VCF Upgrade Fails with 'edge.cluster.precheck.failed' Due to BGP Session Issues on NSX Gateway Edge nodes

Products

• VMware NSX
• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

• VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) upgrade workflow (e.g., from 9.0.x to 9.1) from SDDC Manager is blocked during the precheck phase with an Error message related to NSX Edge appliances, making reference to (KB 423168) Troubleshooting NSX Service Router High-Availability Issues
  
  

  Name: VCF LCM Service
  
  EDGE: ##### PeerLRHAStatusCheck: The high availability status of the gateway(s) on peer edge #####  is not prepared for failover. The affected gateways are /orgs/default/projects/default/transit-gateways/default, /infra/tier-0s/##### . For more details, please refer to 'https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/423168'
  EDGE: [REDACTED] : PeerLRBgpNeighbourCheck: The connection with one or more BGP neighbors on peer edge #####  is not established. The impacted gateways are: /infra/tier-0s/##### . For more details, please use the BGP neighbor status API.
  
  Remediation Message: Review the LCM log files on the SDDC Manager appliance at 127.0.0.1:/var/log/vmware/vcf/lcm and resolve identified errors. If resolved, then run the upgrade prechecks and retry the upgrade. If you are unable to resolve the errors, contact Broadcom Technical Support for assistance.
  
  Error Code: com.vmware.vcf.error.runtime.nsxt.edge.cluster.precheck failed

  
  
  
  
• NSX Edge Node Diagnostics based on guidance at the article linked in the message, (KB 423168) Troubleshooting NSX Service Router High-Availability Issues as well as  (KB 339392) Troubleshooting NSX BGP may show symptoms like the following:
  
  
  • One Edge node in the cluster may show BGP sessions as Established, while peer Edge node(s) show BGP sessions as Idle.
    
    
  • The problematic node may report Routing Down but HA Active.
    
    
  • BGP Error Detail: NOTIFICATION sent (Neighbor Events Error/Receive Unexpected Message in OpenSent State).
    
    
  • Underlay connectivity (ICMP ping) from the local uplink source to upstream neighbor targets may be successful, confirming the physical path is open.
    
    
  • Redeploying the Edge node or toggling Maintenance Mode may not resolve the Idle BGP state.

Cause

This failure occurs because the VCF upgrade precheck requires all Edge nodes in the cluster to have healthy, established BGP peering. If the upstream physical routers are misconfigured (e.g., missing neighbor statements for standby Edge IPs or asymmetric BGP settings), the secondary Edge will fail to establish its routing plane, triggering the precheck block.

Resolution

• To resolve this issue, troubleshoot and correct the BGP configuration and/or any communication failures on the NSX Tier-0 Gateway and the upstream physical neighbors.
  
  
  • Follow the detailed diagnostic and resolution steps in (KB 423168) Troubleshooting NSX Service Router High-Availability Issues   and  (KB 339392) Troubleshooting NSX BGP
    
    
  • Note: Ensure that all uplink IP addresses for both Edge nodes in the cluster are correctly defined as neighbors on the physical switching fabric and match the BGP settings shown on the gateway in NSX Manager and the Edges. Once BGP shows as Established on all nodes in the NSX UI, rerun the VCF prechecks to proceed with the upgrade.