VMkernel appears in esxcli commands but is missing from vSphere Client

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• A VMkernel interface that is expected to exist does not appear in vSphere Client
• It is not possible to create a new VMkernel interface for the host in vSphere Client because there is an error saying the VMkernel name already exists
• The VMkernel appears in the output of the command: 
  esxcli network ip interface list
• The VMkernel shows
  Enabled: false
• It may not be possible to re-enable the VMkernel using the commands from the knowledge base article ESXCLI command to enable a disabled vmknic on vDS fails

Cause

A VMkernel can enter the disabled state if it is unable to initialize.

When a VMkernel is disabled, it does not appear in vSphere Client. This can prevent the deletion or recreation of this VMkernel in vSphere Client.

It may or may not be possible to re-enable the VMkernel. See KB article ESXCLI command to enable a disabled vmknic on vDS fails for an explanation of why re-enabling a VMkernel could fail due to the previously assigned port on the vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) no longer being available.

Additionally, if a VMkernel is deleted using the command line, stale information in the vSphere Server may temporarily prevent the VMkernel name from being reused for a period of time.

Resolution

If a VMkernel does not appear in vSphere Client but does appear in the output of this command

esxcli network ip interface list

check for a "enabled: false" state, and use the following command to re-enable it

esxcli network ip interface set -i <vmknic> -e true

As explained above, this command may fail due to an occupied or missing port on a vDS.

If enabling the VMkernel fails, it will be necessary to delete the vmkernel and create it again. A VMkernel can be deleted from the command line using the following command. 

esxcli network ip interface remove --interface-name=<vmknic>

After the VMkernel is deleted, vSphere Client may continue to prevent creation of a new VMkernel with this name for a brief time. This generally resolves within an hour.

 

Additional Information

If connectivity to the vSphere Server was lost due to an issue with the management VMkernel, the VMkernel can be recreated using the Host Client, DCUI or esxcli commands.

The host client can be accessed through a web browser on port 80 using any IP address assigned to a VMkernel using the default TCP/IP stack on the host (possibly including storage and vMotion VMkernels). The DCUI can be accessed on the host's physical terminal or through out of band management tools such as iLO and iDRAC. Refer to TechDocs article Configure the VMkernel Adapter Gateway by Using esxcli Commands and knowledge base article  Search cancel Search Recover ESXi host connectivity when management is on DVS for information on creating a VMkernel using the command line.