Resolving License Assignment Issues Due to Unimplemented License Fix Steps

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.”

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This issue arises when the necessary steps to remove stale license entries tied to the vCenter's LDU ID are omitted during corrective actions involving license services.
The failure to clean up old asset entries associated with the vCenter server's License Service results in conflicts, causing license assignment errors.

vmdird.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:t@139891144865344:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=vsphere,dc=local))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:t@139891144865344:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=vsphere,dc=local))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:t@139891144865344:ERROR: VmDirSendLdapResult: Request (Add), Error (LDAP_ALREADY_EXISTS(68)), Message (BEEntryAdd (9706)((MDB_KEYEXIST: Key/data pair already exists)(cn=assetentity_yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy,cn=licenseservice,cn=services,dc=vsphere,dc=local))), (0) socket (127.0.0.1)

vpxd_firstboot.py
2023-05-31T10:20:33.000Z  Upgrade: Using old VC GUID: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
2023-05-31T10:20:35.297Z  Service ID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
2023-05-31T10:20:36.797Z  Successfully performed tryupgrade operation for service XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX

 Name: AboutInfo.vpx.name
        Description: AboutInfo.vpx.name
        Service Product: com.vmware.cis
        Service Type: vcenterserver
        Service ID: yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy
        Site ID: houstondr
        Node ID: 7c26c7c2-c49e-11e3-9f13-005056a33693
        Owner ID: [email protected]
        Version: 8.0
        Endpoints:
                Type: com.vmware.cdc.provider
                Protocol: vmomi
                URL: https://vCenter-FQDN:443/sdk

Resolution

Use the following command to retrieve the LDU ID:
/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-ldu --server-name localhost

Example output:
yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy

Run the LDAP delete command to remove the conflicting entry:
/opt/likewise/bin/ldapdelete -H ldap://localhost -D "cn=administrator,cn=users,dc=vsphere,dc=local" -w "<password>" "cn=AssetEntity_yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy,cn=LicenseService,cn=Services,dc=vsphere,dc=local"

Note: Replace dc=vsphere,dc=local with your SSO domain.

Reboot vCenter Server

After reboot, reassign the proper vCenter license.

Additional Information

Registering a VASA Provider Fails