Child Virtual Service stuck in Initializing State with error: "VIP Not Active on Service Engine"

Products

• VMware Avi Load Balancer

Issue/Introduction

This document describes a known compatibility issue that arises when an Avi Controller running version 22.1.3 or later interacts with Service Engines (SEs) running version 21.1.x.This incompatibility results in Virtual Services being marked as Initializing due to the absence of a required flag, ScaleOutReady, in the communication from the older SEs.

Cause

Starting with Avi Controller version 22.1.3, a new requirement was introduced where the controller expects the ScaleOutReady flag from each Service Engine hosting a Child Virtual Service. Before the 22.1.3 release, the ScaleOutReady flag was anticipated only for the Parent Virtual service.

However, Service Engines running versions 21.1.x and earlier do not implement the logic to send this ScaleOutReady flag. Consequently, when a 22.1.3+ Avi Controller manages Virtual Services hosted on these older SEs, the controller does not receive the expected flag.

As a result, the controller interprets the absence of the ScaleOutReady flag as an indication that the Virtual Service is not fully initialized on the SE. This leads the controller to mark the Virtual Service's operational state as Initializing.

Resolution

Upgrade all the service engine groups to the same version as the controller.