Avamar - VMware proxy registration failing, hostname being set to localhost.localdomain due to /etc/hosts on proxy not being persistent
Summary: VMware proxy registration failing, hostname being set to localhost.localdomain due to /etc/hosts on proxy not being persistent
This article applies to
This article does not apply to
This article is not tied to any specific product.
Not all product versions are identified in this article.
Symptoms
When attempting to set up a VMWare proxy, we cannot set the hostname / register the proxy to the Avamar grid, registration is failing or timing out on the proxy.
The contents of the proxy's /etc/hosts file is not persistent and the command line shows the hostname on the proxy as localhost.localdomain
The contents of the proxy's /etc/hosts file is not persistent and the command line shows the hostname on the proxy as localhost.localdomain
Cause
This is generally caused by communications with the DNS server from the proxy. Time-out to DNS server and or slow response from the DNS server will cause the hostname to revert to localhost.localdomain. Manually setting the hostname and DNS server does not help, on reboot of the proxy, the name will again revert to localhost.localdomain and wipe the /etc/hosts file.
Resolution
If the customer cannot find the cause of the issue, DNS lookup of the proxy works from the Avamar server side, then the script which is being called from the proxy on boot will need to be altered. This script is located in /opt/vmware/share/vami and named vami_set_hostname. Copy the script to .old to retain the original version and VI vami_set_hostname, scroll down to the following line:
# reverse lookup the hostname from the IP address. If it can't be resolved,
# set the hostname to localhost. Wait for a max of 10 seconds if there is
# no reply then set the hostname to localhost
#
# prefer an IPv4 reverse lookup over an IPv6 reverse lookup
#
# set the hostname to localhost. Wait for a max of 10 seconds if there is
# no reply then set the hostname to localhost
#
# prefer an IPv4 reverse lookup over an IPv6 reverse lookup
#
DEVICE=`vami_default_interface`
NAME=`host -W 10 -T \`vami_ip_addr $DEVICE\` 2>/dev/null`
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
HOSTNAME=`echo $NAME | awk '{print $NF}' | sed -e 's/\.$//' -e 1q`
else
NAME=`host -W 10 -T \`vami_ip6_addr $DEVICE\` 2>/dev/null`
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
HOSTNAME=`echo $NAME | awk '{print $NF}' | sed -e 's/\.$//' -e 1q`
else
HOSTNAME="localhost.localdom"
NAME=`host -W 10 -T \`vami_ip_addr $DEVICE\` 2>/dev/null`
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
HOSTNAME=`echo $NAME | awk '{print $NF}' | sed -e 's/\.$//' -e 1q`
else
NAME=`host -W 10 -T \`vami_ip6_addr $DEVICE\` 2>/dev/null`
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
HOSTNAME=`echo $NAME | awk '{print $NF}' | sed -e 's/\.$//' -e 1q`
else
HOSTNAME="localhost.localdom"
fi
fi
fi
Modify the "localhost.localdom" highlighted in red above to the the FQDN of the proxy server. Manually modify /etc/hosts to have the correct hostname and IP address of the proxy, It may also be necessary to add the backup interface IP's of the Avamar grid to /etc/hosts on the proxy should "nslookup" of the Avamar grid and storage nodes still not function properly post reboot / registration attempt of the proxy to the Avamar grid.
Additional Information
Should registration still not work for the proxy server, check the vswitch which the proxy is assigned to in order to ensure that it does have the proper configuration to reach the Avamar server (VLAN, etc).
Affected Products
AvamarProducts
AvamarArticle Properties
Article Number: 000044377
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 24 Apr 2021
Version: 3
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.