Host profile status displays as "Not Compliant" after clicking REMEDIATE on an ESXi 7.x host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
On an stateful and stateless ESXi 7.x host that has Syslog.global.logDir configured with a custom path other than the default [] /scratch/logs, after clicking on the REMEDIATE button in the CONFIGURE > Host Profile option, you see these symptoms:

• Host profile status displays as "Not Compliant" after a reboot. The impacted host prior to the reboot was previously displaying a status of Compliant.
• In the [] /dastore/logs/hostname a duplicate hostname folder exist.
• In the /var/log/syslog.log of the impacted ESXi host, you see entries similar to:
  
  2022-11-29T12:33:29Z Host Profiles[2110285 opID=7e92ea12-02-SWI-2a3593-60-911e]:             value = 'Syslog.global.logDir'                }             ],             message = "Option Syslog.global.logDir doesn't match the specified criteria"          },          expressionName = 'option["key-vim-profile-host-OptionProfile-Syslog_global_logDir"]-optionFixed',          failureValues = (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFailure.ComplianceFailureValues) [             (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFailure.ComplianceFailureValues) {                dynamicType = <unset>,                dynamicProperty = (vmodl.DynamicProperty) [],                comparisonIdentifier = 'Value-[Syslog.global.logDir]',                profileInstance = <unset>,                hostValue = '[Datastore] scratch/hostname,                profileValue = '[Datastore] scratch'             }          ]       }    ] }
   
• In the /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log, you see entries similar to:
  
  2022-11-29T12:33:30.054Z info vpxd[10312] [Originator@6876 sub=moHostProfile opID=7e92ea12-02] [CheckCompliance]: Host Hostname is not compliant with profile HostProfileName: (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFail
  ure) [
  -->    (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFailure) {
  -->       failureType = "Option.Mismatch",
  -->       message = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vim.profile.ComplianceFailure.Option.Mismatch.label",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "key",
  -->                value = "Syslog.global.logDir"
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = "Option Syslog.global.logDir doesn't match the specified criteria"
  -->       },
  -->       expressionName = "option["key-vim-profile-host-OptionProfile-Syslog_global_logDir"]-optionFixed",
  -->       failureValues = (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFailure.ComplianceFailureValues) [
  -->          (vim.profile.ComplianceResult.ComplianceFailure.ComplianceFailureValues) {
  -->             comparisonIdentifier = "Value-[Syslog.global.logDir]",
  -->             profileInstance = <unset>,
  -->             hostValue = "[Datastore] logs/hostname",
  -->             profileValue = "[Datastore] logs"
  -->          }
  -->       ]
  -->    }
  --> ]
  
  For additional information, see Location of vCenter Server log files (1021804) .

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXI 7.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs due to a race condition on the impacted ESXi host that are attach to a Host Profile.

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware ESXi 7.x.

Currently, there is no resolution.

Workaround:
To work around this issue:

1. On the impacted ESXi host, Navigate to Advanced Settings > Remove "hostname" in front of [Datastore] folder in "Syslog.global.logDir".
2. Set the Syslog.global.logDirUnique to false.
3. Click REMEDIATE.
4. Test by rebooting the impacted ESXi host and confirm that it is now Compliant.