vMotion fails after rebuilding vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

If vCenter is rebuilt and the host is re-added, the vCenter Server Distributed Switch does not recognize the host's proxy copy of the switch.

• Error:

"The host proxy switch associated with ####-####-###-###-##-###-###.####.##.## no longer exists in vCenter Server. vCenter Server is not able to automatically remove the host proxy switch because it is still in use. To resolve the issue, disconnect any VMs and VMkernel adapters that might be connected to the switch and remove the switch."


• The issue occurs  if the vCenter rebuilt for any reason.
  
  After rebuilding the vCenter Server:
  
  
  
• Virtual machines cannot be migrated between hosts.
• In some cases, the vCenter Server management service (vpxd) on certain hosts may crash or become unresponsive during migration attempts.
• Migration attempts failed immediately, without displaying an error description.

 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

When vCenter Server is rebuilt, it no longer recognizes or controls the distributed network settings that were configured before. Even though each ESXi host still has a copy of the network configuration, the new vCenter Server is not automatically aware of or connected to it.

Resolution

This is an expected behavior. Distributed switches are created and owned by vCenter, and a proxy copy is given to each host. In situations where the vCenter is rebuilt and the host is re-added, the vCenter Server Distributed Switch does not recognize the host's proxy copy of the switch. This error will generate asking the user to verify that the host's proxy copy is the same as the vCenter Server's Distributed Switch.

There are 2 methods for resolving this vMotion issue and proxy vDS alarm see this  ESXi host using Distributed Switches (vDS) fails migration to a new cluster managed by a different vCenter server.