VNX: Automated Failover Manager (AFM) Discovery failure with exit code 255 (User correctable)

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Symptoms

A potential change could be the expiration of the user security files, which normally occurs following an array code upgrade.

Failure occurs when attempting to execute NAS Active/Passive Discover on AFM and the interpreter exists with exit code 255 as stated in the following example output,

10.12.2017 16:18:58 - CMD >d:\progra~1\emc\afm/emcadm2\bin\emcadm.exe -f ua_getlun_file -s vnxrh03 -d d:\progra~1\emc\afm\tmp\nas\vnxrh03.getlun< with Return: 255
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - CMD >d:\progra~1\emc\afm/emcadm2\bin\emcadm.exe -f ua_getlun_file -s vnxult03 -d d:\progra~1\emc\afm\tmp\nas\vnxult03.getlun< with Return: 255
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - CMD >naviseccli -h 172.xx.xxx.xxx storagegroup -list -gname ~filestorage< with Return: 4294967295
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - CMDL(53): IF_OK GOTO 55
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - CMDL(54): EXIT
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - Exit Interpreter.
10.12.2017 16:18:58 - ====FINISH DISCOVER with exit code 255====


Cause

Status > Discover is used to gather information about components such as file systems, storage groups, and RecoverPoint groups on the VNX systems in a NAS environment. It is also used to update changes in the configuration.

Status > Discover runs Naviseccli commands to gather the stated information about the VNX systems based on a pre-existing user Naviseccli secure file that contains the access privileges for access to the VNX systems.

Hence, the Naviseccli commands are run without the explicit specification of the username, password or scope, such as in the following example,
  • naviseccli -h <IP address> storagegroup -list -gname ~filestorage
The failure occurs in case the user/password was changed for any of the two VNX systems and not updated in the Naviseccli secure file, or the Naviseccli secure file is unavailable, corrupted, or deleted.

Resolution

In order to resolve this issue, the following should be checked:
  1. If the VNX user/password was changed
  2. If the user Naviseccli secure file is available and updated with the correct VNX user/password 
Once you confirm the correct access credentials for the VNX systems, you can run the following command via CMD on the Windows host on which AFM runs, in order to update the user Naviseccli secure file with the correct access credentials for the VNX systems,
  • naviseccli -addusersecurity -user <USERNAME> -password <PASSWORD> -scope 0 -address <IP ADDRESS>
The command should be applied for the Control Stations and Storage Processors of both VNX systems.

Affected Products

VNX/VNXe

Products

VNX/VNXe
Article Properties
Article Number: 000057289
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 06 Nov 2025
Version:  4
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