Orphaned vmware-fdm VIB during conversion to vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) Image

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to convert a cluster from baseline-managed to image-based management in vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM), the following warning or error is displayed:

"Orphan vibs found"

 

 

 Users may also see references to "unrecognized VIBs" specifically for the vmware-fdm component during the "Proceed with Image" or "Transition" phase.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This behavior is expected.

The vmware-fdm (Fault Domain Manager) VIB is the agent responsible for vSphere HA. It is not part of the standard ESXi base image. Instead, it is a solution-specific VIB that vCenter Server dynamically injects into the Cluster Image only when vSphere HA is enabled on the cluster.

Because the initial vLCM image does not inherently contain the vmware-fdm component, vLCM flags the existing agent on the host as "orphaned" because it has no match in the proposed target image.

Resolution

You can safely proceed with the conversion. Thevmware-fdm component will be automatically managed after the transition.

1. Proceed with the Conversion: In the vSphere Client, continue through the "Switch to Image" workflow despite the warning for vmware-fdm.
2. Automatic Re-injection Once the cluster has transitioned to image-based management, vCenter Server will recognize that the cluster is HA-enabled and will automatically inject/install the appropriate version of the vmware-fdm component back into the vLCM image and the hosts
3. Verification: Ensure that vSphere HA is reconfigured successfully and that the hosts show as Compliant in the vLCM Updates tab.

Note: If the transition is strictly blocked (not just a warning), you may manually remove the VIB via SSH using esxcli software vib remove -n vmware-fdm before proceeding with the conversion, then re-enable HA at the cluster level once the transition is complete.