Image compliance check shows mismatching status for hosts in a cluster

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• In a cluster managed by vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM), running a host compliance check returns results where one or more hosts return the result:

Host is out of compliance with the image

while other hosts in the cluster report:

Host is not compatible with the image

• The Image compliance check summary in the vSphere Client may show no specific component incompatibilities or version drift in the UI.
• Remediation or configuration tasks may fail with the error: 

The operation cannot continue due to downgrade of the following Components: vsphere-fdm
Compliance warnings may state: The following VIBs on the host are missing from the image and will be removed from the host during remediation: vsphere-fdm

Environment

VMware vCenter 8.x

Cause

This occurs when vLCM detects a version mismatch between the vsphere-fdm vib physically installed on the host and the version vCenter expects to maintain for that cluster's desired state. This drift often occurs after vCenter upgrades or when hosts fail to obtain the new vsphere-fdm vib from the vCenter.

Resolution

To unify the vsphere-fdm vib versions across all hosts and resolve the vLCM compliance mismatch, perform the following steps:

1. Disable vSphere HA at the cluster level. This action uninstalls the vsphere-fdm vib from the hosts in the cluster.
2. Re-enable vSphere HA on the cluster. This triggers vCenter to push and install the correct, unified version of the vsphere-fdm vib to all hosts 
3. Run a new Compliance Check in vLCM. The hosts should now show as Ready for remediation or In Compliance