After Test Failover or Failover, an error occurs on the target VM because of non-specific Configuration Service issues. The common error message is:
Configuration service in the target machine does not seem to have started
Troubleshooting tips in this section explain common Configuration Service issues and some alternative ways to resolve them.
The Configuration Service error indicates that the PlateSpin Server is unable to communicate with the Configuration Service on the Target VM. Analyze your system to determine the possible root cause of the problem.
The operating system must be loaded in the target VM in order for the Configuration Service to start up normally. A failure to boot indicates that there could be a driver conflict, a boot loader error, or possible disk corruption.
We recommend that you open a service ticket with Micro Focus Customer Care if the operating system fails to boot on the target VM.
The network must be set up correctly in order for the Configuration Service on the target workload to communicate with the PlateSpin Server.
Ensure that you have configured your network in a way that the target workload can communicate with the PlateSpin Server. See Section 1.5, Access and Communication Requirements across Your Protection Network.
The Configuration Service must be able to communicate with the floppy devices for VMware VMs in order to read and write status messages for the PlateSpin Server.
On the target VM, verify that the machine is able to communicate with the floppy devices:
On the VM, open the log file (C:\windows\platespin\configuration\data\log.txt).
Any of the following messages might be an indication that the floppy is inaccessible:
Failed (5) to write to file \\?\Volume{<guid-number>}\log.zip
CopyFile \\?\Volume{<guid-number>}\windows\platespin\configuration\data\result.txt
to \\?\Volume{<guid-number>}\result.txt failed
The output floppy was not accessible after the timeout periodTo resolve a Configuration Service error, you can try any of the solutions in this section.
Protect tries to minimize the number of reboots that occur on the target VM by default in order to speed up the Failover process. It is possible that allowing the additional reboots will improve the target VM’s ability to communicate with the PlateSpin Server.
To skip reboot optimizations:
Log in to the PlateSpin Server, then open the PlateSpin Server Configuration page at:
https://Your_PlateSpin_Server/platespinconfiguration/
Search for the parameter ConfigurationServiceValues.
Edit the ConfigurationServiceValues parameter and set the SkipRebootOptimization option to true.
Click Save.
Run an incremental or full replication.
The replication also propagates the modified configuration settings to the target VM.
Run the Test Failover or Failover again for affected workloads.
You can decrease the number of times the PlateSpin Server attempts to read from and write to the VMware input or output floppy devices if the diagnostic log shows the following error:
Information:1:Attempting floppy download
followed by
Verbose:1:Failed to copy file from remote URL
-or-
Exception: The remote server returned an error: (500) Internal Server Error
This error is caused by VMware locking the resource. It indicates that the PlateSpin Server is detaching and reattaching the floppy each time it checks the status. Locking can cause the target VM to fail to read and write to the floppy device. See Using the VMware vCenter Server 4.x,5.x and 6.0 Datastore Browser to Download or Copy a Powered-On Virtual Machine's .vmx and .nvram Files Fails (1019286).
If you experience floppy device locking issues, you can increase values for the Configuration Service polling settings on the PlateSpin Server:
This parameter determines how long to wait before the PlateSpin Server starts polling for target workload status. The default value is 120 seconds (2 minutes).
This parameter determines how frequently the PlateSpin Server attempts to communicate with the target workload and to read or write to the VMware floppy devices. The poll interval default is 30000 ms (30 seconds).
This parameter determines how long the PlateSpin Server waits after it starts the target VM before it displays an error in the Web Interface. The default value is 420 seconds (7 minutes).
This parameter determines how long the PlateSpin Server waits after each polling interval before displaying an error in the Web Interface. The default value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).
Higher values for these parameters reduce the frequency that the PlateSpin Server attempts to read from and write to the VMware floppy devices on target VMs.
To reduce read and write traffic for VMware floppy devices:
Log in to the PlateSpin Server, then open the PlateSpin Server Configuration page at:
https://Your_PlateSpin_Server/platespinconfiguration/
Search for the Configuration Service polling parameters, modify their settings as appropriate, then click Save.
For example:
vmwareConfigServicePollStartDelay = 180 (3 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollIntervalInMilliseconds = 300000 (5 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollStartTimeout = 1200 (20 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollUpdateTimeout = 900 (15 minutes)
or
vmwareConfigServicePollStartDelay = 300 (5 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollIntervalInMilliseconds = 480000 (8 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollStartTimeout = 1200 (20 minutes) vmwareConfigServicePollUpdateTimeout = 900 (15 minutes)
Run an incremental or full replication.
The replication also propagates the modified configuration settings to the target VM.
Run the Test Failover or Failover again for affected workloads.
The Configuration Service might be coming up before resources are accessible. You can change the Configuration Service startup type to have increase the delay.
To change the startup type:
Log in to the PlateSpin Server, then open the PlateSpin Server Configuration page at:
https://Your_PlateSpin_Server/platespinconfiguration/
Search for the parameter windowsConfigServiceStartType.
Change the windowsConfigServiceStartType value to AutoDelay.
Options for windowsConfigServiceStartType are:
GroupDelay is the default value and adds the Configuration Service to the end of the ServiceGroupOrder in the registry.
AutoDelay will maximize the amount of time the service waits before starting (2 minutes after boot). Also modify the ServicesPipeTimeoutForWindowsConfigService parameter value in Step 4.
NoDelay is the most efficient option and starts the service as soon as Windows can. However, it is not recommended because of the potential issues connecting to resources.
(AutoDelay) Change the ServicesPipeTimeoutForWindowsConfigService parameter setting to 180 seconds to account for the 120 seconds that the service will take to start up after boot when AutoDelay is set for windowsConfigServiceStartType in Step 3.
Click Save.
Run an incremental or full replication.
The replication also propagates the modified configuration settings to the target VM.
Run the Test Failover or Failover again for affected workloads.
During a failover action, a Windows service interferes with the mounting of floppy drivers.
Determine which Windows Services are configured to start up at reboot. Some services are known to interfere with the Configuration Service writing to a floppy, such as Wireless Configuration and some antivirus software. You should configure these services to not run automatically on Test Failover or Failover, then run the Test Failover or Failover again.
You can also try to disable all non-essential services for Test Failover and Failover on the Configuration page, then run the Test Failover or Failover again.
If the Configuration Service cannot contact the PlateSpin Server, diagnostics will tell only part of the picture. You must also get logs from the target VM:
Windows workloads: The Configuration Service logs are found in the C:\windows\platespin\configuration\data folder.
The log.txt file contains all of the logging information, but the Config.ini file is useful in understanding what is to be configured.
The result.txt file contains the status of the Configuration Service run.
If the target VM cannot read from the input floppy device, it will not have the merged Config.ini file, which might include custom network configuration information for the test failover network environment.
If the Config.ini file has no network related information (such as a [NIC0], the target VM network adapter might have special characters in the name.
It is a known issue that the Config.ini file might not be accurate until it is merged with the one from the floppy device.
The target VM tries a reboot if it cannot connect to either the output floppy or input floppy (one time only). You will see a config.ini.floppyreboot file if this is the case.
Linux workloads: The Configuration Service logs are found in the /tmp folder.
The main log files are named file*.platespin.fileLogger.
We recommend examining any configuration folders in /tmp. Tar the configuration folders along with the file*.platespin.fileLogger files to send to Micro Focus Customer Care.
Other config files to check for include the following:
The configuration file is /usr/lib/psconfigservice/data/config.conf.
The end result log file is /usr/lib/psconfigservice/data/result.txt.