSTALLATION_FAILED vCenter installation failed. Check logs for more details.
com.vmware.vcf.common.util.VsphereRuntimeException: vCenter installation failed. Check logs for more details.

Any thoughts ?

1 Spice up
2

I found there is a second log file in Cloud Builder in /var/log/vmware/vcf/bringup/vcf-bringup-debug.log

Went through the debug logs and found the below when vCenter installation failed..

2025-05-26T18:54:55.963+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] (core) count: 16. CPUs do not have hyperthreading capability.
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] ============== [FAILED] Task: Running precheck: HostConfigs execution failed at
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] 06:54:55 PM ==============
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] Task 'Running precheck: HostConfigs' execution failed because [Deployment size <-----
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] selected by user's template for the VCSA 'vcsa' is 'small', which requires 21 GB <-----
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] of memory. That exceeds the total memory of 16.0 GB of the ESXi host <-----
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] 'vcf1.vlab.lab'. Choose a different deployment option for the VCSA. ], possible
2025-05-26T18:54:55.972+0000 [bringup,be982bfa05e9deff,ec18] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] resolution is [Refer to the logs for details]

Will increase the Nested ESXi resources and check again..

3

I can confirm Memory of the Hosts was the issue, bumped up the memory and changed VCSA deployment to Tiny, vCenter started deploying..

2025-05-27T20:14:11.937+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] Prepare ESXi host for vSAN Bootstrap completed
2025-05-27T20:14:11.937+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5]  [SUCCEEDED] Successfully executed Task 'Running vSAN prepare: Prepare vSAN for
2025-05-27T20:14:11.937+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] vCenter Server deployment.' in TaskFlow 'ci-conf-5495075726955567823' at
2025-05-27T20:14:11.937+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] 08:14:11 PM
2025-05-27T20:14:12.156+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] Deploying vCenter Server Appliance <-----
2025-05-27T20:14:12.156+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5]  [START] Start executing Task: Invoke OVF Tool to deploy VCSA for installation,
2025-05-27T20:14:12.156+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] upgrade, and migration at 08:14:12 PM
2025-05-27T20:14:12.194+0000 [bringup,4cc310702c2b94a5,0f92] DEBUG [c.v.v.c.util.CIContractInstaller,pool-4-thread-5] Prepare to execute OVF Tool command

I can see vSAN Datastore in the host as well..

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