Unable to remove a vmnic from a vSwitch in vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to remove a vmnic from vCenter Server
• Unable to remove a vmnic from a vSwitch on multiple hosts
• Removing a vmnic from a vSwitch fails
• You see the error:
  
  Error reported: invalid argument Vim.Host.VirtualSwitch.LinkDiscoveryProtocolConfig
  
  
• The Hostd log contains entries similar to:
  
  [2010-02-05 10:33:20.050 F6387B90 info 'Vmomi'] Throw vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument
  [2010-02-05 10:33:20.050 F6387B90 info 'Vmomi'] Result:
  (vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument) {
  dynamicType = <unset>,
  faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
  invalidProperty = "Vim.Host.VirtualSwitch.LinkDiscoveryProtocolConfig",
  msg = "",
  }

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x

Resolution

This error if the vCenter Server database is not in sync and the network configuration is inconsistent.

To sync up the vCenter Server database and to ensure consistent network configuration:

1. Log in to ESX host as root.
2. To unlink the adapter, run the command:
   
   # esxcfg-vswitch -U vmnic# vSwitch#
   
   
3. Restart hostd and vpxa. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESX or ESXi Server (1003490).

Caution: Ensure Automatic Startup/Shutdown of virtual machines is disabled before restarting the management agents or you risk rebooting the virtual machines. For more information, see Restarting hostd (mgmt-vmware) on ESX Server Hosts Restarts Hosted Virtual Machines Where Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown is Enabled (1003312) and Determining whether virtual machines are configured to autostart (1000163).