License entries fail to populate under the Assets section of the vCenter Server UI

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Unable to assign license to vCenter Server (VCSA) or ESXi Hosts, because the assets do not appear in the licensing page. 
• The following is observed by navigating to Administration > Licenses > Assets :

Cause

This issue may occur due to the License service(vmware-cis-license) being unresponsive or out of sync.

Resolution

• Access the VCSA using SSH with root credentials.
• Restart the VCSA License service (vmware-cis-license) using the following commands:
  service-control --restart vmware-cis-license
  
  
• If the licenses are not assigned to the hosts, after restarting the service, reconnect the hosts using one of the following methods :
  Note : Monitor the tasks on the VCSA and validate that no active tasks are running on the hosts.
  
  
  • Disable host monitoring in vSphere HA by navigating to the Cluster > Configure > vSphere HA > Edit
  • Disconnect and reconnect the hosts individually, from the VCSA, using the following steps : 
    1. Right-click the host in the vSphere Client inventory and select Connection > Disconnect
    2. Right-click the host in the vSphere Client inventory and select Connection > Connect
  • Disconnect and reconnect all the hosts from the VCSA, using the following steps :
    1. Navigate to the Cluster > Hosts.
    2. Select all using the checkbox.
    3. Right click on the selection > Connection > Disconnect
    4. After all the hosts are disconnected, right click on the selection > Connection > Connect.