ESXi hosts fail to reconnect after updating expired license
Article ID: 429716
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
After replacing expired ESXi host licenses in vCenter, hosts fail to automatically reconnect
- Licenses were applied following official documentation: Managing vSphere Licenses
- Hosts remain disconnected after applying the updated license
- Manual reconnection attempts using the ESXi host root user account consistently fail
Environment
vSphere 7.x
vSphere 8.x
vSphere 9.x
Cause
Failure to reconnect indicates additional underlying communication or authentication issues between the vCenter Server Appliance and ESXi hosts.
Resolution
Ensure the health of the vSphere environment by following these troubleshooting steps:
1. SSL Certificate Validity
Expired or misconfigured certificates will prevent ESXi hosts from connecting to the vCenter
Action: Check for expired SSL certificates on both the vCenter Server and individual hosts.
References:
Determining expired SSL certificates in vCenter Server
Unable to refresh/renew ESXi certificate from vCenter (for both VMCA and custom)
2. vCenter Certificate Management Configuration
If the Certificate Mode is mismatched, vCenter may fail to manage host identities correctly.
Action: Confirm that the vCenter setting for ESXi host certificate management is correctly configured.
Reference:
Change the ESXi Certificate Mode
3. Network Connectivity
Network-level blocks can prevent the vSphere Client and vCenter from communicating with the host management agents.
Action: Verify that the required ports and protocols are open and that there are no routing failures.
Reference:
Diagnosing the vSphere Client when it fails to connect to an ESXi host or vCenter Server
Additional Information
Feedback
