Unable to remove the host from the DVS due to ISCSI connectivity issues.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Unable to remove an ESXi host from a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) that fails with the following error even after placing the host into maintenance mode.

“Cannot Complete a vSphere Distributed Switch operation for one or more host members"

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

VMware Vcenter Server

Cause

• ESXi host maintains a folder in /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/.dvsData that stores the VDS configurations locally on the host as a proxy copy and it periodically synchronizes with the vCenter server.
• Therefore the removal of a host from a VDS requires the host to update its local DVS data in the folder i.e /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/.dvsData
• If this folder resides on an iSCSI datastore that is experiencing connectivity issues, the operation to remove the Host from the VDS switch will fail.

Resolution

To successfully remove the host from the DVS, you must first fix iSCSI connectivity issues:

Follow the KB here to know more about ISCSI connectivity troubleshooting :- Troubleshooting ESXi connectivity to iSCSI arrays using software initiators

Refer to the KB regarding ISCSI Jumbo Frames :- iSCSI and Jumbo Frames configuration on VMware ESXi host

Additional Information