NSX adapter configuration fails to activate network and flow connection in VCF Operations

Products

• VCF Operations
• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

• Attempting to enable the NSX Integration by selecting "Activate Network & Flow Collection" within the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Operations user interface results in a failure, and the system displays the following error message:

Adapter instance successfully saved but failed to enable Network and Flow Collection feature

• The following error can also be seen:

Environment

VCF Operations 9.X

VCF Operations for Networks 9.X

Cause

This issue occurs because the target NSX-T manager data source was previously added to VCF Operations for Networks using its static IP address. When you try to register the same NSX-T manager through the VCF Operations user interface, the system defaults to using its Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). The underlying integration attempts to register this as a completely new entry within VCF Operations for Networks, which explicitly blocks the request to prevent duplicate entries, data redundancy, and unnecessary storage overhead.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, remove the existing IP-based entry from VCF Operations for Networks before establishing the FQDN-based registration from VCF Operations:

1. Log in to the VCF Operations for Networks user interface.
2. Locate and delete the current IP-based NSX-T data source.
   Important: Wait for a 2-hour cooldown window. This delay is mandatory to allow the backend database caches to clear completely.
3. Log in to the VCF Operations user interface using the admin user.
4. Re-add the NSX-T data source, ensuring you check the Activate Network & Flow Collection checkbox, and click Save. Utilizing the fully qualified domain name instead of the IP address ensures that any subsequent management operations performed from the Operations UI will succeed.

Note: Even after deleting an NSX data source from VCF Operations for Networks, its historical metrics remain searchable in the VCF Operations for Networks UI until the standard 30-day data retention period expires.