Deleting the vSwitch or a port group from VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 2 fails with the error: Call "HostNetworkSystem.UpdateNetworkConfig" for object "networkSystem-XX" on vCenter Server "vc_name" failed

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot add a portgroup or an uplink to the vSwitch.
• Adding a portgroup or an uplink to the vSwitch fails.
• When deleting the vSwitch called vSwtichUSB0 or port group called IMM_Network0, you see the error:
  
  A specified parameter was not correct.
  Call "HostNetworkSystem.UpdateNetworkConfig" for object "networkSystem-XX" on vCenter Server "vc_name" failed.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs when the IBM 3650 M2 or M3 servers create vusb0 NIC which is currently on a vSwitch called vSwitchUSB0, or a port-group called IMM_Network0. This gets created automatically on using the IBM customized image for ESXi 5.1 Update 2.

To confirm this, run this esxcfg-vswitch command:

esxcfg-vswitch -l

You see output similar to:

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks
vSwitch0 128 8 128 1500 vmnic6,vmnic7

PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
Management Network 137 1 vmnic6,vmnic7

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks
vSwitchUSB0 128 2 128 1500 vusb0

PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
IMM_Network0 0 1

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware ESXi 5.1.

Currently, there is no resolution.

To work around this issue:

1. Connect to the ESXi host using SSH. For more information, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x (2004746).
2. Run this command to remove the vSwitchUSB0 virtual switch:
   
   # esxcfg-vswitch -d vSwitchUSB0
   
   Note: For more information on manipulating virtual switches using the command line, see the vicfg-vswitch section in the vSphere 5.1 Documentation.
   
   
3. Add the vSwitch through command line. For more information, see Configuring vSwitch or vNetwork Distributed Switch from the command line in ESXi/ESX (1008127).

Additional Information

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