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Adding an ESX/ESXi host to vCenter Server fails with the vpxa backtrace error: Received unexpected error from property collector: at line number 7, not well-formed (invalid token) (2015234)

Symptoms

Cannot add an ESX/ESXi host to the vCenter Server.
Adding an ESX/ESXi host to vCenter Server fails
In the vpxa.log file, you see a backtrace similar to:

Note:The vpxa.log file is located on the host at /var/log/vmware/vpxa.

[xxxx-xx-xx 09:06:21.451 0xf6fbfb90 verbose 'VpxaHalCnxHostagent'] Received callback in WaitForUpdatesDone
[xxxx-xx-xx 09:06:21.451 0xf6fbfb90 error 'App'] [VpxaHalCnxHostagent] -> [03] eip 0x943c841
        -> [04] eip 0x943ca56
        -> [05] eip 0x9443f97
        -> [06] eip 0x9444845
        -> [07] eip 0x9439c52
        -> [08] eip 0x8ea2a7c
        -> [09] eip 0x94d58b1
        -> [10] eip 0x94ca1ae
        -> [11] eip 0x94d0962
        -> [12] eip 0x8ea2a7c
        -> [13] eip 0x94d8859
        -> [14] eip 0x71f49b
        -> [15] eip 0x69f33e

[2011-04-12 09:06:21.451 0xf6fbfb90 error 'App'] [VpxaHalCnxHostagent] Received unexpected error from property collector: at line number 7, not well-formed (invalid token)
[2011-04-12 09:06:21.451 0xf6fbfb90 error 'App'] [00] eip 0x94f7e0e
[01] eip 0x94f7f30
[02] eip 0x95b17d2
[03] eip 0x943c841
[04] eip 0x943ca56
[05] eip 0x9443f97
[06] eip 0x9444845
[07] eip 0x9439c52
[08] eip 0x8ea2a7c
[09] eip 0x94d58b1
[10] eip 0x94ca1ae
[11] eip 0x94d0962
[12] eip 0x8ea2a7c
[13] eip 0x94d8859
[14] eip 0x71f49b
[15] eip 0x69f33e

Cause

The issue may occur if the firmware on the DVD/CD-ROM drive connected to the host is corrupted.

When you run the esxcfg-info command on the host, you see an output similar to the following for the device:

|----Vendor.................................TÅAÃ
|----Model..................................DÖDRÏM DÖ2¸EÖ
|----Revision...............................D®AÇ
|----Display Name...........................Local TÅAÃ CD-ROM (mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0)
|----Vendor.............................................TÅAÃ
|----Model..............................................DÖDRÏM DÖ2¸EÖ
|----Revision...........................................D®AÇ
|----Display Name.......................................Local TÅAÃ CD-ROM (mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0)

This output shows that the device returns information with invalid characters that cause the vpxa process to backtrace.

Note: This example indicates issues was with the DVD/CD-ROM drive. However, this issue may also occur if other hardware components report invalid characters to the ESX/ESXi host. If the vpxa process stops with invalid token, check the output of the esxcfg-info -l command and look for any device returning invalid characters to the host.

Resolution

To resolve the issue:

Remove or replace the DVD/CD-ROM device
Update the firmware for the device

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