Error while migrating vCenter virtual machine in vCenter 7.x "The object or item referred to could not be found" combined with "vDS dvs port 15254 cannot be found"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

The error "The object or item referred to could not be found" combined with "vDS dvs port 15254 cannot be found" during a VM migration in vCenter 7.x typically indicates a mismatch or inconsistency between the distributed virtual switch (vDS) port configuration on the ESXi host and the vCenter Server database.

Error:

ESXi Logs:

var/run/log/hostd.log

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] verbose hostd[2101185] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo. Vmomi opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx user=vpxuser] Arg portSpec:
-- > (vim.dvs. HostDistributedvirtualswitchManager. PortDeleteSpec) [
-- >    (vim. dvs. HostDistributedVirtualSwitchManager. PortDeleteSpec) {
-- >        portKey = "15254",
-- >        deletePortFile = true,
-- >        systemCleanup = true
-- >
-- > ]
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] info hostd[2101185] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo. Vmomi opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx user=vpxuser] Throw vim. fault. PlatformConfigFa1t
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] info hostd[2101185] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo. Vmomi opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxx user=vpxuser] Result:
-- > (vim. fault. PlatformConfigFault) {
-- >    faultMessage = (vmodl. LocalizableMessage) [
-- >        (vmodl. LocalizableMessage) {
-- >            key = "com. vmware. esx. hostctl.default",
-- >            arg = (vmodl. KeyAnyValue) [
-- >                (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
-- >                    key = "reason",
-- >                    value = "Unable to delete DVPort "" that is in use, use list: VM-Name.eth0"
-- >                }
-- >            ],
-- >        }
-- >    ],
-- >    text = "",
-- >    msg = ""
-> }

Environment

vCenter Server 7.x

vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This issue arises because the ESXi host cannot find the specific port ID (in this case, port 15254) on the distributed virtual switch that the VM is trying to use. This can happen when the vDS configuration on the host (stored locally in /etc/vmware/dvsdata.db) differs from the vCenter Server's configuration, often due to stale or corrupted data, or after certain network or migration changes.

Resolution

Follow one of the below 2 workarounds (Note: Both require downtime)

1. Unregister the VM and re-register the VM back to different ESXi host. But since the ESXi host had some issue with itself having the vCenter we were not able to power off the VM to un-register but for other VM with same issue we can perform un-register and re-register.

2. Reassign VM port group

Steps to Reassign VM Port Group via dVSwitch:

• 3. Navigate to the target dVSwitch → Right-click → "Add and Manage Hosts" → Manage Host Networking.
• 4. Select the problematic host (checkbox) → Skip to "Migrate VM Networking".
• 5. Check "Migrate virtual machine networking" → Choose "Configure per virtual machine".
• 6. View current VM to port group mappings → Click "Assign Port Group".
• 7. Select the same port group if available; otherwise, choose an alternate (note: temporary loss of VM connectivity may occur).
• 8. Click Next → Finish to complete the reassignment.