VCF Brownfield import process fails with error: Failed to validate NSX configuration spec

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager

Issue/Introduction

The domainmanager logs explicitly trace the failure to the system attempting to resolve the FQDN to an IP address.

In a Brownfield import, VCF expects the existing infrastructure to be fully reachable and identifiable via the environment's DNS servers. 

From var/log/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/domainmanager.log logs:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.391+0000 ERROR [vcf_dm,##############################2,637b] [c.v.v.v.c.v.v.NsxClusterValidator,http-nio-127.0.0.1-7200-exec-5]  Failed to validate NSX configuration spec
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot determine IP address for FQDN ##########.
        at com.vmware.evo.sddc.common.util.NetworkService.resolveFqdnAddress(NetworkService.java:268)

It fails with: 

Caused by: java.net.UnknownHostException: ############: Name or service not known

From brownfield logs, we see the IP being reported as NULL. 

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS,342] [DEBUG] nsx_deployment_spec:133: NSX Spec being validated: {'domainId': '###############', 'deployWithoutLicenseKeys': True, 'nsxTSpec': {'vip': None, 'vipFqdn': '###############', 'licenseKey': '***', 'nsxManagerAdminPassword': '***', 'nsxManagerRootPassword': '***', 'nsxManagerAuditPassword': '***', 'formFactor': 'medium', 'nsxManagerSpecs': [{'name': '#####', 'networkDetailsSpec': {'ipAddress': None, 'dnsName': '########', 'gateway': '#########', 'subnetMask': '#######'}}, {'name': '####', 'networkDetailsSpec': {'ipAddress': None, 'dnsName': '#########', 'gateway': '########', 'subnetMask': '#########'}}, {'name': '#########', 'networkDetailsSpec': {'ipAddress': None, 'dnsName': '#########m', 'gateway': '#########', 'subnetMask': '###############'}}]}, 'isNsxDeploymentSpecPreCheck': True}
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS,414] [INFO] request_helper:25: Response status from ESC[93mvalidate nsx spec: 200ESC[00m
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS,414] [ERROR] vcf_brownfield:1254: ESC[91mNSX Spec did not pass validation. Found Errors: [{'severity': 'ERROR', 'resultStatus': 'FAILED', 'errorResponse': {'errorCode': 'NSXT_SPEC_VALIDATION_FAILED', 'arguments': ['Cannot determine IP address for FQDN ###############. '], 'message': 'NSX Spec Validation Failed with Errors Cannot determine IP address for FQDN ############. .', 'remediationMessage': 'Ensure a correct NSX Spec is provided and try again.'}}]. Please fix the payload and retry the operation.ESC[00m

Environment

VCF 9.0

Cause

The issue occurred due to an incorrect DNS configuration for the NSX-T Manager, which caused a “could not connect to NSX-T Manager” error during guardrail validation.

 

Resolution

Ensure that the DNS records for the NSX-T Manager FQDN are correctly configured to support both forward and reverse name resolution from SDDC Manager, VCF Operations and vCenter Server.

If necessary, work with your internal DNS or network team to validate and correct the DNS configuration.

Additional Information

Convert or Import the vSphere Environment into the SDDC Manager Inventory