Error: resources '{"}' used by vswitch0 do not exist when enabling vSphere Configuration Profiles

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Introduction

Enabling vSphere Configuration Profiles on a cluster fails during the validation or creation phase. This article provides the steps to identify and remove stale "blank" NIC entries in the ESXi ConfigStore that cause this validation failure.

Symptoms

• vSphere Configuration Profile creation fails.
• The following error message appears in the vCenter UI: resources '{"}' used by vswitch0 do not exist
• Running the following command on the host reveals a blank string in the NIC list: configstorecli config current get -c esx -g network_vss -k switches Example Output: "bridge": {"nics": ["", "vmnic0", "vmnic1"]}

Environment

• VMware vSphere 8.0.x
• ESXi hosts upgraded from 7.x

Cause

A stale empty string entry ("") is retained in the network_vss ConfigStore for vSwitch0. While ESXi 7.x allowed empty placeholders in the NIC array, ESXi 8.x validation expects a clean list of valid physical adapters.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, force the ConfigStore to refresh the vSwitch0 configuration by toggling the physical adapter assignments.

1. Place the host #### in Maintenance Mode.
2. In the vSphere Client, navigate to Host > Configure > Networking > Virtual switches.
3. Select vSwitch0 and click Edit Settings.
4. Navigate to Teaming and failover.
5. Temporarily assign an Unclaimed physical adapter to the Unused adapters list.
6. Click OK.
7. Immediately edit vSwitch0 again and move the adapter back to Unclaimed.
8. Verify the fix by running: configstorecli config current get -c esx -g network_vss -k switches The "" entry should no longer appear in the nics array.
9. In vCenter, go to Configuration Profiles > Draft > Import from Host and select the remediated host.
10. Click Apply Changes and then Remediate.

If you need further assistance, see Contact Support.

Additional Information

For issues where the NIC list is completely empty ([]), refer to KB 429323.