HCX Migration fails with "Could not find MA host at source/target side."

Products

• VMware HCX
• VMware Cloud on AWS
• VMware Cloud on Dell EMC

Issue/Introduction

HCX validation for a migration will fail with the error, "Could not find MA host at source/target side" as shown in the screenshots below:

Environment

VMware HCX

Cause

This is caused by the MA host not being deployed on either or both the Connector and/or the Cloud end of the HCX deployment. The MA host is used by the IX appliances to facilitate migrations. Without the MA host, all migrations will fail.

Resolution

Perform the following steps to resolve the "Could not find MA host at source/target side" error:

    1. Make sure the HCX Manager & IX appliance are on the latest version.
    2. Edit the Service Mesh and confirm the presence of, or add the "Cross-Cloud vMotion Migration service".
    3. Redeploy the IX appliances that are missing their MA hosts.     

• • Regardless as to whether the MA host is missing from the source side, the destination side or both, the redeployment process must be initiated from the source side, AND it will redeploy both the source and destination IX appliances.

    4. Confirm that after redeployment of the IX appliances, the MA hosts have also been deployed.
    5. Re-attempt migration validation.

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, follow the below steps to remove all vMotion services:

1. Edit the service mesh and remove all vMotion services that use the Mobility Agent (MA) virtual host as shown below:

• Cross-cloud vMotion Migration
• Replication Assisted vMotion Migration
• HCX Assisted vMotion Migration 

2. Update Service Mesh:

• Allow the service mesh to complete the update task successfully
• Verify that the Mobility Agent host is removed from the vCenter inventory

3. Re-enable IX Services:

• Edit the service mesh and add back any necessary IX-associated services. 

4. Final Check:

• Allow the service mesh to update the task successfully 
• Verify that the Mobility Agent host appears in the vCenter inventory and that its version aligns with the other host's ESXi version

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
Migrations will not be successful without an MA host deployed on both ends of the HCX Site Pair.

The MA is not deployed when only "Hybrid Interconnect" and "Bulk Migration" services selected as the vMotion service is not needed for these migration types.