VCF Brownfield Import Fails with IMPORT_OPERATION_FAILED due to Standard vSwitches (VSS)
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VCF Brownfield Import Fails with IMPORT_OPERATION_FAILED due to Standard vSwitches (VSS)

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Article ID: 427706

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Updated On:

Products

VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

  • When attempting to import a brownfield Workload Domain into VCF (specifically VCF Operations/SDDC Manager 9.x), the process fails during the inventory synchronization stage.
  • Error message on the SDDC manager UI 
    Import operation for import with id ######-###-###-###-############ failed internally. Command was python3 /opt/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/scripts/vcf-import-tool/vcf_brownfield.py import --skip-ssh-thumbprint-validation --sso-user [email protected] --domain-name <domain_name> --vcenter <vCenter> --internal-vcf-auth --nsx-deployment-spec-path /tmp/nsxDeploymentSpec.json --skip-nsx-overlay --output-dir /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/######-###-###-###-############/ --non-interactive. Please check the log files
  • Domain manager logs shows following error /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log 
     ERROR [vcf_dm,#############] [c.v.e.s.o.model.error.ErrorFactory,dm-###-22]  [####] IMPORT_OPERATION_FAILED Import operation for import with id ######-###-###-###-######## failed internally. Command was python3 /opt/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/scripts/vcf-import-tool/vcf_brownfield.py import --skip-ssh-thumbprint-validation --sso-user  [email protected] --domain-name <Domainame> --vcenter <vCenter FQDN> --internal-vcf-auth --nsx-deployment-spec-path /tmp/nsxDeploymentSpec.json --skip-nsx-overlay --output-dir /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/######-###-###-###-########/ --non-interactive. Please check the log files located in /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/######-###-###-###-########/ on the SDDC Manager appliance
  • Error in /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/######-###-###-###-############ /vcf_brownfield.log 
    [ERROR] request_helper:31: Result status code from ESC[91minventory import: 500ESC[00m
[CRITICAL] import_domain:200: Could not import the information for the new domain in SDDC Manager: Could not import inventory into SDDC Manager. Please review '/var/log/vmware/vcf/commonsvcs/vcf-commonsvcs.log' for further details.
  • Error in /var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/brownfield/######-####-####-####-#########/output/guardrails_report_############.csv 
    Object Type","Object Name","Day-N Operation","Severity Level","Status","Check Name","Description","Details","Remediation"
"host","","Remove Host","WARNING","VALIDATION_FAILED","Host standard switch presence","Check if there are any standard switches in use by host","Detected standard switches in use by host","Presence of standard switches can break mobility of VMs. Please remove any dependence the host has on standard switches."
"host","","Remove Host","WARNING","VALIDATION_FAILED","Host standard switch presence","Check if there are any standard switches in use by host","Detected standard switches in use by host","Presence of standard switches can break mobility of VMs. Please remove any dependence the host has on standard switches."

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x

Cause

VMware Cloud Foundation requires networking to be standardized on vSphere Distributed Switches (VDS). The presence of vSphere Standard Switches (VSS) on the target ESXi hosts—even if they are not actively carrying VM traffic—violates these constraints. The script identifies these switches as a risk to VM mobility (vMotion) and configuration consistency, triggering a hard stop during the pre-import validation.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the host networking must be migrated entirely to a Distributed Switch, and all Standard Switches must be removed before the import can proceed.

  1. Identify the Switches: Log in to the vSphere Client and navigate to the ESXi hosts intended for import. Check Configure > Networking > Virtual switches to identify any existing Standard Switches (e.g., vSwitch0).

  2. Migrate Networking:  If there is any network traffic , ensure all VMkernel adapters (Management, vMotion, Storage) are migrated to a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) 

    • Ensure all physical uplinks (PNICs) are transitioned to the VDS.

    • Move any Virtual Machine port groups to the VDS.

  3. Delete Standard Switches: Once all services and uplinks have been migrated, delete the empty Standard Switches from every host in the cluster.

  4. Ensure that the only switches present on the hosts are the Distributed Switches intended for VCF management.

  5.  Re-run the failed Workload Domain import process from the VCF Operations UI 

Note: Even "empty" Standard Switches with no active uplinks or port groups can trigger this validation failure. They must be completely removed from the host configuration.

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