Network collector nodes are missing under VCF Operations for Networks component in VCF Operations > Fleet Lifecycle

Products

• VCF Operations
• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Operations 9.1, when viewing the VCF Operations for Networks component within VCF Fleet Lifecycle, some or all Network Collector nodes are missing from the UI. In some environments, you may observe an inconsistency where one legacy network collector node is listed in the VCF Fleet Lifecycle UI, while another is missing entirely.

Environment

• VCF Operations 9.1.x
• VCF Operations for Networks 9.1.x

Cause

This behavior is due to an existing architectural limitation regarding how VCF Fleet Lifecycle handles brownfield (legacy imported) VCF Operations for Networks environments. Currently, VCF Fleet Lifecycle only officially manages network collector nodes if they were deployed natively via VCF Fleet Lifecycle. It does not import or manage legacy collector nodes because it cannot reliably retrieve the necessary vCenter mapping information for them.

 

Why some nodes still appear:
VCF Fleet Lifecycle filters network collector nodes by reaching out to vCenter and searching for the VM name using the collector's IP address. If it finds a VM name that matches the strict VCF Fleet Lifecycle naming convention (ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS_WITH_HYPHENS>), it includes it in the UI. If the legacy name does not match, it is excluded.

 

# Example of a correctly excluded legacy node:
Found VM name <CUSTOM_VM_NAME> in vCenter for IP address: <IP_ADDRESS_1>
-> "<CUSTOM_VM_NAME>" does not match our naming convention "ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS_1>" -> EXCLUDED

# Example of an incorrectly included legacy node due to VC lookup failure:
WARN: VM not found in vCenter for IP address: <IP_ADDRESS_2>, will fall back to default vm-name 
-> fallback returns "ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS_2>"
-> "ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS_2>" matches our naming convention "ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS_2>" -> INCLUDED

Resolution

There is no functional breakage caused by this display inconsistency, and it does not mean any nodes need to be decommissioned. You have two options on how to proceed:

 

Option 1: Acknowledge and leave as-is (Recommended)

• Day-2 Operations: Because Fleet Lifecycle does not actively manage the missing legacy nodes, standard Day-2 operations (such as scale-up, power on, and power off) should be performed directly via the vCenter Server inventory.
• Upgrades: When the VCF Operations for Networks component is upgraded via Fleet Lifecycle, these legacy collector nodes will still be upgraded successfully alongside the primary components.

Option 2: Workaround to force the nodes to appear in VCF Fleet Lifecycle

If you require the network collector to be visible under the VCF Operations for Networks component in the UI, you can force a metadata update by manually matching the expected naming convention:

1. Log in to the vCenter Server UI as [email protected].
2. Locate the missing legacy collector VM and rename it to match the Fleet Lifecycle naming convention: ops_networks-collector-<IP_ADDRESS> (Note: Replace the periods in the IP address with hyphens. For example, if the IP is #.#.#.#, the VM name should be ops_networks-collector-#-#-#-#).
3. Login to the VCF Operations UI as admin user. (https://<VCF_OPS_FQDN_IP/ui)
4. Navigate to Build > Lifecycle > VCF Management.
5. On the top right corner, Perform a manual Sync.
6. Once the sync completes, the network collector will become visible.

Note: While renaming the network collector VM will allow it to appear in the UI, please ensure this naming change is documented internally by your team to prevent any administrative confusion in the future.

Additional Information

Full management support and UI visibility for brownfield network collector nodes are planned for a future release, once the underlying vCenter mapping limitations are removed.