VM connectivity issues on ESXi host recently unprepared for NSX

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host was recently unprepared for NSX.
• VMs running on this host may lose network connectivity.
• On the ESXi host, stale NSX properties may be observed:
  

  [root@ESXi:~] net-dvs -l | grep -E "^switch|com.vmware.nsx.*.enable|com.vmware.common.alias"
  switch ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## - ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## (cswitch)
   com.vmware.common.alias = <DVS_name> ,         propType = CONFIG
   com.vmware.nsx.<property>.enabled = true ,         propType = CONFIG

  Note:
  cswitch represents a non-NSX prepared switch for DVS 7.0.3 and above.
  vswitch represents an NSX prepared switch.

• A non-exhaustive list of properties:
  com.vmware.nsx.kcp.enable
com.vmware.nsx.spf.enabled
com.vmware.nsx.vdl2.enabled
com.vmware.nsx.vdsSecurity.enabled
  (please note the list above is non-exhaustive, status of properties may be enable or enabled)

Environment

VMware NSX

Cause

Improper uninstallation of NSX on the ESXi host may lead to stale entries, resulting in VM connectivity issues.

Resolution

This is a condition that may occur in a VMware NSX environment.

Workaround:

1. Verify the presence of stale entry. Please follow steps 1. - 3. in the Resolution section in KB article NSX Host preparation fails with an "Host configuration: Found security-only non-CVDS on the host" message.
2. If NSX properties are pushed to the ESXi host by the vCenter, remove the ESXi host from the distributed virtual switch and re-add it. Follow the steps in KB article Migrate Virtual Machines (VMs) and VMkernel Adapters from Distributed Switch (vDS) to Standard Switch (vSS)

Additional Information

NSX-INST-VDS