Cannot complete the license assignment operation "vSphere HA" "vSphere DRS" "vCenter agent for VMware host" The Evaluation Mode license on "Host" example.com can not be changed to . To downgrade the license, first disable the following features

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• vCenter is part of Enhanced linked mode.
• Evaluation License Expired for the ESXi host.
• Attempting to add\connect a host to the vCenter after a recent upgrade fails with the error after reaching to 80%.
  •  Cannot complete the license assignment operation "vSphere HA" "vSphere DRS" "vCenter agent for VMware host" The Evaluation Mode license on "Host" example.com can not be changed to . To downgrade the license, first disable the following features
• The ESXi host tries to connect and at 80% it errors out.
• 
• Unable to apply valid license from the vSphere console.
• Unable to disable HA and we get same error.
• Applied the valid license from ESXi Web console and try to connect and gives same error..

• The /var/log/vmware/vpxd/vpxd.log confirms a LicenseAssignmentFailed fault during the reconnection attempt:

• yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS error vpxd[3193172] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=mesglq8b-9888905-auto-5vybu-h5:70831642-e8] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-#### -- ####-####-####-####(####-####-####-####-####) -- host-####-- vim.HostSystem.reconnect: :vim.fault.LicenseAssignmentFailed
  --> Result:
  --> (vim.fault.LicenseAssignmentFailed) {
  -->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
  -->    faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [
  -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vim.vc.license.error.downgradeDisallowed",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "entity",
  -->                value = "host-####"
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "entityType",
  -->                value = "hostEntity"
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "edition",
  -->                value = "Evaluation Mode"
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "editionKey",
  -->                value = "esxEval"
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "entityDisplayName",
  -->                value = "ESXi host name"
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "newEdition",
  -->                value = ""
  -->             },
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "newEditionKey",
  -->                value = ""
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = <unset>
  -->       },
  -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vim.license.features.info",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "feature",
  -->                value = "esxHost"
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = <unset>
  -->       },
  -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vim.license.features.info",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "feature",
  -->                value = "drs"
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = <unset>
  -->       },
  -->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
  -->          key = "com.vmware.vim.license.features.info",
  -->          arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
  -->             (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
  -->                key = "feature",
  -->                value = "das"
  -->             }
  -->          ],
  -->          message = <unset>
  -->    ],
  -->    reason = "downgradeDisallowed"
  -->    msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<<cs p:00007f82f8002790, TCP:localhost:1080>, /ls/sdk>]: updateEntity
  --> "
  --> }
  --> Args:
  -->
  --> Arg cnxSpec:
  --> (vim.host.ConnectSpec) {
  -->    hostName = <unset>,
  -->    port = <unset>,
  -->    sslThumbprint = <unset>,
  -->    sslCertificate = <unset>,
  -->    userName = <unset>,
  -->    password = <unset>,
  -->    vmFolder = <unset>,
  -->    force = false,
  -->    vimAccountName = <unset>,
  -->    vimAccountPassword = <unset>,
  -->    managementIp = <unset>,
  -->    lockdownMode = <unset>,
  -->    hostGateway = (vim.host.GatewaySpec) null
  --> }
  --> Arg reconnectSpec:
  -->
  

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

• Once the 60-day evaluation period expired, the host disconnected. vCenter is unable to reconnect the host because it cannot automatically assign the required embedded license.

• Subsequent attempts to reconnect the host failed because vCenter interpreted the transition from the full-featured "Evaluation Mode" to the restricted "vSAN Witness" license as a disallowed downgrade.

Resolution

• Do not perform the below steps if ESXi host is part of vSAN cluster. Engage vSAN engineer for the plan of action.
• Remove the ESXi host from the inventory and re-add it to the datacenter and can move the ESXi host to the cluster.
  
  • Ref to Remove the ESXi Host: How to Remove an ESXi Host from Your vCenter Server Instance
  • To add ESXi host back to vCenter
    • Log in to the vSphere Client, navigate to the datacenter or cluster, right-click it, and select "Add Host" or go to "File > New > Add Host"

Additional Information

If its vSAN cluster. Ref : https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/317830 (Engage vSAN Engineer to perform this steps)

1. Cluster Member Update: On all active data nodes in the vSAN cluster, set the following advanced parameter to 1: esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /VSAN/IgnoreClusterMemberListUpdates
2. Inventory Reset: Remove the disconnected Witness host from the vCenter inventory.
3. Host Re-addition: Add the Witness host back to the vCenter inventory. Assigned the correct license to the host.
4. Stretched Cluster Configuration: Reconfigure the vSAN Stretched Cluster to include the Witness host.
5. Reference: If configuration fails with "Witness host must not be part of a vSAN cluster," follow steps in following kb, https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/326817.
6. Once all tasks are completed, revert the IgnoreClusterMemberListUpdates parameter to default value of 0.