Host disconnected with error: The host may not be available on the network, a network configuration problem may exist, or the management services on this host may not be responding

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Host shows Disconnected state in vCenter.  When attempting to reconnect (right click on Host and Connect), it gives an error message:  Cannot contact the specified host hostname\IP. The host may not be available on the network, a network configuration problem may exist, or the management services on this host may not be responding.

 

 

Environment

ESXi Host 7.0

ESXi Host 8.0

 

Cause

This error message is misleading as the solutions found are not related to networking configurations or settings.  Bad Certificate installed on the ESXi Host.

 

 

Resolution

Solution 1

• Check whether Bad Certificate is installed on the ESXI Host and must be replaced   Configuring CA signed certificates for ESXi hosts
• Reboot the ESXI Host

Solution 2

• This error might also related to DNS issue on the vCenter if DNS is not resolving for the ESXI host from vCenter 
• Update the DNS server IP on the vCenter using the below command 

/opt/vmware/share/vami/vami_config_net