When performing host remediation or compliance checks via vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) in an ESXi 8.x environment, the process fails with the error: "Remediation of cluster failed" or "Failed to run Health checks for NSX-T on '####'"
ESXi 8.x
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.x
This issue is caused by a circular dependency between vLCM and NSX during cluster preparation. vLCM remediation is blocked by the NSX pre-check because NSX components are not yet installed on the host. Conversely, NSX host preparation fails because vLCM reports the cluster as non-compliant, halting the workflow. For more details on this circular dependency, see KB https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=432684
If a vCenter is registered with an NSX Manager, vLCM may attempt to validate NSX health even for clusters where NSX is not deployed. The remediation is blocked because the NSX pre-check fails to find active components.
Note: This occurs even if NSX-T is not installed, no NSX VIBs are present on the host, and NSX is not mentioned in the vLCM image components.
To resolve this issue, temporarily disable the NSX pre-check in the vCenter Update Manager configuration.
Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) via SSH as the root user.
Stop the Update Manager service: service-control --stop updatemgr
Create a backup of the configuration file:cp /usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/vci-integrity.xml /usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/vci-integrity.bak
Open the file for editing:vi /usr/lib/vmware-updatemgr/bin/vci-integrity.xml
Locate the <nsxt_rest> block and change the value to false
<nsxt_rest> <enabled>false</enabled> <<<<<<<<<<</nsxt_rest>
Save and exit the file (:wq!)
Start the Update Manager service:service-control --start updatemgr
Perform the host remediation in the vSphere Client.
Once remediation is complete, revert the changes in vci-integrity.xml by setting the value back to true and restarting the service.