Migration to DVS or restoring network configuration in DCUI fails when using 3 or more VMkernel ports in VMware ESXi

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Migration to DVS or restoring network configuration in DCUI fails when using 3 or more VMkernel ports in VMware ESXi.
• Using the Restore Network Settings button from DCUI does not work as expected, and does not clear network settings on all VMkernel ports.
• Autodeploy host with 3 or more VMkernel ports on DVS drops out of vCenter Server during host profile application.
• In the syslog.0 file for the host on the syslog server, after the auto deploy host fails, you see entries similar to:
  
  Time,693 Host Profiles[37428]: INFO: NetEsxCli (1392938593.693384):network ip interface remove --interface-name "vmk2"^@
  Time,712 Host Profiles[37428]: WARNING: esxcli command ['network', 'ip', 'interface', 'remove', '--interface-name', 'vmk2'] failed with error code (1) output: Errors:
  Unable to remove VMkernel network interface. Error was : Sysinfo error on operation returned status : Not found. Please see the VMkernel log for detailed error information
  ^@
  Time,712 Host Profiles[37428]: WARNING: Failed to execute "network ip interface remove --interface-name "vmk2"" command. Status = 1, Error=Errors:
  Unable to remove VMkernel network interface. Error was : Sysinfo error on operation returned status : Not found. Please see the VMkernel log for detailed error information
  

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

Host networking enters an undefined state when with more than two vmknics, the kernel attempts to remove all the defined vmknics. This can happen either:

• as a result of pushing the Restore Network Settings button in the DCUI.
• as a result of applying a host profile with a vDS containing all vmknics during autodeploy.
  

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware ESXi 5.1.x.

The issue is fixed in VMware ESXi550-201501001. For more information, see VMware Downloads

This issue occurs in two cases:

• When restoring network settings with the DCUI:
  To work around in this case, manually change the network settings back to their original values through the DCUI. If this is not possible, manually reinstall ESXi.
  
  
• When applying a host profile during autodeploy:
  To work around in this case, rework the host profile so that vmk0 is assigned to a standard switch as a management interface and repeat the autodeploy.
  

Additional Information

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