fdm.log can be flooded if host is moved to a vSphere HA cluster without disconnecting it from the previous cluster

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When an ESXi host is moved from one vSphere HA cluster to another cluster administered by a different vCenter Sever without properly disconnecting it from its original vCenter Server, verbose error logs (such as the following) are created in fdm.log.

012-02-09T23:38:36.652Z [FFF8FB90 info 'Default' opID=FCCA3B8C-00000907-2-8a] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-internal-12 -- -- csi.FdmService.login: vim.fault.InvalidLogin:
--> Result:
--> (vim.fault.InvalidLogin) {
--> dynamicType = ,
--> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
--> msg = "Cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password.",
--> }
--> Args:
-->
--> Arg username:
--> "vpxuser"
--> Arg password:
--> (not shown)
-->
--> Arg hostdPort:
--> 443

Messages like this could fill the fdm logs 50% faster and create a risk of the logs being overwritten more quickly.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Resolution

To stop the extraneous fdm.log entries, you must disconnect the ESXi host from the vCenter Server that administers its original vSphere HA cluster. To do this:

1. Using the 'Election' log excerpt in the fdm logs, find the IP address of the host.
2. Use one of the following methods to determine the IP address of the vCenter Server:
   a. Connect to hostd and retrieve the host's ConnectInfo object. This object includes the IP address of the vCenter Server.
   b. Connect to the host using
   https://[HOST IP]/mob/?moid=ha-host&doPath=summary
   and obtain the vCenter Server's IP address under the section: managementServerIp.
3. Connect to the original vCenter Server and disconnect the ESXi host.