Power on operation for Multiple VMs fails with error "Virtual Machine not Compatible with any Host"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When attempting to power on a Virtual Machine (VM), the operation fails with the following error "Virtual Machine not Compatible with any Host"
• This banner alert can be seen on the ESXi host summary "The vSphere Distributed Switch corresponding to the proxy switches ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##-## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## on the host does not exist in vCenter Server or does not contain this host."
• This banner alert can be seen in the Configure > Virtual switches view for the ESXi host.
  
  
• The VMs on the host are configured to use Distributed Port Groups.
• The ESXi host was removed from vCenter Inventory (or disconnected for a long time) and then added back, without first explicitly removing it from the Distributed Switch.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 7.x
• VMware vCenter Server 8.x
• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

• The core cause of this issue is a mismatch or desynchronization between the host's local copy of the Distributed Switch (the proxy switch) and the master copy of the Distributed Switch stored in vCenter Server.

• The VMs on the host are configured to use Distributed Port Groups. When you try to power on a VM, vCenter (or the host's VMkernel) performs a compatibility check. The check fails because the host's local proxy switch configuration is either unknown, corrupted, or not recognized as valid by vCenter. The host essentially loses the definition of the network port group required by the VM. Since the VM's required network connection is missing or invalid on the host, the host cannot guarantee the VM's network connectivity and fails the compatibility check, reporting the generic "Virtual Machine not Compatible with any Host" error.

Resolution

• Re-add the affected ESXi host to the same virtual distributed switch (VDS) using the below steps. The specific switch name can be found within the host's alert banner or under Configure > Virtual Switches in the vSphere Client.
  • Navigate to Networking tab and select the appropriate vDS.
  • Click on Actions and Launch the Add and Manage Hosts wizard.
  • Select Add hosts and choose the affected ESXi host.
  • Click Next.
  • In the subsequent steps:
    • Manage physical adapters:  Assign the correct physical uplinks (vmnics) from the host to the appropriate Distributed Uplink Ports (D-Uplinks) on the switch and click Next
    • On the Manage VMkernel adapters page, assign the required port groups and click Next
    • On the Migrate VM networking page, select the check box Migrate virtual machine networking to migrate virtual machines to a distributed switch and click Next
    • On the Ready to Complete page of the Add and Manage Hosts wizard, review the settings for the virtual machine.
  • Click Finish
• After the host has been successfully added back, confirm that the VDS error banner is no longer visible on the host summary.
• Attempt to Power On the VMs: The VMs should now power on successfully.

Additional Information

Refer: Add Hosts to a vSphere Distributed Switch