Standard Switch Port Groups are not showing as options to assign to Network Adapters in the settings of VMs

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi is being reinstalled and standard vSwitch networking is being manually configured. 
• Virtual Machines are using standard vSwitch port groups. 
• When attempting to assign a network adapter in a VM's settings, there are no port groups or missing port groups in the list. 
• There are vmkernel adapters on the port groups that are supposed to be used for VM networking.

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

VM networking and vmkernel adapters cannot share port groups on a standard vSwitch. When using the "Add Networking" option in the vSphere UI, users must select the appropriate option as they will not be able to assign VMs to networks that have been created for a vmkernel adapter. 

Resolution

Either:

• Create VM port group (Add Networking > Virtual Machine Port Group for a Standard Switch) and assign the port groups a new unique name
• Delete the vmkernel adapters that have been created and their port groups to free up the specific port group name needed for a VM port group.
  • To change the name of a vmkernel port group without the vmkernel, select a host > Configure > Networking > Virtual switches > 3 dots '...' at the top right of a vmkernel port group > Edit Settings > Network Label.
  • Changing the Network Label of a VM port group while VMs are using it will cause them to lose network connectivity.