Cannot deploy an OVF in vCenter 6.5.0b (build 5178943) and later

Products

VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

Note: This issue only affects vCenter 6.5.0b (Build 5178943) and later.

When attempting to deploy an OVF in vCenter 6.5.0b or later you see the error:
Unable to process template" or the wizard will hang during the validation process.
In the /var/log/vmware/content-library/cls.log file, you see the content library call a try-instantiate validation request:
2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | received event [RequestStateActivityEvent[source=TryInstantiateImportActivity(f612997b-acc8-47a8-b0dc-d3bba7278a98), resultName=3ec87a5d-e4a4-4b9e-bb70-8fcb778b2e6d, eventName=TryInstantiateImportSession] submitted on Wed Apr 26 11:31:35 GMT 2017]
2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | Try-instantiate of session 6d771f4b-4b09-4870-9f02-19e7cb25ce9f requesting...
2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | IntermediateResultListener | Activity ImportSessionActivity(6d771f4b-4b09-4870-9f02-19e7cb25ce9f) posted intermediate result: 3ec87a5d-e4a4-4b9e-bb70-8fcb778b2e6d
2017-04-26T11:31:35.359Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-7 | ImportSessionActivity | Try-instantiate of session 6d771f4b-4b09-4870-9f02-19e7cb25ce9f requested
The try-instantiate validation completes after 2 minutes:
2017-04-26T11:33:26.481Z | DEBUG | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16444858-ngc-51 | cls-simple-activity-3 | TryInstantiateImportActivity | tryInstantiate result: OvfValidationResult (com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.import_session.ovf_validation_result) => {
parameters = [NameAndProductParams (com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.name_and_product_params) =>
The import session times out after 10 minutes:
2017-04-26T11:41:35.492Z | ERROR | SelectResourcePageMediator-validate-16443638-ngc-aa-51 | cls-simple-activity-5 | ImportSessionActivity | OVF import session 6d771f4b-4b09-4870-9f02-19e7cb25ce9f terminated abnormally.
(vim.fault.Timedout) {
faultCause = null,
faultMessage = null
In the Web Client virgo logs (/var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/logs) you can see an exception 1 minute after the initial try-instantiate call:
com.vmware.vise.vim.vapi.DefaultVapiConnectionControl Maximum number of attempts reached while trying to call com.vmware.vcenter.ovf.import_session.try_instantiate
...
[2017-04-26T11:32:35.701Z] [ERROR] http-bio-9090-exec-5117 70929481 118317 214508 c.v.vsphere.client.provisioning.ovf.impl.OvfDeployServiceImpl Unable to query OVF. java.lang.IllegalStateException: Connection pool shut down

Resolution

This is a known issue with vCenter Server 6.5.0b (Build 5178943) and later.

This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 6.5 Update 1, available at VMware Downloads.

Note: There was no timeout value prior to vCenter 6.5.0b, so you will not experience this issue on any earlier build.

Workaround:

To work around this issue, increase the VAPI socket read timeout from the default value of one minute to ten minutes.

To increase the VAPI socket read timeout in a vCenter Server Appliance:

Log in to the VCSA using SSH.
Change directory to the usr directory:
cd /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/repository/usr
Create a new temp directory:
mkdir temp
Change to the new temp directory:
cd temp
Unzip the vim-services.jar file from the directory above to the temp directory:
unzip ../vim-services.jar
Open the vim-services.properties file with the vim text editor using this command:
vim vim-services.properties
Change this line:
vim.services.vapi.socket.timeout=60000
to
vim.services.vapi.socket.timeout=600000
Run this command to write the changes, save the file, and close the vim editor:
:wq!
Run this command to zip the vim-services.jar file:
zip -r vim-services.jar .
Change to the parent directory using this command:
cd ..
Create a backup of the original vim-services.jar file by renaming the file:
mv vim-services.jar vim-services.jar.original
Copy the edited vim-services.jar
cp temp/vim-services.jar .
Remove the temp directory you created in step 3:
rm -rf temp
Stop and then restart the vsphere-client service using these commands:
service-control --stop vsphere-client
service-control --start vsphere-client