Error "Host pNic bandwidth fails below VCF required minimum" during ESXi host commission
search cancel

Error "Host pNic bandwidth fails below VCF required minimum" during ESXi host commission

book

Article ID: 409289

calendar_today

Updated On:

Products

VMware SDDC Manager

Issue/Introduction

  • When attempting to commission an ESXi host into a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) workload domain, the operation fails during the Validation stage in SDDC Manager.
  • In the validation screen, the following error is displayed: 

NSX Overlay MTU Bandwidth is below VCF required minimum

The screenshot below shows the error during validation:


 

  • Additionally, in the /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log the commission task may be skipped with status NOT_APPLICABLE due to NSX Manager reporting transport nodes in a DEGRADED state.

YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.252+0000 [domainmanager]  INFO  Host add operation skipped for domain [exampledomain] as task is marked as NOT_APPLICABLE
YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.254+0000 [domainmanager]  DEBUG Pre-check initiated against NSX Manager for cluster health validation.
YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.487+0000 [lcm]  INFO  auditError: NSX Manager Transport Node esxihostfqdn1: Status is DEGRADED
YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.487+0000 [lcm]  INFO  auditError: NSX Manager Transport Node esxihostfqdn2: Status is DEGRADED
YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.487+0000 [lcm]  INFO  hostClusterStatus: DOWN
YY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.488+0000 [domainmanager]  ERROR Cluster validation failed — host add blocked due to degraded transport nodes.

 

Environment

  • VMware Cloud Foundation 5.x
  • SDDC Manager
  • NSX-T Data Center

Cause

The commission workflow validates cluster and NSX Manager health before proceeding.
If any NSX transport nodes report a DEGRADED status, cluster validation fails, and the task is skipped.
In this scenario, physical uplink misconfiguration caused the NSX Manager to report transport nodes as degraded.

Resolution

 

  • Log in to NSX Manager and check the status of transport nodes.

  • On the affected host(s), verify:

    • Physical uplinks (pNICs) are properly cabled and active.

    • Uplinks are mapped correctly to the VDS/vSwitch.

    • TEP (Tunnel Endpoints) are configured and reachable.

  • Correct any misconfigured or down uplinks.

  • Confirm that transport nodes return to UP status in NSX Manager.

  • Retry the host commission workflow in SDDC Manager.

 

Powered by Wolken Software