Remediating host profile fails with "Error setting advanced options on the host. View the host logs for details." on ESXi host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

During Host Profile remediation, the operation may fail with the following error in the vSphere Client:

 Error setting advanced options on the host. View the host logs for details.

The /var/run/log/vpxa.log file on the ESXi host may contain entries similar to:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS info vpxa[2100738] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=#######-######-auto-#####-h5:########-##-##-##] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-2 -- HostdHostProfileManager -- vim.profile.host.profileEngine.HostProfileManager.applyHostConfig: vmodl.MethodFault:
--> Result:
--> (vmodl.MethodFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [
-->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
-->          key = "com.vmware.vim.profile.applyHostConfigError.Settings.Advanced.Config",
-->          arg = <unset>,
-->          message = "Error setting advanced options on the host. View the host logs for details."
-->       }
-->    ]
-->    msg = "MethodFault.summary"
--> }
--> Args:

The /var/run/log/hostd.log file on the ESXi host may contain entries similar to:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS info hostd[2101049] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=#######-######-auto-#####-h5:########-##-##-## user=vpxuser] Throw vim.fault.UserNotFound
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS info hostd[2101049] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=#######-######-auto-#####-h5:########-##-##-## user=vpxuser] Result:
--> (vim.fault.UserNotFound) {
-->    principal = "localroot",
-->    unresolved = false,
-->    msg = "",
--> }

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

• VMware vCenter Server 7.x

• VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the ESXi host is missing the localroot user account, but the Host Profile being applied contains a reference to it.
This can occur after reimaging a host or when certain user accounts are not restored during the rebuild.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, create the missing localroot user account on the ESXi host.

Option 1 – Using the ESXi CLI

1. SSH to the ESXi host.

2. Run the following command, replacing <username> and <password> with the appropriate values:

    

   esxcli system account add --id <username> --password <password> --password-confirmation <password>

Option 2 – Using the ESXi Host Client

1. Log in to the ESXi Host Client.

2. Navigate to Manage > Security & Users > Users.

3. Click Add user.
   

4. In the Add a user dialog:

   • Enter the missing username, for example: localroot

   • Enter a password for the user.

   • Select Enable Shell Access if required.
     

5. Click Add.

Additional Information

Impact/Risk

• If the missing user is not created, Host Profile remediation will continue to fail for the affected host.

• Ensure that the Host Profile is updated after making the change to maintain a consistent configuration across all hosts in the cluster.

• For more information on managing ESXi user accounts, refer to VMware documentation:Manage Users with the VMware Host Client