"Make sure the License Service is available" error when reconnecting ESXi host to the vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When attempting to reconnect an ESXi host back to vCenter Server, the following error may occur during license assignment operations: “Make sure the License Service is available. Cannot complete the license assignment operation.”

  
• The following log entries are found in /var/log/vmware/vmdird/vmdird.log in vCenter Server:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_<###-##instanceUuid##-###>-<###-##this GUID will be in Lowercase###-####>,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=test,dc=lab))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_<###-##instanceUuid##-###>-<###-##this GUID will be in Lowercase###-####>,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=test,dc=lab))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_<###-##instanceUuid##-###>-<###-##this GUID will be in Lowercase###-####>,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=test,dc=lab))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)

• Reviewing vpxd_firstboot file at  /var/log/firstboot/vpxd_firstboot.py in vCenter Server and found the VPXD vcGUID is in Upper Case::
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  Upgrade: Using old VC GUID: <###-##-GUID in Uppercase-##-###>
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  Service ID=<###-##-GUID in Uppercase-##-###>
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  Successfully performed try upgrade operation for service <###-##-GUID in Uppercase-##-###>


Environment

vCenter Server 7.x
vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The License Service is registered using a lowercase vcGUID, while the VPXD service references the same vcGUID in uppercase. This discrepancy leads to a failure in initializing the License Service.

Resolution

Note: Before proceeding with the steps below, take a snapshot of the vCenter Server.
Snapshot Best practices for vCenter Server Virtual Machines

Steps to fix the license mismatch:

• Remove the license associated with the command: /opt/likewise/bin/ldapdelete -r "cn=AssetEntity_<instanceUuid>-<###-##GUID will be in Uppercase###-####>,cn=LicenseService,cn=Services,dc=domain,dc=lab" -D "cn=Administrator,cn=Users,dc=domain,dc=lab" -W

  • Note: The Asset Entity ID corresponds to the entry flagged in the vpxd_firstboot.py file.
    
    
• Restart the vCenter services with the command: service-control --stop --all && service-control --start --all
• Add the ESXi host back to the vCenter server.

Additional Information

Registering a VASA Provider Fails