Distributed PortGroup (dvPortGroup) Managed Object ID (MOID) and key do not match or are inconsistent in the Managed Object Browser (MOB)

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When reviewing a Distributed PortGroup (dvPortGroup) in the Managed Object Browser (MOB) you see the Managed Object ID (MOID) in the page header does not match the "key" property in the object. Exemplified below:

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1 and above

Cause

As described in KB 338595, in vCenter 5.1 and above there is an option to export and import vDS configuration. During export, if you select "Preserve original distributed switch and port group identifiers" and then upload this information to another vCenter environment the MOID will be retained but the key will be automatically generated resulting in the key and MOID no longer matching.

In many cases this is not an issue, but it can become an issue in various scenarios like integrations with other products and usage of SDKs and APIs that may use the object key and MOID interchangeably. 

Resolution

Recreate the Distributed PortGroup in the vCenter environment. After recreation, when viewing the object in the MOB, you will see the MOID in the page header and the "key" property for the object will be the same. Exemplified below: