HAProxy VM deployed on ESXi 8.0 U3b fails to get the Static IP assigned during configuration.

Products

• VMware vSphere with Tanzu

Issue/Introduction

You encounter a situation where.

1. You set up the HA proxy VM on an ESXi 8.0 U3b host per document- https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/vmware-vsphere-with-tanzu/GUID-D84AE530-B577-45E0-9DEB-FCD6B75308E6.html
2. The HA proxy VM powers ON however it fails to customize the Guest OS properly.
3. When the HA proxy VM comes up, the DNS name shows "localhost" and it inherits either an IPv6 IP or a random DHCP IP. It doesn't assign itself the static IP configured during the deployment.
4. You are unable to SSH to the VM using the root password configured at the time of the deployment.
5. On using the exact same set of workflow on another 8.0U3 version host, the HAProxy VM is able to get the static IP configured and is able to ssh into the VM using the newly provided password.

Environment

vSphere with Tanzu 8.x
vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

This is a known issue on ESXi version 8.0 U3b.

Resolution

Engineering is still working on the permanent fix. Meanwhile the below workaround can be attempted.

1. Power OFF the newly deployed HA Proxy VM.
2. Add the following setting to the vmx file of the VM- "guest_rpc.auth.cloud-init.set = FALSE". This makes the VM compatible with the security fix that went in for cloud-init guest variables access.
3. Power ON the VM.