ESXi image selection blank during cluster creation - VCF 9.0 SDDC Manager

Products

• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, when attempting to add an additional cluster to the Management Domain via the SDDC Manager UI, the ESXi image selection dialog box is completely blank.

No valid base images or custom software personalities are visible or available to proceed with the workflow.

Retrying the operation confirms that no ESXi base images are visible for selection:

• 

• When querying the SDDC Manager Local Lifecycle Management (LCM) database or executing a GET /v1/personalities API call, the base image version reflects an unexpected hyphenated naming convention format rather than the standard dot-notation release string.

  Example of a problematic database record from the lcm database personality table:

• -[ RECORD ]------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  personality_id           | <ID>
  depot_path               | /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/personalities/<######>
  personality_name         | Management-Domain-ESXi-Personality
  base_image_version       | 9.0.0-0100.24813472
  add_on_name              | HPE-Custom-AddOn
  add_on_version           | 900.0.0.12.1.0-29

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0
VMware vCenter Server 9.0
VMware ESX 9.0.x

Cause

The issue is caused by an incorrect version naming convention within the SDDC Manager database for the ESXi image personality, specifically the use of a hyphen instead of dot notation (e.g., 9.0.0-0100.24813472 instead of 9.0.1.0.24957456). This database inconsistency is compounded by a problematic seeded ESX 9.0.1 offline depot within vCenter Server that prevents proper synchronization.

Resolution

Log a case with Broadcom Technical Support for further assistance.