Orphaned N-VDS segment Persists in vCenter After N-VDS to VDS Migration

Products

• VMware NSX
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• After a N-VDS to VDS migration, an NSX-T segment is visible in the vCenter Server inventory but is not present in the NSX Manager UI.
• The stale segment in vCenter may incorrectly indicate active connections from multiple ESXi hosts.
• No functional impact is observed, as the entry does not represent an active NSX object.

Environment

VMware NSX

ESXi 7.x

ESXi 8.x

Cause

During the N-VDS to VDS migration process, vCenter Server and ESXi hosts maintain cached or database-level references to old network objects. If a segment is deleted or unconfigured in NSX Manager, the cleanup process may not fully propagate or refresh the state correctly to vCenter and/or the underlying ESXi host database. This can result in a stale record persisting in the vCenter/ESXi inventory until the ESXi hosts network state is fully refreshed.

Resolution

To remove a stale segment entry from vCenter Server, the affected ESXi hosts should be rebooted. This process forces each ESXi host to refresh its network configuration and object references with vCenter.

Procedure

1. Identify Affected Hosts

   • Determine which ESXi hosts are showing as connected to the stale segment in vCenter Server.(To check: Click on the segment in vCenter → Navigate to the Hosts tab to view)

2. Enter Maintenance Mode

   • Place one of the identified ESXi hosts into maintenance mode.

   • This ensures all virtual machines running on the host are migrated or powered off, preventing service disruption.

   • Note: Ensure proper DRS/HA configuration is in place, or manually vMotion VMs off the host before proceeding.

3. Reboot the ESXi Host

   • From vCenter Server: Right-click the ESXi host and select Reboot.

   • From the ESXi host DCUI: Select Reboot Host.

4. Verify the Esxi Host Removed from the Stale Segment

   • After the ESXi host successfully reboots and reconnects to vCenter Server, verify that the host is no longer shown as connected to the stale segment.(To check: Click on the segment in vCenter → Navigate to the Hosts tab to view)

5. Exit Maintenance Mode

   • Once verified, exit maintenance mode for the ESXi host.

6. Repeat for Other Hosts

   • Repeat steps 2–5 for any other ESXi hosts showing connections to the stale segment.

7. After rebooting all the ESXi hosts that were showing as connected to the stale segment, the stale entry will no longer appear in vCenter.