PowerFlex 2.6: Convert SVM OS fails "UNEXPECTED Error java.lang.NullPointerException executing command .CustomizeSvmCommand"

Summary: PowerFlex Convert SVM OS fails with "UNEXPECTED Error java.lang.NullPointerException executing command.CustomizeSvmCommand"

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.
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Symptoms

Converting SVM OS from SLES 11.3 to SLES 12.2 with the GW

Symptoms

The task in GW operation fails with an Unexpected error.

scaleio-trace.log contains the following:

2018-08-28 13:39:40,241 [executor-27] ERROR c.e.s.s.d.i.c.CustomizeSvmCommand - UNEXPECTED Error java.lang.NullPointerException executing command .CustomizeSvmCommand (abort) : com.emc.scaleio.serverCommons.vmwareObj.VmWareSpecGenerator.getCustomizationSpec(VmWareSpecGenerator.java:88)	
com.emc.scaleio.serverCommons.vmwareObj.vCenterClient.copyCustomization(vCenterClient.java:1863)	
com.emc.scaleio.serverCommons.vmwareConnectors.VCenterConnectorImpl.copyVmCustomization(VCenterConnectorImpl.java:416)	
com.emc.s3g.scaleio.domain.installation.VCenterConnectionImpl.copyVmCustomization(VCenterConnectionImpl.java:238)	
com.emc.s3g.scaleio.domain.installation.commands.CustomizeSvmCommand.executeVCenterCommand(CustomizeSvmCommand.java:59)	
com.emc.s3g.scaleio.domain.installation.commands.CustomizeSvmCommand.executeVCenterCommand(CustomizeSvmCommand.java:29)	
com.emc.s3g.scaleio.domain.installation.commands.VCenterCommand.executeCommand(VCenterCommand.java:48)	
com.emc.s3g.scaleio.domain.installation.commands.BaseCommand.call(BaseCommand.java:515)	
java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)	
java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)	
java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)	
java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)

 

Impact

Unable to proceed with the conversion. 

Cause

The vmware-tools process in the original SVM is having an issue, and VCenter is not able to retrieve the IPs from it, and thus unable to configure the new SVMs accordingly.

Looking into the VCenter's VM summary tab, The "IP Addresses" list is empty, as shown in the screen capture below. However the "VMware Tools" status could still be "Running."

VM summary tab 

Resolution

Identify all the (original) SVMs that do not show IP addresses in vCenter, login to them, and restart the vmware-tools process, for example:

systemctl restart vmtoolsd

Additional Information

Impacted versions

This is not a ScaleIO/VxFlex OS issue. 

 

Affected Products

PowerFlex Software

Products

PowerFlex Software
Article Properties
Article Number: 000031281
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 22 Sept 2025
Version:  4
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