Deleting the dvportgroup/dvSwitch to which the dvPort is connected fails with the error: Cannot find a useable port in vDS dvSwitch01vDS dvSwitch01 port 2669 is reserved by entity VM119IS01NSUS01 vnic {vnic}, type:{type}

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot delete a dvportgroup/dvSwitch to which the dvPort is connected
• When deleting the dvportgroup, dvSwitch, or dvPort or when configuring virtual machine to use a port that belongs to a different virtual machine, you see the error:
  
  Cannot find a useable port in vDS dvSwitch01vDS dvSwitch01 port 2669 is reserved by entity VM119IS01NSUS01 vnic {vnic}, type:{type}

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs if any of the port is still connected/used by a virtual machine.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, disconnect the port and then retry the operation.

Note: Usually, the vSphere Client detects this issue and does not issue the task to vCenter Server. But, if you use API to perform these tasks, the script may not perform these checks before issuing the task to vCenter Server and, therefore, the issue is detected by vCenter Server. If you are using API scripts, ensure that the port, portgroup, or switch is free before attempting to delete it.