vCenter 9.1 Upgrade Fails: New Appliance Unreachable (esxtop shows 'void')

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When upgrading a vCenter Server to version 9.1 GA, the deployment of the new appliance (Stage 1) completes, but the process fails to proceed to Stage 2 because the temporary IP is unreachable.

• The temporary IP address does not respond to pings.
• The installer reports a timeout or connection refusal when attempting to reach the VAMI (port 5480).
• Running esxtop on the ESXi host and pressing n shows the vCenter VM's TEAM-PNIC entry as "void".

 

Environment

vCenter Server 8.x

vCenter Server 9.x

 

Cause

This issue occurs when the vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) or the specific port group used for the upgrade deployment does not have any physical network adapters (vmnics) assigned as active uplinks.

In esxtop, the "void" status indicates that while the VM is logically connected to the virtual switch, the VMkernel has no physical path to forward traffic to the rest of the network.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, establish a physical path for the new vCenter appliance:

Verify vDS Uplinks:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Navigate to Inventory > Networking.
3. Select the Distributed Switch and go to the Configure tab.
4. Under Settings, select Topology to verify if any physical NICs are assigned to the uplinks.

Assign Physical Adapters:

1. If no adapters are assigned, right-click the Distributed Switch and select Add and Manage Hosts.
2. Select Manage host networking and add physical NICs (vmnics) to the switch uplinks.

Configure Teaming and Failover:

1. Right-click the Port Group used for the upgrade and select Edit Settings.
2. Go to Teaming and failover and ensure at least one assigned uplink is moved to the Active uplinks section.

Validation:

1. Return to the ESXi host SSH session and run esxtop.
2. Press n and verify the vCenter VM now shows a valid vmnic (e.g., vmnic0) in the TEAM-PNIC column.
3. Attempt to ping the temporary IP from the machine running the installer.

Once connectivity is confirmed, the upgrade installer will be able to reach the appliance and proceed to Stage 2.