ESXi Remediation Fails with ""Skipping remediation of host '[hostname]' due to potentially transient reasons. The operation will be automatically retried as per the cluster remediation delay and retry settings."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Lifecycle Management remediation fails for an ESXi host with the following error:

  "Skipping remediation of host '[hostname]' due to potentially transient reasons. The operation will be automatically retried as per the cluster remediation delay and retry settings."

• /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log reports the below errors:

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.008-04:00 info vmware-vum-server[####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] Health check 'com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.health.vc.no_host_in_mm' not executable.
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.008-04:00 info vmware-vum-server[#####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] [com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.health.vc.no_host_in_pmm]: Live update: false
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.008-04:00 info vmware-vum-server[#####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] [com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.health.vc.query_vmotion_compat_ex]: Health check not executable - not on VM 
  
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:09.747-04:00 info vmware-vum-server[#####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] Started: health check query for [host-1021], perspective: [BEFORE_ENTER_MAINTENANCE]
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:09.958-04:00 error vmware-vum-server[#####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] [com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.health.vc.query_what_if_enter_mm]: Host 'ESXI.EXAMPLE.COM' reported an issue which prevents entering maintenance mode: The operation is not allowed in the current state.
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS:09.958-04:00 error vmware-vum-server[#####] [Originator@6876 sub=EHP opID=########-####-####-################] [com.vmware.vcIntegrity.lifecycle.health.vc.query_what_if_enter_mm]: Host 'ESXI.EXAMPLE.COM' reported an issue which prevents entering maintenance mode: Host can not enter maintenance mode since DRS is not in fully automated mode for the cluster.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x
VMware ESXi  Version  8.x

Cause

• The vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) is not configured to "Fully Automated." This setting prevents the system from automatically migrating virtual machines and placing the ESXi host into Maintenance Mode during the remediation process.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, configure the DRS automation level to Fully Automated:

1. 1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
   2. Select the relevant cluster in the inventory.
   3. Navigate to the Configure tab.
   4. Under Services, select vSphere DRS.
   5. Click Edit.
   6. Set the Automation Level to Fully Automated.
   7. Click OK.
   8. Retry the lifecycle remediation task.