Error: "Authenticity of the host's SSL certificate is not verified" When Migrating VMs Using Cross vCenter Migration

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Cross vCenter VM migrations fail at the Compute Resource Validation stage with the following error: "Authenticity of the host's SSL certificate is not verified."
• Migrations of the same VM between different ESXi hosts within the same vCenter Server complete successfully.
• The issue is not VM-specific and occurs consistently across the entire environment.
• Source vCenter's vpxd logs show the below exception:
  -- > ExpectedPeerName:
-- > The remote host certificate has these problems:
-- >
-- > * unable to get issuer certificate)
-- > [context]zKq7AVECAQAAACNbfAEOdnB4ZAAAwuo3bGlidm1hY29yZS5zbwAAWYosANd9LQDf+jIAVdYrABApLABU2SsAYOIrAAm5IwCnWiMANbAjAIB2NwGHfwBsaWJwdGhyZWFkLnNvLjAAAv83D2xpYmMuc28uNgA=[/conte
YYYY-MM-DDT error vpxd[07456] [Originator@6876 sub=IO.Http opID=mj9ybub7-423##-auto-wo5-##: 70005219-##]] User agent failed to send request; (null) , N7Vmacore3Ss118S
tionE (SSL Exception: Verification parameters:
-- > PeerThumbprint: ##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##: ##: ##:## : ##: ##: ##:##:##:##:##
-- > ExpectedThumbprint:
-- > ExpectedPeerName: vcenter.domain.local
-- > The remote host certificate has these problems:
-- >
* unable to get issuer certificate)
-- > [context]zKq7AVECAQAAACNbfAEOdnB4ZAAAwuo3bGlidm1hY29yZS5zbwAAWYosANd9LQDf+jIAVdYrABApLABU2SsAYOIrAAm5IwCnWiMANbAjAIB2NWGHfwBsaWJwdGhyZWFkLnNvLjAAAv83D2xpYmMuc28uNgA=[/conte
YYYY-MM-DDT warning vpxd[07543] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmomi opID=mj9ybub7-423##-auto-wo5-##: 70005219-##] VMOMI activation LRO failed; << 5271c8e8-e7cd-8f6f-b57a-8a81
P '127.0.0.1 : 8085'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 58184'>>, ProvChecker, vim. vm. check. ProvisioningChecker. checkRelocate>, N3Vim5Fault14SSLVerifyFault9ExceptionE (Fault cause: vim. fault.S
-- > )
-- > [context] zKq7AVECAQAAACNbfAEbdnB4ZAAAwuo3bGlidm1hY29yZS5zbwAAWYosANd9LQDf+jIBoTJydnB4ZACBi+J1AYGP42UBgc+6ZQGBLL51AYHov2UBgUXNNAGBddxZAYHcZzwBgYx5PAGBUHo8AYJvLzgBbGlidmltLXR
/WoBgaUAagGB5gFqAYEUEWoBgXc+aQGBQuhpAQCnWiMANbAjAIB2NwOHfwBsaWJwdGhyZWFkLnNvLjAABP83D2xpYmMuc28uNgA=[/context]
YYYY-MM-DDT04:41:02.056Z info vpxd[07543] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=mj9ybub7-423##-auto-wo5-##: 70005219-##]] [VpxLRO] -- FINISH session [5271c8e8-e7cd-8f6f-b57a-8a812e53fc
be2-3348-f175-#######
2025-12-18T04:41:02.056Z info vpxd[07543] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=mj9ybub7-423##-auto-wo5-##: 70005219-##]] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR session[
  • 5271c8e8-e7cd-8f6f-b57a-8a812e53fc
be2-3348-f175-#######
   -- ProvChecker -- vim.vm. check. ProvisioningChecker.checkRelocate: vim.fault.SSLVerifyFault:
-- > Result:
(vim. fault. SSLVerifyFault) {
faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
faultMessage = <unset>,
selfSigned = false,
thumbprint = " ##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##: ##: ##:## : ##: ##: ##:##:##:##:##"
  

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The source vCenter Server is unable to validate the SSL certificates presented by the destination vCenter Server during the cross vCenter migration process.

Resolution

• Import the destination vCenter Server root certificate into the Trusted Root Certificate Store of the source vCenter Server.
  
  
  Steps:
  • Log in with the vSphere Client to the vCenter Server using the [email protected] user.
  • Navigate to the Certificate Management UI:
  • From the Home menu, select Administration.
  • Under Certificates, click Certificate Management.
  • If prompted, enter the credentials of your vCenter Server.
  • Under the Trusted Root tab, click Add Trusted Root Certificate.
  • Click Browse and select the location of the certificate chain.
  • You can use a file of type CER, PEM, or CRT.
  • Click Add.
  • The certificate will be added to the store.