NSX Segment Not Visible in vCloud Director when adding an External Network

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

In some environments, you may encounter a situation where a segment created in NSX Manager is not visible within the vCloud Director (VCD) UI when attempting to import it as an External Network.

This prevents virtual machines from being connected to the intended network and can lead to connectivity issues between VMs across different network types (e.g., between NSX segments and legacy vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) port groups).

The Segment is created successfully in the NSX UI and shows UP and SUCCESS for status, but still does not populate within VCD.

Modifying the segment name or adding a description and saving the changes does not trigger synchronization with vCloud Director, and the segment will still remain unavailable for import as an External Network.

Environment

NSX 4.2.3

Cause

The issue occurs due to a metadata synchronization failure between NSX Manager and vCloud Director at the time the segment is initially created. Although the segment may be fully functional and correctly configured within NSX, it may not be properly inventoried by VCD, resulting in it not appearing in the External Networks import list.

Common triggers such as renaming the segment or refreshing the UI do not always resolve this inconsistency, as the object may not be correctly registered with VCD.

Resolution

Workaround:

To resolve the issue, follow the steps below to force proper registration of the NSX segment with vCloud Director:

1. Delete the segment from NSX Manager that is not visible in VCD.

2. Recreate the segment in NSX Manager using the exact same configuration, including:

   • VLAN ID

   • Segment name

   • Transport Zone

   • Uplink profile and any other applicable settings

3. Wait a few moments for synchronization.

4. Navigate to the External Networks section of the VCD UI and attempt to import the segment again.

5. The recreated segment should now appear and be selectable for use.

6. Reassign the network to the affected virtual machines and verify connectivity.

Additional Information

 

• There may be no explicit error messages or alerts indicating a sync issue — the segment simply fails to appear in VCD.

• Renaming the segment or forcing UI refreshes in NSX or VCD are not sufficient to trigger a full resynchronization.

If the issue persists after following the above steps, ensuring that the NSX-VCD integration is healthy and NSX Segment configuration is correct open a case with VMware by Broadcom Support for further troubleshooting.