Non-Compliant Advanced Settings Disappear from vSphere Host Profile Compliance Report
Article ID: 439166
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
When running a Host Profile compliance check, previously flagged non-compliant Advanced System Settings (such as VMkernel.Boot.hyperthreadingMitigationIntraVM, Disk.DiskMaxIOSize etc.) unexpectedly disappear from the compliance report.
This occurs after manually editing the Host Profile to explicitly add or modify a different Advanced System Setting (such as VMkernel.Boot.hyperthreadingMitigation). The target ESXi host still reports compliant despite no configuration changes being applied directly to the host.
Environment
VMware vSphere ESXi
VMware vCenter Server
Cause
The Host Profile compliance engine operates on a strict declarative model based on an evaluation scope.
When a Host Profile's Advanced Configuration Settings sub-policy is manually edited to explicitly configure a specific advanced setting, the profile narrows its enforcement to only those explicitly defined keys.
Any advanced settings not explicitly retained or added during the edit operation are removed from the profile's active tracking matrix, causing the compliance engine to completely ignore them during subsequent scans.
Resolution
To restore compliance tracking for the omitted parameters, they must be explicitly added back into the Host Profile's defined auditing scope.
Navigate to Policies and Profiles > Host Profiles in the vSphere Client.
Select the affected Host Profile and click Edit Host Profile.
Expand the Advanced Configuration Settings > Advanced Options hierarchy.
Review the active keys and manually add the missing advanced configuration keys (e.g.,
VMkernel.Boot.hyperthreadingMitigationIntraVMandDisk.DiskMaxIOSize etc.).Define the required compliance values for the newly added keys.
Save the Host Profile.
Re-run the compliance check against the target ESXi hosts to verify the parameters are being actively audited again.
Additional Information
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