PowerProtect VM backups fail with ABV0018 indicating unable to log in to vCenter

Summary: The virtual machine (VM) backups fail with ABV0018 indicating that it was unable to log in to vCenter.

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Symptoms

The PowerProtect VM Direct Engine solution is used to protect the vSphere environment. The VM backups fail with ABV0018 indicating that it was unable to log in to vCenter. 
ABV0018: VM Direct engine 'my-vm-name.my-domain.com' is unable to back up the virtual machine 'MY-VM-NAME' on vCenter 'my-vcenter-name' because of a vCenter connection issue.

The VM Direct engine cannot complete the backup of this virtual machine because a connection with the vCenter cannot be established.

To troubleshoot this issue: 1) Verify that the vCenter can be reached.  2) If the vCenter is busy, wait for some activities to complete and then retry the operation.

Backup has FAILED. Unable to connect to vCenter "my-vcenter-name.my-domain.com": Unable to log in to vCenter 'my-vcenter-name.my-domain.com': Post "https://my-vcenter-name.my-domain.com/sdk": dial tcp XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:443: connect: no route to host (500)
error.jpg

Cause

The Domain Name System (DNS) resolution is not properly resolving the vCenter server.

Resolution

The DNS resolution should properly resolve the environment components using the short name, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), and IP address. Ensure the PowerProtect appliance and VM Direct Engines can properly resolve the relevant components in the solution (vCenter, ESXi hosts, Data Domain, so on).
Article Properties
Article Number: 000207075
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 18 Nov 2025
Version:  2
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