vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) hardware compatibility check flags a device as incompatible due to multiple matching entries in the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG).

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Upon running a hardware compatibility check on a vLCM-enabled vSAN cluster, one or more PCI devices may be flagged as incompatible due to multiple matching entries being found in the VCG.  In addition, no constraint data will be shown for that device.

Most devices have PCI IDs that are globally unique to the exact device.  Not all devices listed on the VCG, however, are completely unique, either because OEMs produce multiple different devices with the same PCI ID (different only in capacity, for instance) or due to data entry errors in the VCG.  If a device is encountered that could potentially match more than one entry in the VCG, vSAN Health allows the user to disambiguate and select the desired entry for their device.  When a user has selected the desired entry, the vLCM hardware compatibility check uses the data from that entry to calculate an accurate compliance status.  

However, if the user has not selected a desired entry, then vLCM has no way of knowing which vSAN VCG entry it should use to calculate the device's compliance status.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0.1

Resolution

Starting vCenter 8.0 U1, a new notification will be shown under the device in question that explains why it was flagged as incompatible. It will contain a link to this KB article that explains how to remedy the situation.

Remediation steps are as follows:

1. From within the cluster page, click on the "Configure" menu item.
2. From the sidebar under the "vSAN" category click on "Disk Management."
3. Along the top toolbar, click on "Edit Unidentified NVMe Devices."
4. For each unidentified NVMe device, select the desired VCG listing for it from the drop-down menu.