Host addition to workload domain fails with error “One or more VMs found on host” during validation in VCF 9
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Host addition to workload domain fails with error “One or more VMs found on host” during validation in VCF 9

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Article ID: 416946

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to add (commission) a new ESXi host into a workload domain in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.x, the validation step in the "Host Addition and Validation" page fails with the following error:

<ESXi FQDN>: One or more VMs found on host 

The issue occurs even if the host appears to be operationally healthy and reachable by SDDC Manager.

Environment

 

  • VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.x

  • ESXi hosts being added to a workload domain (Commission Hosts workflow)

  • SDDC Manager during “Host Addition and Validation” phase

 

Cause

The host being added still contains one or more virtual machines registered in its local inventory. VCF requires a completely clean ESXi host (no registered VMs) before it can be commissioned into a workload domain.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, remove all registered virtual machines from the ESXi host before running validation again.

  1. Connect directly to the target ESXi host using Host Client (https://<esxi-host>/ui).

  2. Navigate to Virtual Machines.

  3. Power off all running virtual machines.

  4. Unregister all virtual machines from the host inventory (right-click -> Unregister).

    Note: Simply deleting VMs is not required; they only need to be unregistered so that the host inventory is empty.

  5. Verify that no VMs remain listed under Virtual Machines in the Host Client.

  6. Return to the page of Host Addition and Validation, and run validation again.

The validation should now succeed, and the host can be successfully added to the workload domain.

Additional Information

 

  • Ensure that the host is not part of any existing vCenter inventory or cluster.

  • If the host was previously managed by another vCenter Server, remove it from that inventory before adding it to VCF.

  • For best practice, consider performing a fresh install of ESXi before adding the host to a workload domain, especially if it was previously used in a different environment.

 

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