ESXi host is down with IP address 0.0.0.0 assigned to it in the DCUI.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host is in not responding state and the host UI is down.
• Upon accessing the ESXi via DCUI (Direct Control User Interface), the ESXi host IP is shown as 0.0.0.0 on the management network.
• When attempted to reconfigure the IP by navigating to System Customization > Configure Management network, the below error is observed:

Enable Management Network: Error
Setting ip/ipv6 configuration failed: Unable to set: Address not available: VSI node
(459:VSI_NODE_net_tcpip_instances_vNics_unbind)

 

Environment

vSphere ESXi

Cause

• This is due to no IP address assigned to the management VMKernel interfaces.
• This can be verified by running the below command
  • Access the ESXi host via DCUI console --> System Customization --> Troubleshooting Options --> Enable ESXi Shell 
  • Press Alt + F2 to login to the ESXi host bash shell.
  • Run the command below to list all the VMKernel Adapter interface.
    esxcfg-vmknic -l
  • Check if the management Interface VMK adapter is configured with no IP address.

Resolution

• Verify if management service is enabled on the vmk by using the command on ESXi DCUI

esxcli network ip interface tag get -i vmkX 

• Disable management service on the vmk that has no IP address by running the following command.

esxcli network ip interface tag delete -i vmkX

• Try re-configuring the Management Network on the ESXi host.

Additional Information

To configure management network via DCUI, refer to the KB Configuring VMware ESXi Management Network from the direct console

To access the DCUI screen, refer to the KB Accessing DCUI/Console of ESXi using ALT+F Keys