HCX fleet appliance redeployment fails with vim.fault.DuplicateName due to an orphaned virtual machine in vCenter

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

• HCX fleet appliances redeployment fails and the following error is observed in UI:
  

  ApplianceLifecycleJob Failed. Reason: Interconnect Service Workflow InterconnectRedeploy failed. 
  Error: Interconnect Service Workflow UpdateApplianceSettings failed. 
  Error: Updating appliance name failed for user <USERNAME. 
  Reason: (vim.fault.DuplicateName) { faultCause = null, faultMessage = null, name = <VM-NAME>, object = ManagedObjectReference: type = VirtualMachine, value = vm-<ID>, serverGuid = null }

Cause

This issue occurs because a stale or orphaned virtual machine entry with the exact same appliance name already exists in the vCenter Server inventory database. This scenario typically arises when a previous iteration of the appliance is restored by a backup solution or improperly cleaned up. When HCX attempts to provision or rename the new appliance during the Service Mesh cycle, vCenter Server triggers a vim.fault.DuplicateName validation exception and blocks the workflow.

Resolution

To resolve the naming conflict and complete the Service Mesh redeployment, remove the stale inventory entry:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client for your vCenter Server environment.

2. Search the inventory for the stale or orphaned virtual machine matching the name flagged in the error.

3. Right-click the orphaned virtual machine entry and select Remove from Inventory.

4. Open the HCX Management interface and navigate to the Interconnect > Service Mesh tab.

5. Select your Service Mesh, click Appliances, select the affected appliance and click Redeploy.