After reinstalling an ESXi host that is already part of a vSphere Distributed Switch(VDS), some networking operations may fail

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• A host got corrupted and deleted. 
• This same host has reinstalled ESXi, or a new server has been installed with the same IP.
• The previous ESXi was already part of a VDS and was not dis-associated from the VDS during ESXi deletion.
• Some networking operations may fail , such as VSS to VDS migration.

Environment

• VMware ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Cause

After deletion of an ESXi host, the VDS configuration on the host server is gone. However it may have not been gracefully removed from inventory on vCenter and because of this host was not dis-associated from the VDS  . After ESXi reinstallation,  vCenter will try to restore the previous VDS configuration on the host. But it may fail, for example, when the vmnic used by the VDS is currently being used by the default standard switch(vSwitch0) on the host. If the user performs other VDS operations, due to the missing VDS on the host, the operations may also fail.

Resolution

• On vCenter, remove the host from DVS and then re-add to the VDS.
• Retry the intended networking operation.