Cross vCenter vMotion fails with error "vCenter does not support hosts of this type ( )" when migrating Infoblox NIOS appliances

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Cross vCenter vMotion of Infoblox NIOS virtual appliances across different vCenter instances fails. 

The following behaviors and error states have been observed:

• Live Migration task fails to complete with error stating 'cannot connect to host'.
• Cold Migration task seems to be hung or generates a compatibility alert stating 'vCenter does not support hosts of this type ( ).'

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The migration failure is due to a change in the Infoblox Hardware ID (HWID) during the Cross vCenter vMotion process. The HWID is uniquely generated based on the appliance's Virtual MAC Address and BIOS UUID. Because Cross vCenter vMotion often regenerates these identifiers, a HWID mismatch occurs on the destination. This mismatch invalidates existing licenses and prevents the appliance from successfully joining the Grid.

Resolution

Maintaining Hardware ID (HWID) consistency across different VMware vCenter Server instances requires a manual export/import workflow instead of a standard migration process to ensure compatibility.

• Export from Source vCenter

• Power off the NIOS CLI appliance virtual machine.
  
  
• In vSphere Client, navigate to Edit Settings and record the manually assigned MAC address for each network interface (Management, LAN, and others as applicable).
  
  
• Note the BIOS UUID from the VM Summary tab or from the uuid.bios entry in the .vmx file.
  
  
• Right-click the virtual machine and select Template → Export OVF Template.
  
  
• Ensure the “Include extra configuration” option is selected during export.
  
  

• Import to Destination vCenter

• Right-click the destination cluster and select Deploy OVF Template.
  
  
• Choose the OVF files exported in the previous step.
  
  
• Map the source networks to the appropriate port groups in the destination vCenter.
  
  
• Do not power on the virtual machine after deployment.
  
  

• Post-Deployment Configuration

• Go to Edit Settings of the newly deployed VM.
  
  
• Change the MAC address assignment from Automatic to Manual, and enter the original MAC addresses recorded earlier.
  
  
• Update the uuid.bios entry in the new .vmx file with the original BIOS UUID captured from the source VM.
  
  
• Power on the NIOS CLI appliance.
  
  

Following this procedure ensures the original HWID is retained and prevents licensing or functionality issues after migration.