SDDC Manager reports Version Drift for HCX due to stale target version metadata

Products

• VMware HCX
• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

• In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environments, SDDC Manager or VCF Operations may incorrectly report a Version Drift status for a management or workload domain.
  
   
• This occurs even when the component, such as VMware HCX, has been successfully upgraded to the latest version (e.g., 9.1.0.0200).

• Symptoms:

  • SDDC Manager UI displays a "Version Drift" warning for the affected domain.
  • The Target Version listed in the UI is lower than the Current Version.
  • The HCX Manager UI confirms the component is at the correct version, but SDDC Manager lifecycle operations are blocked or report metadata mismatches.
  • API calls to GET /v1/releases/domains may show an upgradeSequence or targetVersion that does not align with the actual environment state.

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x
• VMware HCX 9.1.x
• SDDC Manager 9.x

Cause

•  The issue is caused by stale metadata persisting within the SDDC Manager Lifecycle Management (LCM) inventory database.
• Following an upgrade, the system may fail to clear the previous "Target Version" record. Because the LCM service detects a recorded target version that is numerically lower than the current functional version, it triggers a drift alert and prevents further plan modifications.

Resolution

 To resolve this issue, follow the steps listed under the "Resolution" section of the following KB:

• VCF Domain Upgrade Fails with error: "Target VCF Version is lower than source VCF Version" due to Version drift status