ESXi Host Not Responding due to heartbeat issues

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host is Not Responding in vCenter.
• In the /var/run/log/vobd.log file, you see entries for reclaimed heartbeat similar to:
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(##) vobd(#######): [vmfsCorrelator] ############us: [vob.vmfs.heartbeat.recovered] Reclaimed heartbeat for volume ########-########-####-############ 


• In the /var/run/log/vobd.log file, you see entries for heartbeat timeout similar to: 
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ In(##) vobd(#######): [vmfsCorrelator] ############us: [vob.vmfs.heartbeat.timedout] ########-########-####-############ 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server: 7.x
VMware vCenter Server: 8.x
VMware vCenter Server: 9.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
VMware vSphere ESX 9.x

Cause

• vCenter server no longer receiving heartbeats.
• Network connectivity issue between vCenter and the ESXi host.
• ESXi host management agent issue (hostd or vpxa).
• Host failure

Resolution

1. Troubleshoot Host Not Responding state.  Reference KB: Troubleshooting an ESXi host in a "not responding"/"disconnected" state. 
2. Verify host communication via packet capture.  Reference KB: Verify ESXi host heartbeat to vCenter using packet capture utilities.
3. Configure HA heartbeat to use a different datastore.  Reference Documentation: Configure Heartbeat Datastores.
4. Look for possible storage related issue.

Additional Information

Understanding the difference between Not Responding and Disconnected ESXi hosts in VMware vCenter Server

Contact Broadcom support