Error when vMotioning a VM from a vDS to a Standard Switch

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to vMotion a virtual machine to a different host or cluster (in the same vCenter) following error message is seen:

The target host does not support the virtual machine's current hardware requirements. The destination virtual switch or type (legacy) is different than the minimum required version or type (VDS 8.0.0) necessary to migrate VM from source virtual switch.

**Note the version number in the error may differ from the example above**

Cause

This is expected behavior. Any attempt at a vMotion from a distributed switch to a standard switch is unsupported (see table below).

Resolution

To successfully vMotion the VM, ensure that the vMotion being attempted is supported

Source Virtual Switch Type	Destination Virtual Switch Type	Supported vMotion
Distributed Switch	Distributed Switch	Yes
Distributed Switch	Standard Switch	No
Standard Switch	Standard Switch	Yes
Standard Switch	Distributed Switch	Yes

If wanting to perform a vMotion from a host using a vDS to a host using a Standard Switch, there are two options available:

Option 1

1. To identify an unused uplink on an ESXi host, execute the following technical procedure:
   a.Establish a secure shell (SSH) session to the target ESXi host.
   b.Run the command esxcli network nic list to instantly see the link status (Up/Down) of all physical vmnics.
   c.Launch esxtop and press the n key to enter the network statistics panel.
   d.Locate the available vmnic identified in step b. Verify that its row has no mapping to an active virtual switch (vSwitch / vDS) or virtual machine port group, confirming it is entirely unassigned and safe to allocate to a new switch configuration.
2. Create a Standard Switch on the host that is currently using the vDS
3. Ensure there is a NIC on the Standard Switch that can pass the VM's traffic (meaning the NIC should be able to pass traffic for the required VLAN)
4. Move the VM onto the newly made Standard Switch
5. One method to accomplish this is detailed here: Configure Virtual Machine Networking on a vSphere Distributed Switch
6. Perform the vMotion to the new host and/or vDS
    

    

Option 2

Power off the VM and perform a cold migration from the vDS to the Standard Switch (The error will still be seen regarding the switch type or version but it will allow the cold migration to go through except VC VM)

Additional Information

•  If performing a Cross vCenter vMotion (meaning vMotioning from vCenter A to vCenter B):

          Cross vCenter Migration and Clone requirements in VMware vSphere 6.x and later

• vMotioning between vDS's that are different versions:

         Migrating a virtual machine between two different vDS versions

         Configuring Standard vSwitch (vSS) or virtual Distributed Switch (vDS) from the command line in ESXi