vCenter Server Crashes During Host Profile Remediation After SSH Key Mismatch Resolution Attempt

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading to vSphere 8.0.3, host profile remediation may fail with the error "Host profile apply failed with error: Error: name 'c' is not defined." Further investigation shows an SSH public key mismatch between the profile and host. Attempts to resolve this using standard SSH key remediation procedures may cause vCenter Server to crash, requiring service restarts.

Environment

• VMware vSphere 7.0 or newer
• Host profiles with SSH key configurations

 

Cause

This issue occurs when host profile entries in the vCenter database become corrupted, particularly affecting the profile's compliance settings. The corruption can manifest during SSH key mismatch resolution attempts.

Resolution

1. Detach the affected host profile from the cluster
   
   
2. Delete the existing host profile
   
   
3. Create a new host profile:
   1. Extract from a reference host, or
   2. Import a known working profile
   3. Attach the new profile to the cluster
   4. Test the new profile on a single host before applying to multiple hosts

If unable to remove the host profile through normal means:

1. Open a support case
   
   
2. Provide:
   • vCenter Server log bundle
   • ESXi host log bundle from affected host
   • Description of any errors encountered during profile removal

Additional Information

• - Related KB:  Assigning an SSH public key to ESXi 8.0 using a host profile results in key-based SSH authentication failing
• Test new profiles on a single host before broader deployment
• Consider creating host profiles from a clean reference host rather than importing existing profiles when troubleshooting issues