"NetworkManager: <warn> ifcfg-rh: ifcfg,/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ensXXX: XX: invalid line ignored" recorded in syslog on RHEL.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When deploying a VM using Guest OS customization on RHEL 7, 8, or 9, and cloning or creating a VM from a template, you may encounter the following warning messages in the syslog:

NetworkManager: <warn>  ifcfg-rh: ifcfg,/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens192: XX: invalid line ignored
NetworkManager: <warn>  ifcfg-rh: ifcfg,/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens192: XX: invalid line ignored
NetworkManager: <warn>  ifcfg-rh: ifcfg,/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens192: XX: invalid line ignored

This warning occurs due to an entry in the configuration file that looks like this:

# Generated by VMWare customization engine.
...
check_link_down() {
 return 1;
}

Environment

vCenter Server 7.x

Cause

The "check_link_down" entry was added as part of the Guest OS customization for RHEL 6 and earlier versions. However, this entry is no longer necessary in RHEL 7 and later versions.

Resolution

This issue has been resolved in vCenter Server 8.0.

Workaround:

You can safely ignore these warning messages. However, if you wish to eliminate them, you can delete the check_link_down entry from the ifcfg-XXX files.