NSX Host Transport Nodes Show Install Failed Due to NSX-SFHC response

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

 

• ESXi hosts that were previously successfully prepared for NSX and showing a "Success" status have unexpectedly transitioned to an "Install Failed" state.

• Transport Node Status displays an INSTALL FAILED state under System > Fabric > Nodes within the NSX Manager UI.

• Error message "Failed to get response from NSX-SFHC component" 
  

• No change ,When you click resolve and perfrom the below 
  

  1. In the prompt, enter the following credentials:

     • Username: root

     • Password: <ESXi_host_root_password>

     • Thumbprint: <ESXi_host_certificate_thumbprint> 
       
       command to get ESXi Thumbprint : openssl x509 -in /etc/vmware/ssl/rui.crt -noout -sha256 -fingerprint

• nsx-syslog.log on the ESXi host says:

<TIMESTAMP> nsx-sfhc[<PID>]: NSX <NUMBER> - [nsx@<NUMBER> comp="nsx-esx" subcomp="nsxsfhc" tid="<TID>" level="INFO"] GetAllSoftwares execution time: 110.000000 seconds

• localcli software vib list response is slow.

• Impact : Management connectivity and controller status remain functional, but host management operations will be impacted.

 

Environment

VMware NSX

Cause

 

• Failure occurs when the NSX-SFHC component on the ESXi host fails to receive a response from the localcli command within the hard-coded timeout window.
  
  
• The NSX SFHC has a specific timeout window to query host software status. If the ESXi host takes too long to respond, the Manager marks the installation/update as failed.

Timeout Thresholds

NSX Version	SFHC Timeout Value
NSX 3.x	17 seconds
NSX 4.0.1 or later	40 seconds

 

 

Resolution

• Verify the current latency by executing  the below command directly on the affected ESXi host via SSH.
  

  time localcli software vib list

• If the time taken is more than the mentioned thresholds , Please fix the host related issue.
  Note: High execution times for localcli software vib list are typically caused by host-side resource contention, storage latency, or hung management agents.
  
  
• Monitor nsx-syslog.log to ensure FindMissingSoftware and GetAllSoftwares execution times remain below the threshold.
  
  
• Once the host localcli is responding within thresholds, The host will be maked as success automatically ( no action required). If not trigger a manual resolution:

1. 1. 1. 1. Navigate to System > Fabric > Nodes > Host Transport Nodes.

         2. Select the failed host and click Resolve.

         3. In the prompt, enter the following credentials:

            • Username: root

            • Password: <ESXi_host_root_password>

Note:

In cases where the Resolve option for this error is greyed out, you can proceed with manually starting the nsx-sfhc service by following the steps below:

1. SSH to the ESXi host as the root user.

2. Check the status of the nsx-sfhc service using the following command:

/etc/init.d/nsx-sfhc status

3. Start the nsx-sfhc service using the command below:

/etc/init.d/nsx-sfhc start

4. Once the service has successfully started, proceed with continuing the NSX installation or upgrade workflow on the affected host.