Error: "Failed migrating vCLS VM during host evacuation. Fault cause: vmodl.fault.ManagedObjectNotFound" when entering ESXi host into Maintenance Mode

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host fails to enter Maintenance Mode and the following error is generated during the host evacuation process:
  
  Failed migrating vCLS VM vCLS-#######-####-####-####-############ during host evacuation. Fault cause: vmodl.fault.ManagedObjectNotFound. Try to manually power it off or again migrate to another host in the cluster
  
  
  
  
• Attempts to power off the vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) VM fails with error.
  
  The object 'vim. VirtualMachine:vm-##### has already been deleted or has not been completely created
  
  

• The Remove from Inventory option is grayed out, and the vCLS VM is not visible in either the host user interface (UI) or command-line interface (CLI).
  
  
• Enabling retreat mode fails to remove the vCLS VM.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 8.x
  
  
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs due to the presence of a stale vCLS VM entry in the vCenter Server environment. The stale vCLS VM prevents the ESXi host from successfully entering Maintenance Mode, as the object cannot be managed or evacuated through standard vSphere methods.

Resolution

Clean up the stale vCLS VM entries from the vCenter Server PostgreSQL database (vPostgres). Detailed instructions are available in the article: Manually removing a stale VM from the vCenter Server vpostgres database.

Additional Information

For instructions on enabling retreat mode, refer to the following resources:

• Disable vCLS on a cluster via Retreat Mode

• Putting a Cluster in Retreat Mode