Troubleshooting

This document describes troubleshooting steps you can take if you run into issues installing or using Photon Platform. If you encounter a problem that's not addressed in this document, in the quick start guide, or in the documentation on the GitHub wiki, feel free to visit us on Google Groups or, if you prefer, open a GitHub issue.

Log Files

The log files for the deployment reside in the following location on the installer VM. Recall from the installation guide that the default password for the root account is changeme if you haven't changed it already.

• /var/log/photon-installer.log

The log files for the Photon Controller agent, which is installed on each ESXi host, reside in the following directory on each target ESXi host:

• /scratch/log/photon-controller-agent.log

ESXi errors related to the agent's calls are stored in the following location on each target ESXi host:

• /scratch/log/syslog.log

The log files on the Photon Controller management VMs might contain useful troubleshooting information about API calls that fail, such as the call to add an ESXi host to the cluster. The management VM's log resides at this location:

• /var/log/photon-platform/photon-controller.log

You can access the log file through the VM's console in the vSphere Web Client. To connect to the management VM with SSH to view the log, you must first connect to the console and change the SSH configuration to permit root login; see Permitting Root Login with SSH.

Removing Residue of Lightwave and NSX VIBs

If you encounter a problem installing a new version of Photon Platform on ESXi hosts on which a previous version was installed, make sure that you have removed the residue from the Lightwave, Photon, and NSX VIBs. Connect to each ESXi host with SSH and run the following commands by using the ESX CLI:

First, make sure that there is no Lightwave VIB residue:

esxcli software vib list | grep lightwave

If present, uninstall it:

esxcli software vib remove -f -n lightwave-esx --no-live-install

Then reboot.

Second, make sure that there is no NSX agent VIB residue:

esxcli software vib list | grep nsx

If present, uninstall it:

esxcli software vib remove -n nsx-aggservice -n nsx-da -n nsx-esx-datapath -n nsx-exporter -n nsx-host -n nsx-lldp -n nsx-mpa -n nsx-netcpa -n nsx-python-protobuf -n nsx-sfhc -n nsxa -n nsxcli -n nsx-support-bundle-client --no-live-install

Then reboot.

Third, make sure that there is no vmk VTEP residue (check that there is no vmk10):

esxcli network ip interface ipv4 get

If present, remove it:

esxcli network ip  interface remove --interface-name=vmk10

Third, make sure no NSX vSwitch (DVS) residue remains:

net-vds

If present, remove it:

net-vds -d  hostswitch1

Image Upload Failure

Verify the file path you entered.

Reserve_Resorce Error

A Reserve_Resource error may look something like this:

2015/11/10 01:08:12 photon: Task '48b474d6-1773-4dca-a5cb-7a45a38e1904' is in error 
state. Examine task for full details.API Errors: [photon: { HTTP status: '0', code: 
'InternalError', message: 'Failed to roll out SwarmEtcd. Error: MultiException
[java.lang.IllegalStateException: VmProvisionTaskService failed with error 
[Task "CREATE_VM": step "RESERVE_RESOURCE" failed with error code "InternalError", 
message "null"]. /photon/clustermanager/vm-provision-tasks/
24537ef5-5757-42ea-81ff-3b63cc5734b6]', data: 'map[]' }]

This error signifies that the scheduler was unable to place the VM on your ESXi host.

There can be several root causes:

• Your ESXi host may be low on resources (usually RAM if installing on Fusion or Workstation)
• You have no correctly added the host to Photon Controller. Carefully review the installation instructions.
• Confirm the host is in a READY state by running photon host list
• It is also possible one or more critical components in Photon Controller has stopped. All the components that make up Photon Controller run inside Docker containers

Here's how to check on the status of the containers:

• Log into 192.168.209.29 (root/vmware)
• Execute docker ps
• You should see 8 containers with status up
• If one is not running, check the Docker logs for further information

Failure in Allocating Resources

You may run into resource contention issues if you're installing on Fusion or Workstation.

If you attempt to create a cluster and see messages containing a failure in "Allocate Resources," you may have used all the resources available on your ESXi VM. You can confirm this by logging in to the ESXi host by using the vSphere Web Client.