LW_ERROR_INVALID_MESSAGE [code 0x00009c46] when joining ESXi to AD

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The error LW_ERROR_INVALID_MESSAGE [code 0x00009c46] is received when trying to join ESXi to an AD environment 

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

Cause

This was caused by a badly formed /etc/hosts file for the ESXi host which didn't include the FQDN of the targeted ESXi host

EXAMPLE: 

# Do not modify this file directly, please use esxcli.
127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain localhost
::1             localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.100.100 esxi-host

Resolution

Confirm that the /etc/hosts file contains correct information for the localhost - loopback / shortname / FQDN / IP

 

EXAMPLE:  

/etc/hosts file updated to include FQDN

# Do not modify this file directly, please use esxcli.
127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain localhost
::1             localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.100.100 esxi-host.sample.com esxi-host