vCenter DCUI displays temporary FQDN/IP after RDU upgrade

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article explains why a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) may display temporary network information (FQDN/IP) in the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) after a successful Reduced Downtime Upgrade (RDU), and provides steps to resolve this cosmetic display issue.

Symptoms:

• A vCenter RDU upgrade has completed successfully.
• The vCenter Server is reachable and functioning at its original, expected FQDN and IP address.
• The Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) or the physical console screen displays the temporary IP address and FQDN that were used during the RDU upgrade process.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

 

Cause

This issue is cosmetic and occurs when the management agents on the upgraded appliance fail to refresh their cached network configuration metadata after the transition from the temporary upgrade network to the production network. The underlying OS configuration is correct; only the console display output is stale.

Resolution

To refresh the console display to reflect the correct production network information, perform the following steps:

1. Verify Production Networking: Log in to the vCenter Server Management Interface (VAMI) at https://<vCenter-FQDN>:5480.
2. Navigate to the Networking tab to ensure the production IP and FQDN are correctly configured and active.
3. Restart Management Services: If the network configuration in VAMI is correct, the management services likely need to be refreshed.
   • Log in to the vCenter appliance via SSH as root.
   • Run the following command to restart the management API service: service-control --restart applmgmt
   • Alternatively, you can restart the management agents directly from the DCUI:
     • Press F2 to customize the system.
     • Navigate to Troubleshooting Mode Options.
     • Select Restart Management Agents.
4. In case above steps do not restore correct FQDN and IP address proceed to 'Reboot vCenter server'

Validation: Once the services have restarted, the DCUI console screen should refresh and display the correct production FQDN and IP address.

Additional Information

For details on vCenter identity retention during upgrades, refer to Broadcom KB 430178. If the issue persists after restarting management services, perform a guest operating system reboot of the VCSA to ensure all system processes have re-initialized.