Brownfield Import Fails with Error "vCenter with the name ###### not found in the inventory" - VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer
• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

When performing a brownfield import (Import Existing vCenter) in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.x, the task fails during the "Generate Inputs for configuring NSX Manager after import" subtask.

The following error is displayed in the VCF Operations or SDDC Manager UI:

• Error Message: A problem has occurred on the server. Please retry or contact the service provider and provide the reference token.
• Cause: vCenter with the name <vCenter FQDN> not found in the inventory.

Review of the /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log on the SDDC Manager reveals a stack trace similar to:

ERROR [vcf_dm,###########,eb44] [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory,dm-###-11]  [######] VCF_ERROR_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR 
Invocation of prefix '' part of task GeneratePostNsxImportConfigurationsInputAction in plugin ViDomainServicePlugin failed with exception.
com.vmware.evo.sddc.common.core.error.InternalServerErrorException: Invocation of prefix '' 
part of task GeneratePostNsxImportConfigurationsInputAction in plugin ViDomainServicePlugin failed with exception.
..
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: vCenter with the name ######## not found in the inventory

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x
• SDDC Manager / VCF Installer 9.x

Cause

This issue occurs due to a strict, case-sensitive string mismatch between the vCenter Server FQDN provided in the brownfield import specification (JSON or UI input) and the vCenter Server's Primary Network Identifier (PNID).

In VCF 9.x, the GeneratePostNsxImportConfigurationsInputAction task performs an exact string comparison to map inputs to the inventory. If the environment uses mixed-case or uppercase FQDNs (e.g., VCENTER.example.local) but the import spec provides lowercase (e.g., vcenter.example.local), the inventory lookup returns a null result, triggering the java.lang.RuntimeException: vCenter with the name ######## not found in the inventory error.

Resolution

To resolve this, you must align the SDDC Manager inventory record with the vCenter PNID and reset the failed domain status.

1. Log in to the target vCenter Server via SSH as root.
2. Run the following command to retrieve the exact PNID:
   
   

   /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-pnid --server-name localhost

   
   Note the exact string output (e.g., VC-01.example.com).
3. Take an offline snapshot of the SDDC Manager.
4. Log in to the SDDC Manager via SSH as vcf and switch to root.
5. Reset the failed domain status to allow the workflow to re-initialize:
   
   

   psql -h localhost -U postgres -d platform -c "UPDATE domain SET status = 'ACTIVATING' WHERE status = 'FAILED';"

6. Verify the current inventory entry casing:
   
   

   psql -h localhost -U postgres -d platform -c "SELECT id, vm_hostname FROM vcenter;"

7. Update the inventory FQDN to match the exact casing discovered in step 2:
   
   

   psql -h localhost -U postgres -d platform -c "UPDATE vcenter SET vm_hostname = '<Exact_Casing_From_vCenter>' WHERE vm_hostname = '<Incorrect_Casing_From_Step_7>';"

8. Retry the Brownfield Import from the VCF Installer or SDDC Manager UI.
   • Note: Ensure the FQDN entered in the UI or JSON spec file matches the casing discovered in step 2 exactly.

Additional Information

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