vProxy: FLR is failing for all clients with the error "Unable to create datastore"

Summary: The NetWorker VMware Protection integration is configured with the vProxy Appliance. The File level Recovery fails consistently using the NetWorker Management Console indicating that it was unable to create the Network File System (NFS) data store. ...

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Symptoms

The NetWorker Management Console (NMC) and recovery logs show: 
nsrvproxy_flr: vProxy Log: YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS INFO:   [@(#) Build number: ##] Unmounting after mount failure: Unable to create datastore '[VPROXY_NAME]-1487848168' using '[DATA_DOMAIN]:/data/col1/coral/[VPROXY_NAME]-[SESSION_ID]': ServerFaultCode: An error occurred during host configuration.
OR 
nsrvproxy_flr: vProxy Log: YYYY/MM/DDTHH:MM:SS INFO: [@(#) Build number: 123] Unmounting after mount failure: Unable to create datastore 'EMC-FLR-[VPROXY_NAME]-026473-1645810870' using 'DD_NAME:/data/col1/networker/FLR-[VPROXY_NAME]-[SESSION_ID]': ServerFaultCode: An error occurred during host configuration. Operation failed, diagnostics report: Mount failed: Unable to complete Sysinfo operation. Please see the VMkernel log file for more details.: Unable to connect to NFS server.

Cause

The "ServerFaultCode" is indicative that the error is being reported to the vProxy from VMware.
The FLR workflow creates an NFS export on the Data Domain, which is used as a VMware Data Store on the target ESXi hosts.  
A firewall prevents one or more ESXi hosts in the VMware Cluster from connecting to the NFS server (Data Domain) to mount the NFS Data Store.

Resolution

Ensure that TCP access is available over NFS ports 3009, 2049, and 2052 to the Data Domain from all ESXi hosts in the Cluster.

To test ESXi port connections, use netcat (nc) with the following flags:

For TCP tests:

nc -zv address port
Example: 
[root@esxi:~] nc -zv ddve.amer.lan 3009
Connection to ddve.amer.lan 3009 port [tcp/sunrpc] succeeded!

[root@esxi:~] nc -zv ddve.amer.lan 2049
Connection to ddve.amer.lan 2049 port [tcp/nfs] succeeded!

[root@esxi:~] nc -zv ddve.amer.lan 2052
Connection to ddve.amer.lan 2052 port [tcp/*] succeeded!

Sometimes, ports are open on the network firewall but blocked on the ESXi host's OS firewall, resulting in a "connection timed out" message. Validate this by temporarily disabling the ESXi firewall. The ESXi firewall can be disabled with the following.

[root@esxi:~] esxcli network firewall get
   Default Action: DROP
   Enabled: true
   Loaded: true
[root@esxi:~] esxcli network firewall set --enabled false
[root@esxi:~] esxcli network firewall refresh
To reenable the firewall, set --enabled true and refresh the firewall again.
 
NOTE: The network and VMware teams must resolve any issues regarding connections between the ESXi host and DD occurring outside of NetWorker.


The vProxy appliance must also be able to reach NFS ports on the DD. These can be checked using the curl command:

curl -v address:port
Ports used: 22, 111, 131, 161, 2049, 2052, 3009

Additional Information

Port requirements are documented in the NetWorker VMware Integration Guide and: NVP vProxy: Troubleshooting Network Connectivity For Backup and Restore Operations

 

Affected Products

NetWorker
Article Properties
Article Number: 000065252
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 17 Mar 2025
Version:  4
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